Colouring lime pointing?

[xanthe]

I'm about 3/4 through removing the multiple coats of gloss paint from our massive inglenook and am thinking about how to go about the repairs.

The brickwork is very patchy in terms of colour - old original bricks that are very smoked blackened in the main fire area; less blackened bricks in the area of the old bread oven and clean bricks where the oven opening was bricked up.

I plan to repoint the whole thing as much of the pointing was completely gone. However, I can't help thinking that repointing in the very smoke blackened areas is going to look a bit odd if it's bright white against the bricks.

Should it just be done like that, or should I repoint and then give certain areas a bit of a soot paint job - or should I use a coloured lime pointing or even mix some soot in?

Anyone btdt?

 

[MatthewC]

Anyone btdt?

No, but I would use the right sand to get a decent dull yellow (as opposed to bright white) colour for the pointing and live with it. Where I have done that on limestone walls it looks OK, even with different colours of stone.

 

[88v8]

It won't stay bright white.
And if you want to, you can indeed soot it a bit, or even wash it over with sootwater afterwards.

Ivor

 

[malcolm]

I've tried to match original lime mortar by mixing sharp sand 50:50 with red builders sand which works out as a fairly dark mortar. It works well with soot darkened bricks outside.

 

[Andys]

We have several shades of cement mortar and a couple of shades of lime mortar in our fireplace. I've used my usual pale lime mortar for the hearth ( with Frith End Blend plastering sand from The Lime Centre) - it looks a bit new but is already accumulating a collection of general chimney dust.
I really couldn't bring myself to dirty it up with soot Where it meets a pillar done in a patch of dark/discoloured lime mortar I've blended the join with the application of a wet, hot teabag, which was a good excuse to get the biscuits out anyway.

You may find that contact with soot-and-tar infused bricks causes some of the colour to leach into the mortar all on its own...

 

[formerly known as]

just point it and let the fire do the rest - it will soon merge. I find seeing phased repair is more interesting than a blanket approach.

 

[Zebra]

I unintentionally blackened my new pointing in the fireplace the first time I lit the fire, trying to have an open fire before I fitted the wood burner. ...