Hi
I have been working on my weavers’ cottage now for a year. It is not really a period property, but was a tied house for poor workers in Wiltshire, built in the early 19th centaury. Hopefully the weather will improve sometime, so I can start again on the outside.
I repointed most of the back and gable end rubble wall last year and I now have to think about the front, which is made of soft local brick. The joints are very narrow, about 5mm and the mortar is quite fine. I prefer to use NHL (it is available locally and early attempts with putty ended with a sloppy mix) and with the rubble wall used a mix of 1:2:1, NHL 3.5/sharp sand/soft sand. But this would not be suitable for the fine joints.
I have spent a couple of hours looking through past posts and have begun to think that a mix of 1:2: NHL 2 or 3.5/ silver sand. may be suitable, but could someone please confirm that silver sand is sharp enough for the job?
Like many, I have sacks of NHL open and some still sealed bags that are 4 months old. The open bags I keep folded over in a sealed plastic dustbin. The sealed bags are stored dry inside. The manufacturers say that the open bags should be chucked after 3 days, but I tend to keep them for a week (or may be 2!
). The sealed bags are OK for 6 months, but sometimes I wonder, if that is still safe to use. Someone (I think it was "Oddjob") suggested using Phenolphthalein 1% solution Ph indicator. He suggests it could be uses it to check whether the lime is still acidic, has not carbonated and is therefore usable. Have others tried this, and how long do you continue to use your open bags of NHL please?
Thanks in anticipation.
I have been working on my weavers’ cottage now for a year. It is not really a period property, but was a tied house for poor workers in Wiltshire, built in the early 19th centaury. Hopefully the weather will improve sometime, so I can start again on the outside.
I repointed most of the back and gable end rubble wall last year and I now have to think about the front, which is made of soft local brick. The joints are very narrow, about 5mm and the mortar is quite fine. I prefer to use NHL (it is available locally and early attempts with putty ended with a sloppy mix) and with the rubble wall used a mix of 1:2:1, NHL 3.5/sharp sand/soft sand. But this would not be suitable for the fine joints.
I have spent a couple of hours looking through past posts and have begun to think that a mix of 1:2: NHL 2 or 3.5/ silver sand. may be suitable, but could someone please confirm that silver sand is sharp enough for the job?
Like many, I have sacks of NHL open and some still sealed bags that are 4 months old. The open bags I keep folded over in a sealed plastic dustbin. The sealed bags are stored dry inside. The manufacturers say that the open bags should be chucked after 3 days, but I tend to keep them for a week (or may be 2!
). The sealed bags are OK for 6 months, but sometimes I wonder, if that is still safe to use. Someone (I think it was "Oddjob") suggested using Phenolphthalein 1% solution Ph indicator. He suggests it could be uses it to check whether the lime is still acidic, has not carbonated and is therefore usable. Have others tried this, and how long do you continue to use your open bags of NHL please? Thanks in anticipation.
