What mortar to achieve the below looks?

[flanagaj]

We have had our material palette signed off and I'm curious as to how you'd achieve the mortar look below.  I'm conscious that it's not going to be the cheapest.  Are we talking simply white cement and a pale sand, or is there a lime constituent in there too?

 

[Bonner]

Very difficult to say without making your own samples, not just the mortar but panels with the chosen bricks. I was going for lime but switched to white cement which achieved a very similar result, albeit a completely different colour scheme to what you are trying to achieve. I used the brick manufacturers tool as a starting point, was surprised how different the bricks look even with slight changes in joint colour https://nsxpwebapp.nelissen.be/publicconfigurator/?_gl=1*1fxpchc*_gcl_au*MzcxNDA4OTIwLjE3Njc2ODI0NDE.#

[Big Jimbo]

My thoughts would bethat there may be some lime in there. I like the look if that is what you are going for. Best of luck with your build.

[MortarThePoint]

Loads of colours available to add to white cement. White cement is more expensive (2x I think) but small difference Vs labour costs.

 

If achieving the colour using an additive rather than sand, check how consistent it will be. The brickie's labourer may vary the dose and that could create banding. There is an expensive new college building I see in Cambridge and it's a dogs dinner due to this issue I think. You can influence the colour a lot with choice of sand and that should be more consistent as long as everyone understands.

 

I'd be cautious of going the lime route. Fewer brickies have experience with it and it can be less tolerant (e.g. temperature). In the right hands it's great and looks brilliant though.

[Gone West]

The local fine sand in this area is pale grey which when added to Snowcrete produces mortar of a similar colour to your picture.

[Russell griffiths]

The mix is not important, getting your bricklaying team to mix it the same every time is the important thing. 
 

when you get the colour you want you need to discuss it with the bricky and get it in writing that they will use a gauge box to get it the same every time. 

any not up to standard gets taken down at their cost. 
 

you will need to buy sand in bulk and cement to get the same batch every time. 

DO NOT USE  any form of mortar dye. 

[FarmerN]

Our builder used a Pre mixed mortar delivered in large tubs , inhibiter in it so it was workable for 5-7 days depending on weather.

A range of colours was provided in 20 Liter sample buckets , which were used to build small Sample sections of wall of about 20 bricks each.

It was revealing how much difference colour and type of pointing made to the appearance of the bricks.

I was very sceptical of long life pre mixed mortar before use  but 3 years on seems fine.

Biggest problem is when a very small quantity is needed at the later stages of build to tidy up a bit of brick work as I think it was a minimum delivery of 1 Cu M.

I think builder used a couple of sample bucket for final tidy up.

Colour of deliveries  was very consistent, but hard to match with hand mixing on site.

[Oz07]

4 hours ago, FarmerN said:

Our builder used a Pre mixed mortar delivered in large tubs , inhibiter in it so it was workable for 5-7 days depending on weather.

A range of colours was provided in 20 Liter sample buckets , which were used to build small Sample sections of wall of about 20 bricks each.

It was revealing how much difference colour and type of pointing made to the appearance of the bricks.

I was very sceptical of long life pre mixed mortar before use  but 3 years on seems fine.

Biggest problem is when a very small quantity is needed at the later stages of build to tidy up a bit of brick work as I think it was a minimum delivery of 1 Cu M.

I think builder used a couple of sample bucket for final tidy up.

Colour of deliveries  was very consistent, but hard to match with hand mixing on site.

Was there a bit of controversy with strength and cement content with these ready mixed mortars? Glad to hear its holding up ok. You cant trust these young brickie labourers now I see them squirting the plastersiser in like its water. 

[Oz07]

5 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

 

DO NOT USE  any form of mortar dye. 

Why's this?

 

[ectoplasmosis]

I used Lime Green Natural Lime Mortar for our extension below: https://www.lime-green.co.uk/products/lime-mortar/natural-lime-mortar

 

Comes in bags, just add water. Loads of colours; I used 'Chalk'.

 

 

 

 

[ectoplasmosis]

Another shot. Difficult to see, but it's a creamy off-white in real life.

[Russell griffiths]

56 minutes ago, Oz07 said:

Why's this?

 

Very inconsistent results, it takes only a small mistake in measuring to alter the colour which might not be noticeable until properly dry, I’ve had some horrible results using dark browns which looked brilliant while wet but dried very inconsistent 

they also tend to not like being wetted after they have dried and tend to look patchy. 

[saveasteading]

What @Russell griffiths says.

 

This will take a bit of research and a lot of management. And you will have to pay a bit more for the materials and a very professional bricklayer.

 

The typical bricklayer will engage a ' trowel' (another bricky) or two, and a labourer.

He may understand your requirements but not convey that properly, or they don't understand or don't care.

The labourer especially is unlikely to make much effort and will be under constant pressure for 'more bricks, or more pug/muck/mortar ' acc to region. Then next day it is a different labourer.

Most just shovel in sand and cement and add some water.  The same shovel holds different volumes of  cement / dry sand/ damp sand.

I have never witnessed the use of a gauge box. Even getting them to use buckets rather than shovels is a pain.

Explaining is likely to be met with a smirk implying 'what do you know?' they dont know what they dont know.

 

And then you must only use one brand of cement...fairly easy.

And one source of sand. This week's big bags may be completely different from last week's as they come from a different sand pit or a different layer of the same one. The BM has little to no control over this.

Some sand is remarkably orange and will never look like your pics.

 

But I don't want to discourage you as the right mortar makes the wall right too.  Perhaps you have to be cheeky and knock on the door of a house that has achieved what you want.  a few compliments will excuse the intrusion and you might get the info you need. To me the answer is a professional and proud bricklayer or builder who knows how to achieve this, and will want an extra 20%. They exist.

You will choose your sand and get it all delivered in one hit.

 

1 hour ago, Oz07 said:

7 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

DO NOT USE  any form of mortar dye. 

Why's this?

Again because of getting the mix exactly the same for every single mixer load. No chance really other than black.

[crispy_wafer]

I’ll just chime in and say, there are some good lads out there too, my brickie and his labourer were pretty spot on, on the brick and mortar side of things!  Snowcrete purchased up front, and a big tipper delivery of sand too.  He was bang on with the tonnage of sand required.  Almost like he’d done it before!

[Russell griffiths]

There’s loads of good lads out there. This isn’t a dig at bricky’s, but you need to be armed with the knowledge to say what YOU want, then you can weed out the slap dash lads and find a good gang. 

[saveasteading]

2 hours ago, Russell griffiths said:

There’s loads of good lads out there.

They will have regular gangs too, not just picking up whoever is available or cheap.

They probably aren't working on mass production sites.

I think you would best put a query up on your local social media....  brilliant brickie wanted.

[flanagaj]

As someone who laboured when they were young and understands that just shovelling sand and cement into a mixer is not conducive to creating a uniform mortar colour, I'll make sure that they grade the sand and cement to ensure we don't get that.  

[saveasteading]

3 hours ago, flanagaj said:

I'll make sure that they grade the sand and cement

Great. And what about sourcing the sand to be suitable  and all the same?

 

That's a huge advantage having been there and done that. Were you instructed on accurate mixing?

What else did you learn about tricks of the trade?

[saveasteading]

And what was mortar called in your area?

Frog up or frog down?

Did they request...  Mr Flanagaj, would you awfully mind making us another batch of your excellent mortar whenever it suits?