Keyword Search

Found 32 results for the keyword(s) ‘Mortar’

• Article

  Working with Mortar in Hot & Cold weather

  Seasonal tips for working with masonry.SUMMER    Summer Moisture Content:If too much water is drawn out of the mortar before it sets, the bond joint will not be good.Most clay bricks, calcite bricks and stone do not require pre-wetting because of minimum absorption. However in extremely hot weat...
• Article

  Discovering a power chisel

  Some tools go un-noticed on the hardware store shelves, like the rotary hammer chisels. At first glance this appears simply to be a heavy duty hammer drill. It has a special quick change chuck called an SDS system and will only work with drills and other accessories with the special SDS shanks....
• Article

  Can I paint my brick fireplace?

  Yes you can paint a brick fireplace but not of course inside the firebox.The first thing to realise is that once you paint it, you cannot un-paint it. The paint will be worked into the small holes in the brick and will not come back out.First clean the brick as best you can, probably using TSP.L...
• Article

  What to avoid when re-pointing brick.

  It may look easy when a professional is repointing brick, but there are some things to be very careful about.If you are using a grinder to remove the old mortar, be careful to avoid cutting into the brick. It is easy enough to slide up or down hill with the grinder, and even easier to mess it up...
• Article

  Re-pointing brick mortar with a bag.

  There are many ways to apply brick mortar to a wall for re-pointing.The traditional method is to slide the mortar off of the trowel with a pointing tool.Some masons use a bag, much like a pastry bag to squeeze it on. With this method you must be careful not to make the mortar too thin, or it wil...
• Article

  Repointing historic brick & testing a repointing gun.

  Leigh Bamford is a young tradesperson who takes historical restoration, even just old house repair very seriously. With five years of experience, she insists on using old materials and old techniques on old buildings.RemvoialRather than using a power grinder to remove the old mortar from between...
• Article

  A look at restoring historic masonry.

  Andrew is restoring Toronto's Old City Hall, resetting, repairing even replacing some of those old sculptured blocks that sit high up on the wall.One of his challenges is making mortor that will act and look like the original stuff. One way that he accomplishes that goal is to grind up whatever ...
• Article

  It is all wet behind the shower tiles. Why?

  Ed writes from Ajax, Ontario : All 3 walls of my bathroom shower stall are finished with 4" ceramic tiles and are in good shape. When I had to remove one of them, I discovered that the drywall was behind it was so wet that I had to put a fan on it over night to dry it out before I could glue...
• Article

  What do we do with an old brick wall that has no weep holes?

  Gary from Hamilton, Ontario writes :I know that brick veneer homes have vent holes in the lower rows to allow air to equalize the pressure and help keep water out. We have just bought a 50 year old solid brick (two layers of brick) house. I notice there are no vent holes and it doesn't appear t...
• Article

  How do you insulate a brick and block construction?

  Boris lives in a 45 year old bungalow that has no insulation at all. It has a brick outside, an air space, a concrete block wall for structure inside and then drywall. Is it possible to blow foam into the space between the brick and the block?NO. As long as the brick is the weather shield for ...