How to match mortar?

[Alex100]

Hi all! 

I'm looking to match the mortar in an old house and need some advice, please!

I have a reasonably large amount of repointing to do in a 1910 house. Water has unfortunately started coming through to damage interior walls and need to fix outside to start. 

It's quite a light, sandy and soft compound (hoping for something a bit hardier).

Also trying to avoid last owners mistakes 😬

 

 

 Cheers, Alex!

[EricL]

Hello @Alex100 

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's sensational to have you join us, and thanks for sharing your question about your brick mortar.

If this is very old mortar we're looking at odds are it has been bleached by time and the weather so it's no longer its original colour. If you look at your third photo, there was an attempt to repoint the bricks with standard mortar. You can clearly see the colour difference between the old and the new.

It is technically possible to lighten the tone of the standard grey mortar by adding Dulux Avista Oxide 1kg White Cement Colouring. But it will be nowhere near the finish of the old mortar. There is also the option of using Easy Mix 20kg White M4 Mortar and making its colour darker by adding black oxide.

Here is a handy step by-step guide: How to mix mortar

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[Alex100]

Hi Eric,

Thanks for the reply - I ended up using a sandstone colour oxide with trade mortar to match the 1910 mortar colour as close as possible.  I used a Roughneck Mortar Gun to fill and apply and various pointing tools to complete the job. Again, thanks for the reply. I'm more than happy with the result, the new skill and the money saved doing it myself!

Cheers,

Alex