Mortar dye

Posted by Bob Eldritch on July 8, 2008, 3:05 pm

I need to repoint some brickwork. One of the things I'm wondering about
is whether or not to use mortar dye to darken the mortar so it is close
to the color of the bricks. It seems like it wouldn't be a bad idea but I
notice that the professional jobs I have seen around here do not use it.
Is there any reason not to use it?

Posted by dpb on July 8, 2008, 5:08 pm

Bob Eldritch wrote:
show/hide quoted text
Unless you're going to be covering the entire wall and every joint
(moderately unusual amount of repointing, but not unheard of), you'd
leave a mismatch color for sure.
Otherwise, there's no real reason other one of what appearance one is
striving for--it adds only slightly to cost, a little to labor for the
pro's but there are far more brick laid w/o color than with.
For amateur, getting a match in color from one batch of mortar to the
next may be a little iffy particularly if not making consistent batch
sizes as would a pro w/ a full mixer setup, etc., ...
So, it's just a "your call" sorta' thing...

Posted by EXT on July 8, 2008, 5:12 pm

I see it a lot around here, except in cheap housing. Quality houses often
use brown pigmented mortar with brown bricks. I once worked in a building
that was erected in 1848 and it had red pigmented mortar between the bricks.
The amazing part of this old building was the mortar thickness, only 1/8 of
an inch and it was a 4 story building.
show/hide quoted text

Posted by powersdov on July 9, 2008, 9:48 am

> I see it a lot around here, except in cheap housing. Quality houses often
> use brown pigmented mortar with brown bricks. I once worked in a building
> that was erected in 1848 and it had red pigmented mortar between the bric=
ks.
show/hide quoted text
What if you need to repair some mortar around windows that has fallen
out. Does anybody have a good idea how to match the color of new
mortar with mortar that has been weathering for 40 years? I don't
want the repair job to be glaringly obvious.

Similar Threads	Posted
Using Mortar	February 3, 2007, 11:51 pm
mortar mix recipe	February 14, 2005, 7:23 pm
mortar recipe	December 28, 2005, 9:04 pm
Mortar mix explanation	July 28, 2006, 4:52 pm
Use opened mortar?	August 12, 2006, 9:27 am
Why both grout and mortar?	November 22, 2006, 7:48 am
Mortar Flaking Off	December 7, 2006, 4:19 pm
Using Mortar Mix for Chimney Cap	December 8, 2006, 6:24 pm
Mortar vs Grout	August 12, 2007, 12:41 pm
Good mortar gone bad	August 22, 2007, 3:39 am