Repointing side wall

danrv

I think I could go stronger with the mortar mix. When dry, it’s a bit crumbly. 
Without the lime, 5/1 sand cement is quite strong so maybe half the amount of lime or use a 4/1/1 mix.

stuart45

It could be drying out too quickly. Because it's only raked out around 10mm the moisture is getting sucked out straight away. 
Make sure you really soak down the wall with the mist spray and also keep it damped down later..
You can also cover with hessian like this if it's sunny.

danrv

stuart45 said:

It could be drying out too quickly. Because it's only raked out around 10mm the moisture is getting sucked out straight away. 
Make sure you really soak down the wall with the mist spray and also keep it damped down later..
You can also cover with hessian like this if it's sunny.

Thanks. Haven’t heard of hessian before or about drying out too quickly.
Yes, the wall is in direct sunlight some of the time so will apply more water spray.

stuart45

FreeBear said:

 soak with water before starting and cover with hessian when you are finished.

It was mentioned early on in the thread, but probably got lost with there being a lot of posts.
You can all keep the hessian damped damp for a while with the mist on the hose sprayer.
There was a time in the 80's when surveyors called for a lot of repointing on properties that didn't really need it. 
The lads often didn't take the joints back deep enough as the mortar was quite hard. Problem was that after about 6 months some of the mortar started dropping out.

danrv

stuart45 said:

FreeBear said:

 soak with water before starting and cover with hessian when you are finished.

It was mentioned early on in the thread, but probably got lost with there being a lot of posts.
You can all keep the hessian damped damp for a while with the mist on the hose sprayer.
There was a time in the 80's when surveyors called for a lot of repointing on properties that didn't really need it. 
The lads often didn't take the joints back deep enough as the mortar was quite hard. Problem was that after about 6 months some of the mortar started dropping out.

Thanks.
Yes, do recall about soaking with water and covering.
I’m using a spray bottle before repointing but wall dries out too quickly. Need to use more water.
I don’t have any hessian sheets but have a large plastic tarpaulin. No way to hang it though.

As mentioned, a lot of the perps are very narrow with mortar gaps the depth of the brick. These 
take a bit of time to fill and aren’t easy to rake out.
The 10mm depth tends to apply more to horizontal beds.
I’ve raked these out as far as I can manage. It’s very solid at this depth. In order to take out a further 10mm it would need a huge amount of work with hammer and chisel or electric tools.
Maybe it’s not proper repointing but more tidying up and filling the gaps.
Hope it will stay put.

stuart45

Spray bottles are more of a token gesture in most cases. It depends on the type of brick or stone and how damp the wall is already, but I usually use a hose pipe with the mister to soak it for about 10 mins while the mix is on. Then let the surface dry.

FreeBear

danrv said: I don’t have any hessian sheets but have a large plastic tarpaulin. No way to hang it though.

Drill a couple of holes in a mortar joint above where you are working. Insert a couple of hooks to hang the tarpaulin from, and hang some weights from the bottom. When you are done, remove the hooks and fill the holes.

Alternatively, lean a couple of ladders up against the wall to pin the tarp up.

stuart45

The advantage of using hessian is that you can keep the wall damped down for a few days without taking it down, whereas with a tarp it's not so easy. 

danrv

stuart45 said:

The advantage of using hessian is that you can keep the wall damped down for a few days without taking it down, whereas with a tarp it's not so easy. 

Thanks. I can see how hessian is useful now as it can be soaked while up. The mortar is certainly drying too quickly in the sunlight. A good start would be to wet the wall more before applying as I don’t have hessian sheet. 
Also wondering if I have enough cement in the mix. 

FreeBear

danrv said: Also wondering if I have enough cement in the mix. 

At 5:1 mix, you have plenty of cement. No need to add more. Just give it time to fully harden and cut back on the amount of plastiser.