Saturday, 19 February 2011

Mixing Mortar

Cement is the basic ingredient in concrete and mortar. Modern cement was developed by a French man, Louis Vicat, in the early 19th century



The Romans used a basic form of cement, thousands of years ago. Cement is now the second most consumed product in the world after water!



Mortar and concrete require mixing in the correct quantities by volume

This is relatively easy as all you need to do is find a suitable container. Buckets are great for this but it is a good idea to have a separate bucket for the cement as it soon sucks the moisture from the sand and sticks to the bucket



The correct ratios of ingredients, are shown below. It doesn't matter what a unit is as long as all the units are the same size by volume

Cement Sand Lime   Gravel
Concrete1 Unit2 Unit3 Unit
Strong and durable mortar1 Unit4 Unit¼ Unit
Reasonably durable mortar1 Unit5 Unit1 Unit
Weak mix suitable for calcium silicate bricks1 Unit8 Unit2 Unit

Mortar or concrete can be mixed by hand using a suitable spade, but it is hard work and a cement mixer makes it far easier


All text and images from Ultimate Handyman

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