Lime mortar
Videos
Page
Lime mortar or torching is a masonry mortar composed of lime and an aggregate such as sand, mixed with water. It is one of the oldest known types of mortar, used in ancient Rome and Greece, when it largely replaced the clay and gypsum mortars common to ancient Egyptian construction.
A stone wall in France with lime mortar grouting being applied. Right: unapplied. Centre: lime mortar applied with a trowel. Left: lime mortar applied and then beaten back and brushed with a churn brush.
The large flakes of oyster shell are a signal that this is a faux shell mortar. In fact it was a very hard Portland replacement which luckily had not done much harm to the brick.
Spalling of brick in an 18th century chimney. The lower section is older than the upper. Note that the while the lower mortar is deteriorated, it is not as bad as the brick.
Mortar (masonry)
Videos
Page
Mortar is a workable paste which hardens to bind building blocks such as stones, bricks, and concrete masonry units, to fill and seal the irregular gaps between them, spread the weight of them evenly, and sometimes to add decorative colors or patterns to masonry walls. In its broadest sense, mortar includes pitch, asphalt, and soft mud or clay, as those used between mud bricks, as well as cement mortar. The word "mortar" comes from Old French mortier, "builder's mortar, plaster; bowl for mixing." (13c.).
Mortar holding weathered bricks
Roman mortar on display at Chetham's School of Music.
Workers prepare mortar in a trough. A 10th-century sculpture from the Korogho church, Georgia.
Laying bricks with Portland cement mortar