That one comment about my mortar mix that stuck with me for years

I was repointing a wall on a 1920s house near Old Town back in 2019, and this older mason walks by and says I'm using too much Portland cement. He told me the old brick needs to breathe, so now I mix at a 3-1-1 ratio with lime. Has anyone else had to adjust their mix for older Albuquerque homes?

2 comments

2 Comments

tylerg3018d ago

That old school lime mix is way too soft for our freeze-thaw cycles, I've seen it crumble in two winters.

juliagonzalez17d ago

Huh, that's a good point about the freeze-thaw cycles. But I wonder if the real issue isn't the lime itself but how people prep the base underneath it. I've seen guys just throw it down on top of old asphalt or gravel without any proper drainage layer or compacting. No matter what mix you use, if water can sit under it and freeze, it's going to heave and crack eventually. The lime might be fine for the job, but the foundation work is what really kills it.