Mortar / block laying questions

[Dee J]

5 days between laying a block and then hitting it with a hammer drill seems a bit quick to me. Not surprised. As a sparky I'd never be that rough on a new wall, especially on top or end courses.

 

[123hotchef]

if they are the light blocks then i always hose them down to slow the drying out of the morta and as said 3-1 or 4-1 and 2 weeks before drilling really

 

[gaz1]

Been doing it for the last 20 years to pressent and none of the buildings have cracked, fallen down or need repointing. 2 conservatories, 3 porches , 3 walls and 2 garages and ridge tiles. Total aprox 7000 bricks + blocks.
The secret is not to go daft with it, the cheapo no frills stuff is what I use. I even used car antifreeze in winter as a cheap alternative for frost protection while bricklaying in near zero degree weather conditions.

im clocking much longer than that 36 years of the building trade as my father taught me what i know has come in handy for years and still does which im glad im so varied in the jobs that i can do it really does come in handy

 

[123hotchef]

oh and i usually use the dense blocks because they are cheaper!

 

[mangocrazy]

The light blocks soak up water like a sponge. When I laid some I immersed them in water prior to laying, and took them out to drain about 10 minutes before use. If you use them dry they will suck the water out of your mix and leave you with nothing more than friable sand between courses. Giving them a light spray of water after laying is not a bad idea, anything to stop them leaching water out of the mortar.

 

[hollow]

I'm a brickie by trade. 5:1 is about right. The rule of thumb is that you don't want the muck to be much stronger than the blocks or it will promote cracks. The sad fact is it all depends on the sand. Sharp sand is stronger but harder to use soft sand is easier but weaker. Lightweight blocks are not wonderful for strength.

 

[optima21]

when you're talking about mixing ratios, if you're using small quantities, a 1 litre jug holds roughly 1.5kg of cement to the top of the jug, so its easier to work out the ratio of jugs you need to bags of sand. my speed of working is so slow I only need to mix one bag of sand at a time