mortar mix & water

[duncb]

Hi all,
i am after some advice regarding mixing mortar,
Normally i mix my mortar on a piece of wood by hand adding water as i go along till it looks about right (only small amounts),
When the weather improves i'll be mixing quite abit to rebuild a wall so was looking at hiring a mixer,
what i need to know if possible is if using standard builders buckets as measuring gauges, and using a mix of 4:1 approx how much water am i going to need, i know i need to put it in the mixer first, also roughly how many bricks (standard) can i expect to lay from 1 mix.

Thanks for looking and hope you can help.
Dunc

 

[fulguros]

The amount of water required all depends on how wet the sand you are using is.

After years of using my own mixed mortar and also mortar mixed by labourers etc I now never put water in the mixer first.

I add the first gauged bucket of sand and then add the plasticiser to this and then add the rest of half the required sand for the mix. Then I add all the cement required and then the remaining half of sand.

I wait until the mix is a uniformed colour so everything is mixed properly and then I add the water a bit at a time until I have the mortar exactly as I want it.

 

[merlin50]

why not buy a mixer, they always come in useful

 

[duncb]

It did cross my mind to buy one but at the moment i cant really see any jobs occuring were it would be cost effective to buy one, but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[^woody^]

I wont bother confusing you by mentioning that if you put a bit of fairy liquid in the mix, then you will use much less water

Its a waste of time asking how many bricks a mix will lay, because people fill the mixer up to different amounts - and if you have not laid many bricks before than you will use most of the mortar to stand on.

However, if when you tip the mix into a normal barrow, if the barrow is full to the top, then you might lay 100-120 bricks in a half brick wall. A few less if one brick thick

 

[xr4x4]

why do they say to add the water first in a mixer?

when its the last thing you add when mixing on a board.

 

[^woody^]

1 - all the mix will be bone dry and stuck to the back of the drum otherwise

2 - when you throw a bucket of water in afterwards, 3/4 of it will splash straight back out down your trousers

In reality you add a bit of water to keep the sand smooth and then add part of the cement, top up water and then more cement and sand

 

[hotrod]

why do they say to add the water first in a mixer?

when its the last thing you add when mixing on a board.