Pointing brick floor

[geraldthehamster]

I've laid a floor in reclaimed flooring bricks in my garage that I'm building. I was going to fill the irregular gaps with kiln dried sand, but in the hope of avoiding sand coming out and kicking around the garage, I've used a kiln dried sand/cement mix, in the hope that atmospheric moisture will cause it go go off ... eventually. My question is does anyone have a view on how long "eventually" might be? I'm reluctant to spray water over it, because I don't want to turn whatever is left on the surface of the bricks into a slurry - I used it dry to try to avoid staining

 

[^woody^]

Unless the floor is damp, it will take a very long time, months. There may well be some initial very slight setting after a week or so, but unless there is enough moisture to start the reaction, the cement bond will be very weak and on the surface only - the joint surface liable to come out when disturbed.

If you have wet-laid the bricks then covering the floor with polythene will allow the joints to get damp by preventing evaporation.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

You mean something like this?

Those went in onto a fairly dry screed and once the screed had set the grouting was done with a fairly dry sand and Portland cement mix which only took a day or so to set in December last year. The resulting floor was sealed with a stone sealant after about a week (protected by plywood sheeting in the meantime). Note that this photo was taken before completion, hence unfilled/unpainted woodwork, etc

I'll see if I can get hold of my PM from the job to get the full details on the mortar mix (but don't hold your breath on that one)

 

[geraldthehamster]

Thanks both. Bricks were laid a while ago onto concrete, so the substrate is dry and likely to remain so. Yes, like in the picture only herringbone. and my mix was completely dry. Hmm

 

[geraldthehamster]

I think I might need to go over the whole thing with a wet sponge, cleaning the tops of the bricks as I go. Ah well, they're only knees

 

[noseall]

I think I might need to go over the whole thing with a wet sponge, cleaning the tops of the bricks as I go. Ah well, they're only knees

Use one of the polymer jointing compounds.

 

[geraldthehamster]

Two things - firstly, most of the floor now has sand/cement in the joints, so using a different material isn't an option. Secondly, the flooring bricks were laid with the intention of no gaps, but there are small and irregular gaps because of the recycled nature of the material - some are damaged, and there are a few metric sizes mixed in with imperial. Many of the gaps are too small to point in the traditional manner, hence the use of fine sand.

I'm going to do what I should have done, and go back over the area I've filled with a wet mix, which should compact what's already there. I'll have to wipe the surface carefully as I go to avoid staining.

They're hard, 2 1/2 inch deep flooring bricks rather than walling bricks. Come from an old pork pie factory.