siver sand or soft builders sand for mortar

[svouts]

I am repointing an old garden brick wall with 5:1:1 mortar mix. Shall i use silver sand (i find it in 25 kg bags) or soft building sand (i find it in 40 kg bags)? What is the difference?

 

[LanceCorpralJones]

If you used a mixture you would get a stronger (more weather-proof mortar) but it would not be so easy to work with.
A soft sand will make life easier for you, it's cheaper, and it's what would have been used in the first place. So go for the soft sand.

Silver sand is sharper washed sand than soft sand, thus more expensive.

 

[stuart45]

If it's a really old wall built with soft bricks and lime mortar you should repoint with lime mortar.

 

[svouts]

I am not sure how old is the wall, it is in bad condition though. In some places the pointing looks like have been used only sand and fals apart. I had a specialist looking to it and said would be best to use 6:1:1 and 2 cm deep. After checking more carefully, in some places, I need to repoint 5-6 cm deep so I am thinking to go for 5:1:1 mix to make it more stable.