How to mix lime mortar

When you’re building a construction business, mixing lime mortar is a handy way to create this essential building material. Find out how to mix lime mortar by hand in this helpful guide.

What is lime mortar?

Lime mortar is a building material that’s been used for centuries in building works. It’s a traditional building material composed using the mineral, lime, and aggregate-like sand before being mixed with water.

Although cement took hold of the limelight at the end of the 19^th century, lime mortar had regained popularity.

Now, many building companies use it. And they’re mixing lime mortar by hand more and more.

Why use lime mortar?

Lime mortar offers many advantages, especially when working with more traditional masonry. Even better, you can mix this material yourself!

But how can mixing lime mortar by hand help your business? And what does it involve?

It’s a softer building material

Lime mortar is more porous and softer than cement mixes, meaning it can absorb moisture from surrounding masonry and allow it to move freely and evaporate.

A common mistake made over the years was using cement mixes to repair old buildings, leading to issues such as damp.

This is because older properties were designed to allow moisture to escape and evaporate naturally.

So, when cement is used, it can cause water to become trapped. Whereas this is less likely to happen when using lime mortar.

Mixing lime mortar is eco-friendly

Mixing lime mortar by hand is an eco-friendly building material, for both production and use.

According to the National House-Building Council (NHBC), there’s less energy required to create lime-based mortar than cementitious mixes.

So, mixing lime mortar yourself counts towards greener building methods. Because the energy needed to use a traditional cement mixer is removed. You can just mix it by hand instead!

How to mix lime mortar by hand

Mixing lime mortar can be done by hand, or using a modern cement mixer with lime, aggregate and water.

However, mixing lime mortar by hand is a great option if you don’t want to spend money on cement mixer equipment.

This is how to mix lime mortar by hand with care

It’s simple mixing lime mortar by hand once you know how. And we’re here to help.

Firstly, you’ll need to add the water as slowly as possible. Be mindful of this process, as it’s quite easy to add too much at once!

The mortar should then be mixed for around five minutes. Then, it should be allowed to rest for a few minutes, and re-mixed for another three minutes.

Once mixed, the consistency should be workable and like that of brown sugar.

However, it shouldn’t be so overly pliable that it would ooze through your fingers if you squeezed the mixture.

Remember to take out builder’s insurance if you’ve got your own business. As insurance protects you if things go wrong when handling and mixing different materials.

Get the Checkatrade trusted tick

If you’re a tradesperson who carries out work with lime mortar for older properties, you can join Checkatrade.

Having that Checkatrade tick of approval will help bring in more customers. Because being a member helps customers find your services more easily.

Over one million customers visit Checkatrade every month to find relevant trades. So, it definitely pays to get your business listed!