The difference between lime putty and natural hydraulic lime

Reasons for choosing to repoint grade two listed buildings using lime putty instead of natural hydraulic lime

[keithlittle]

Hello sir

Could you tell me how to just make the normal white lime mortar that was used with the with the red imperial brick???

[roberthamilton]

Hi, I've an internal exterior wall which is showing damp at the bottom. Currently it is plastered with portland cement, I intend to chip away the cement and fill joints with lime mortar leaving wall as a feature wall. What grade of sand should I use and lime mortar ?
Thanks Robbie

[Pavlo_S.V.]

Hello wanted to ask, in your opinion is possible to use cement (for better setting) with hydrated lime and sand (0, 5:1:5 ratio) for rendering a brick wall layed with lime mortar, as it is quite difficult to find hydraulic lime in our region?
Or even small amounts of cement will trap moisture, make wall unbreathable and ruin the bricks?
Kind regards

[phoenixj]

Information in this video and others have been very helpful in my study of Lime Putty that I have recently started working with for the first time. LP is an underrated and misunderstood building material with almost miraculous 'self healing' properties. There are numerous reasons why Lime Putty is used, some are described in this video. Due to its softness, the putty will erode faster than the surrounding stone (the stone can erode leaving a hole surrounded by eg 'Portland' cement). Putty is easier to maintain than cement. Putty does not damage the surrounding stone. Primary reason. Putty is fluid, flexible and self healing, therefore with old houses that may have some degree of movement. Cement may cause greater damage to the stone work in this occurance. The putty acts as sacrificial pawns of this movement and becomes cracked. Smaller cracks may self heal. Larger cracks can easily be re pointed without damaging stone. What I dont understand is why so much putty? The stone work is now barely visible. I understand the need for good adhesion, but this looks OTT surely?

[kookia]

It was 7 years ago but i would still try to ask a question. Where I live, they sell NHL 3.5. In regards to breathable, is NHL 3.5 good for allowing moisture (raising dump) to evaporate, in comparison to lime putty. or they are quite the same (in a way that i can use either)?

[zeusricochant]

Do you apply and finish the lime putty the same way as NHL 3.5.

Can you only get that creamy look through mixing your own lime. Thanks

[jamiewatkinson]

Question sir, how do you know what type of mortar 2 use on certain bricks. I'm starting a brickpointing business and I want to make sure that I use the correct mortar for the brick I'm working on.

[boradaff]

Could you please share the mix you are using for rendering the plinth area? Thanks in advance!

[jeztickles]

Would you say 4:1:1 is wrong for lime mortar mix?

[robcamfield]

Hi, could you give me an idea of how much it would roughly cost to point the front (street) elevation of a three storey Grade II listed 18th century house in the historic town of Somerton, Somerset? Thanks

[chrissmith]

Hi, I have recently had a company look at my house that does lime pointing in the Cotswolds and was told they usually recommend a NHL 2 over 3.5 for old Cotswolds stone cottages I don't know what your opinion is of this

[matthunt]

Hi. I have to repoint an old Portuguese stone building and have chosen to use a lime putty mix. What mix ratios would you recommend? Thank you

[extde]

What do you think about artificial hydraulic lime (with controlled properties — you decide how to mix)? Try to use hydrated lime putty and metacaoline mix (6 - 20% is clay content of limestone used for NHL production).

[DimMak]

Hi James, I have a property in Hungary I am trying to renovate. They use lime putty, fine sand and cement in their mix for everything, but all the renders fall of the wall and turn back to almost sand dust !and any pointed wall suffer from blown bricks as well. As the lime putty and fine sand is readily avalibe, what would be the best mix for re pointing brick walls and also for the external render which always suffer from thaw/frost at lower leves and eventually pops off the wall. difficult to explain, I am not a pro, and everyone here uses 3;1;1 mix with cememnt, which obviously is not working. winter -10 regulary or more, summer 40deg!. Any help appreciated, no sharp sand only fine sand.

[robkovacs]

A question, please :- I have a house in Shropshire on a hill. The south-west facting brickwork is hit hard by strong winds and horizontal rain for prolonged periods in the winter. The brickwork extension was built in 1974/75 and has never been re-pointed. The perpendicular joints were never (originally) mortared properly and are leaking. I am going to re-point the brickwork. There is no sign of brickwork spalling. The bricks look very good.

I need a re-pointing mortar that is fairly weather-proof, and also breathable, as the cavity wall has let in a lot of damp and I need this to dry out over time. I am also repairing the cavity insulation (from the inner skin !).

What mixture ratio of cement, lime and sand should I use for re-pointing? Also, what "type" of lime should I use (hydrated, hydraulic, NHL2, NHL3.5 or NHL5)? What type of sand (builders/sharp/washed). T.I.A.

[daos]

so what are the differences between nhl and putty, other than that putty is 'softer'? what do they look like before use? how are they mixed? what do they contain?

[alexthomson]

Hello Michael, I wonder if you could help me? I have a property which is in France where Lime is used in most buildings, however I have never used it. There is an interior stone wall which has 2 windows however the lime render all around the inside is cracked and needs replacing. Could you advise on how I mix it please? Thankyou. Alex

[kuxkiri]

I’m building an extension, out of a mix of Ironstone or Hornton, and some lighter stone, perhaps a Cotswolds building stone. The contractor is building it using modern construction (concrete block, insulation, then faced with stone mentioned above). Would you still suggest a lime mortar for such a job?

[mfxilod]

Hiya i have a ramdom question my house is in wales built in the 1920s the bricks are engineering bricks what sort of lime should i use to repoint my house and how do i change the colour can i change the lime to pure white ?? Thank you gor any help

[tkjazzer]

Where do i get / make lime putty near Detroit, MI, USA and what can I do to make it safer around kids when repointing?