Masonry Magazine September 2002 Page. 31
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There are two ways to make mortar-to a proportion specification or a property specification. Basically, one is a recipe and one simply meets performance criteria.
design mortars that achieve the right compressive strength value, water retention, and air content requirements by ASTM specifications. Of course, we'll do whatever the architects specify. If they prescribe a Type S proportion mix, yes we can make that. But I don't think they fully understand what the outcome is going to be. We do, but the designer doesn't."
That result would be a mortar version of overkill. "It's going to be an excessively strong mortar 99 out of 100 times," Harwell says. "And if it's an excessively strong mortar, that means that it's going to have quicker set times in the summer, making it unworkable for the mason. These quicker set times cause masons to add additional water to their mortar on the mud board, changing the water to cement ratio. In turn, that's going to affect such things as the color of the mortar in the wall and the consistency when tooling the joints as well as the ultimate compressive and bond strength of the in-place mortar."
Carney reminds us, "There are two ways to make mortar-to a proportion specification or a property specification. Basically, one is a recipe and one simply meets performance criteria. Then you go on to the next step, which is to select the masonry unit for the project and determine it's physical properties. Then simply match a mortar that will enhance and meet the physical require ments of the masonry unit. That's prescription mortars, manufacturing the best possible mortar for that masonry unit."
Carney pulls out the ASTM C 270 specifications and says, "If you read the summary, it says, 'Bond is probably the most important single property of a conventional mortar. To obtain optimal bond, use a mortar with properties that are compati ble with the masonry units to be used. After the initial rate of absorption (IRA) on a particular unit is determined, the mason can decide which mortar best suits the needs of the project.
"If it's a high IRA," Carney explains, "the mortar must have a high level of water retentively. If that unit absorbs the water too quickly, you won't have very good bond. If you have a brick that's very hard, you have to design a mortar for it. A higher cement to lime ratio is required because the unit will not absorb much water. You have to design a mortar that will allow you to build your wall with good set times."
You have to follow your building codes, that's a given. "However," Carney quickly says, "there are ways to talk to architects and officials, to educate them to use the best mortar on the job. That's what we do. If you design by property specifica tions you'll likely get the right mortar for the right unit for the right application."