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UK diy (uk.d-i-y) For the discussion of all topics related to diy (do-it-yourself) in the UK. All levels of experience and proficency are welcome to join in to ask questions or offer solutions. |
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#1
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Mortar and dry warm air
I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow
(we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) Regards Richard |
#2
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Mortar and dry warm air
geraldthehamster wrote:
I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) Regards Richard Maybe the bricks are too porous. Try a bit of pva in the mortar |
#3
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Mortar and dry warm air
geraldthehamster wrote:
I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) Regards Richard You don't ned to take down the wall, the mortar is just awaiting some water to complete the setting process - I've repointed walls and such likes and the sun has caused this same drying out - the mortar remains sandy until it's been wetted down a few times, then it sets as normal. -- Phil L RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008 |
#4
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Mortar and dry warm air
In article ,
"Phil L" writes: geraldthehamster wrote: I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) You don't ned to take down the wall, the mortar is just awaiting some water to complete the setting process - I've repointed walls and such likes and the sun has caused this same drying out - the mortar remains sandy until it's been wetted down a few times, then it sets as normal. Also, mortar takes about 6 weeks to fully set. For the first couple of weeks, you'll easily brush sand off the surface. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup] |
#5
Posted to uk.d-i-y
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Mortar and dry warm air
geraldthehamster wrote:
I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) Regards Richard Just spray with water several times, no need to turn heat off. NT |
#6
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Mortar and dry warm air
On Feb 25, 7:53*pm, (Andrew Gabriel)
wrote: In article , * * * * "Phil L" writes: geraldthehamster wrote: I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through *this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) You don't ned to take down the wall, the mortar is just awaiting some water to complete the setting process - I've repointed walls and such likes and the sun has caused this same drying out - the mortar remains sandy until it's been wetted down a few times, then it sets as normal. Also, mortar takes about 6 weeks to fully set. For the first couple of weeks, you'll easily brush sand off the surface. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - It wasn't just sand coming off the surface - a knife could be pushed right into the joints. The bricks could be removed from the wall by hand. Anyway, I've rebuil the wall now, and turned the heating off at least for tonight. Given these facts, would anyone like to suggest how long I ought to leave it off now, to give the mortar the greatest chance? It's all quite damp at the moment as I wetted everything down; it's my experience that if it's wet for longer it will set more slowly, but harder - there must be a point though when the chemical reaction becomes irreversible? Cheers Richard |
#7
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Mortar and dry warm air
geraldthehamster wrote:
On Feb 25, 7:53*pm, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote: In article , * * * * "Phil L" writes: geraldthehamster wrote: I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through *this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) You don't ned to take down the wall, the mortar is just awaiting some water to complete the setting process - I've repointed walls and such likes and the sun has caused this same drying out - the mortar remains sandy until it's been wetted down a few times, then it sets as normal. Also, mortar takes about 6 weeks to fully set. For the first couple of weeks, you'll easily brush sand off the surface. It wasn't just sand coming off the surface - a knife could be pushed right into the joints. The bricks could be removed from the wall by hand. thats normal Anyway, I've rebuil the wall now, and turned the heating off at least for tonight. Given these facts, would anyone like to suggest how long I ought to leave it off now, to give the mortar the greatest chance? people have already said It's all quite damp at the moment as I wetted everything down; it's my experience that if it's wet for longer it will set more slowly, but harder - there must be a point though when the chemical reaction becomes irreversible? Cheers Richard its always irreversible with cement, all the way thru the setting and curing processes. NT |
#8
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Mortar and dry warm air
On 25 Feb, 22:15, geraldthehamster wrote:
On Feb 25, 7:53*pm, (Andrew Gabriel) wrote: In article , * * * * "Phil L" writes: geraldthehamster wrote: I've just built a little dwarf wall in the eaves of my dormer bungalow (we're only talking about a 4 foot right-angled triangle), to close off a space behind a room. After three days the mortar doesn't look like it's gone off properly, but is sandy and crumbly. Central heating pipes run through *this space and under the wall, and I'm thinking that the warm, dry air has caused the mortar to dry out too quickly and prevented it going off properly. I'm now considering removing the wall and rebuilding it. I'd turn the heating off during and afterwards, and possibly give the occasional mist of water to keep things wet for a bit. My question is: how long ought I to plan to leave the heating off, to be certain I've given the mortar a chance to go off? A day? Two days? Longer? I know I can wait and see, but in the interests of domestic harmony I need to plan this against the weather forecast ;-) You don't ned to take down the wall, the mortar is just awaiting some water to complete the setting process - I've repointed walls and such likes and the sun has caused this same drying out - the mortar remains sandy until it's been wetted down a few times, then it sets as normal. Also, mortar takes about 6 weeks to fully set. For the first couple of weeks, you'll easily brush sand off the surface. -- Andrew Gabriel [email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - It wasn't just sand coming off the surface - a knife could be pushed right into the joints. The bricks could be removed from the wall by hand. Anyway, I've rebuil the wall now, and turned the heating off at least for tonight. Given these facts, would anyone like to suggest how long I ought to leave it off now, to give the mortar the greatest chance? It's all quite damp at the moment as I wetted everything down; it's my experience that if it's wet for longer it will set more slowly, but harder - there must be a point though when the chemical reaction becomes irreversible? Cheers Richard Just been building walls last couple of days. 6 to 1 mix. Next day bricks are firmly "stuck", mortar getting hard, but could push a knife in if you tried. But I wouldn't give the bricks a yank for a week or so. You get that urge to "go on, push it, see how strong it is" ! By the way, if your loft is now cold, note that mortar takes longer in the cold ;-) Simon. |
#9
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Mortar and dry warm air
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#10
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Mortar and dry warm air
Well, I examined my second attempt this morning, and already the
mortar was much harder than it has been after three or four days on the previous lot. As I made a point of ensuring the bricks were damp, I'll have had less suction as well, and a better bond, which as someone pointed out may also have been part of the problem. I don't want to give the impression that this brickwork is merely "near" some heating pipes. It forms one side of a mainly enclosed void about 6 by 4 foot in the eaves, in which the main 22mm copper pipes run. Even with insulation on the pipes, it gets very hot and dry in there. It would have been more like laying some bricks, then using a hairdryer on them. I'll inspect it again tonight, give another misting with water and put the heating back on. Cheers richard |
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