Mortar and concrete are very similar, the main difference is the ratio of
gravel and sand used WRT portland cement.

Your friend may have meant to say to buy portland cement and mix in your own
sand and lime to custom mix a mortar more to your own liking. In fact, if
color is important, the color and type of sand will make that differnece.
From a bag, you get standard grey. Also if hardness were important, a
custom mix will allow for that as well.

Mortar is normally used to stick bricks together but it can also be used to
form concrete structures. It lacks large gravel and has some lime in it to
make it more sticky (gooey).

Concrete will have a variety of gravel sizes in it (aggregate) which might
make it hard to put into a small form or may show up on the exterior of the
finished object but the concern is mostly asthetic. THe aggrigate will
interfere with setting of bricks, so don't use it for that.

Sand mix is mixed more of a happy medium. like mortar but with more sand and
lacking the lime which makes the mortar more sticky.

So if you are looking to repair a brick planter and plan to reuse the
bricks, use mortar. Additional lime could be added to adjust the
consistancy (I.e. you do not add more or less water to adjust this) but you
shouldn't have to.



"jebber007" wrote in message
news:19cd45262110508450b1bc2b12f9d092@homerepairli ve.com...
I need to rebuild a brick planter outside my home, since over time it has
deteriorated to eyesore level. I think I can rebuild it myself, however I
need to understand which mortar or concrete I should use.

Home Depot sells something called "Mortar Mix" that you just mix with
water
- it says on the package "intended for masonry projects." But someone told
me that it's better to mix up some concrete and add sand to it for better
performance. Can anyone shed some light onto this for me?

Thanks!

Jeb