I have to replace the coping stones on top of a dwarf walk. The area (of
mortar) measures approx 2.4m long by 250mm wide by 20mm deep. A neighbour
tells me it is not wise to do any 'bricklaying' in this cold weather. Is he
correct or is it an old wives tale? When I have been driving around over
the last few days I have seen plenty of housebuilders working. Will it be
OK, or is there something I would need to add to the sand and cement mix? I
do not mind doing it in the cold but I don't want to redo it again if the
bond fails.

Cheers

John

In article ,
"John" writes:
I have to replace the coping stones on top of a dwarf walk. The area (of
mortar) measures approx 2.4m long by 250mm wide by 20mm deep. A neighbour
tells me it is not wise to do any 'bricklaying' in this cold weather. Is he
correct or is it an old wives tale? When I have been driving around over
the last few days I have seen plenty of housebuilders working. Will it be
OK, or is there something I would need to add to the sand and cement mix? I
do not mind doing it in the cold but I don't want to redo it again if the
bond fails.

It's not the best time of the year to do this sort of thing.
You can get antifreeze to add to mortar mix if you really
have to.

The bond at the top of a wall is particularly important, as
there aren't tonnes of bricks on top to keep the bricks in
place. I would add a small amount of exterior grade (water
proof) PVA to the mix to improve the tensile bond strength
at the top of an outside wall.

--
Andrew Gabriel

In article , John
writes

When I have been driving around over
the last few days I have seen plenty of housebuilders working. Will it be
OK, or is there something I would need to add to the sand and cement mix? I
do not mind doing it in the cold but I don't want to redo it again if the
bond fails.

My dad built his own house (many years ago) and wondered why he hardly
got any BCO visits while the commercial sites nearby got loads. He asked
the BCO who told him he knew that he would make a good job as he was
going to live in the finished house with his family but the jobbing brickie
wouldn't give a toss as long as he was paid, bit of an unfair generality I
think but you get the idea. The particular BCO had a rep for doing the
rounds after a night of frost and getting the builders to demolish fresh walls
that hadn't been protected from the frost.

So, long story short, Andy's advice is good (as ever).
--
fred
Plusnet - I hope you like vanilla

In message , John
writes
I have to replace the coping stones on top of a dwarf walk. The area (of
mortar) measures approx 2.4m long by 250mm wide by 20mm deep. A neighbour
tells me it is not wise to do any 'bricklaying' in this cold weather. Is he
correct or is it an old wives tale? When I have been driving around over
the last few days I have seen plenty of housebuilders working. Will it be
OK, or is there something I would need to add to the sand and cement mix? I
do not mind doing it in the cold but I don't want to redo it again if the
bond fails.

Cheers

John



Hi,

Your neighbour is generally right.

What no-body wants is the water in the mortar freezing or even
'frosting' overnight. Apparently it can significantly weaken the mortar.

Personally, given the choice, I'd leave it until better weather - but
for copings on a dwarf wall... you're not exactly building Docklands! It
should be fine.

I'd say both the builder and the neighbour are right but it has come up
on this NG in the past, that sometimes people get a little too
protective/pedantic over their own works.

Hth
--
Someone

John wrote:
I have to replace the coping stones on top of a dwarf walk.

Wouldn't a level surface be better, perhaps with a handrail?