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Mortar
composition
AS
2701.7
The Australian Standard
AS3700 Masonry Structures specifies, among many other
things, the requirements for the composition of brickwork mortar
for a given situation. The proportions of cement, sand and
lime that are supposed to be used depend on the location of the
building (eg how close to the coast it is) and where the mortar is
in relation to the damp-proof course.
For instance, below the
damp-proof course the mortar should normally be M3 grade, which
would typically be made of 1 part of cement, 1 of lime and 6 of
sand, by volume. This mortar should be strong and durable
enough to resist the damaging effects of salt in the ground water,
whereas a mortar with less cement in it may suffer damage from the
salt crystallisation.
BMRL is able to test your
mortar by chemical analysis to determine how much cement, lime and
sand is present, and then work out whether it meets the
requirements of AS3700 or not. Recommendations can also be
made, if the mortar isn't up to scratch, on what should be done to
rectify the situation. So, if you suspect the mortar in your
house is not what it should be, ring or email us.
We can also test the brick
sand. By measuring the particle size grading and clay
content, we can tell how suitable a sand is for use in mortar or
render. | 