o Digest 362 BRIE Digest som Concise reviews of building technology ee Building mortar This Digest gives recommendations for the composition and use of a general purpose mortar and other specialised types of mortars, including those for resisting sulphate attack. These recommendations are made in the light of changes to British Standards and impending changes from British to European standards. The increasing use of ready-mixed mortars is recognised. The Digest also describes sulphate and frost attack on. mortar, their cause and effect, diagnosis and remedial measures. This est replaces Digests 89 and 160, both of which are now withdrawn, Masonry mortars are based on building sands (‘soft’ sands) mixed with cement and/or lime as a binder, Freshly made mortar should be cohesive — it should hang on the trowel — and spread easily. It should not lose water readily (this would cause it to stiffen immediately on contact with absor; masonry units) but should remain plastic long enough for bricks or blocks to be adjusted easily to line and level. Stiffer mortars are needed for non-absorptive units. These properties help to develop a good bond and lessen the risk of rain penetration through the finished wall. bond and durability are likely to be reduced: air-entrainment gives mortar more tolerance to low temperature. Mortar in external masonry must also be frost resistant when it has hardened; this is achieved by correct batching and mixing to appropriate specifications for the degree of exposure. Hardened mortar may need to resist the effects of soluble salts (particularly sulphates) arising from some types of building units or from groundwater or the atmosphere. Durability and loading requirements demand that mortar develops some strength as it hardens but a compressive strength of around 2. to 5 Nimm? when fully cured is adequate for use in most low-rise structures. Mortar within this strength range will accommodate small movements and any cracking in the masonry will tend to be distributed as hair cracks in the joints where they are unobtrusive and do not prejudice stability. Weaker mortars will not be durable under severe conditions; unnecessarily strong mortars will concentrate the effects of any differential movement in fewer and wider cracks unless adequate movement joints are provided, particularly in lightly stressed masonry. Printed copies of this document are available from 1 BRE Bookshop Building Research Establishment Garston, Watford, WD2 71R Telephone 0923 664444 (Access/Visa sales) | All mortar must be protected from frost while hardening otherwise bre press362 MORTAR MIX DESIGN With some of the coarser building sands, as much as ‘one volume of cement, or cement plus lime, to three volumes of sand is needed to give a workable mix. Such mix made with neat Portland cement is appropriate for work subjected to high stress and made with units of appropriate strength. Because of its relatively impervious nature, it may also be used to prevent the passage of water or to resist the effects of frost and soluble salts, A mortar of this kind is too strong for most other purposes but it isnot advisable to adjust the strength simply by varying the ratio of cement to sand. Depending on the “ype of sand, leaner mixes can be harsh and unworkabl: or need excessive amounts of water. Mortar made with appropriate proportions of Portland cement and lime take advantage of the useful properties of each. Portland cemer :lime:sand mortars are designed by replacing part of the cement in a 1:3 Portland cement mortar by an equal volume of lime, so that the binder paste still fills the voids in the sand. In this way, good working qualities, water retention, bonding properties and early stren.th can be achieved without the mature strength being (oo high. MORTAR DESIGNATION It has been the convention in the UK to provide five levels of Portland cement replacement with lime; the prescribed mixes are designated as shown in Table I ‘The mean compressive strength exected for each designation is shown in the final colurn. Designation (v) mortars are little used and not now recommended except for special purposes such as the repair of historic buildings. Under present drafts of European (CEN) Standards, the designation of a mortar will be performance related. It will include information on the type of ‘mortar and its fresh and hardened sroperties. Mortars will be classified on the basis of the'r compressive strength. This is signified by ‘M’ fo- mortar followed by a strength value in N/mm, for example; M 1, M2.5, M5, M7.5, M10, M 12.5, M 15 and M 20. These compositions of prescribed mortars relating to their compressive strength (as in Table 1) will be set up ina National Informative Annex to the CEN mortar standard, Table 1 Porttand cementiimessand mortars ‘An air-enraining admixtre may be incorporated in these mixes. The proportion of sand depends on wheter Type Sor [ype @ isusod ~ see Sand ‘Min compressive Mortar Proportions by volume strength of site-mixed Aesignation of dry materials ‘mortars at 28 days | Cement Lime Ninn? | @ 1 100.000) «i 1 b 50045) wy L L 230025) ww eee vom) 1 3 Lo AIR-ENTRAINMENT Mortar plasticisers entrain air in the mix and so improve the frost resistance of both freshly laid and hardened mortars. They also improve the working properties and reduce the quantity of mixing water required. Mostar plasticisers should comply with BS 4887. Whilst air content is not highly critical, it should be between 10 and 18%. This can be checked con site with a simple air-pressure device (see BS 4551). Too much air-entrainment leads to poor durability and low compressive and bond strength; insufficient ait wil reduce workability and impair frost resistance. The ‘manufacturer will give a guide to the amount of plasticiser related to the cement content of the mortar but the optimum will depend on a number of factors, in particular the type and grading of the sand, GENERAL PURPOSE MORTAR Designation (iii) mortars are listed in BS 5628 as suitable for most purposes although richer or leaner mixes are preferred for some uses. A 1:1:5-6 Portland cement: lime:sand mix ~ Designation (iii) - | which also includes an air-entraining plasticiser, has been shown to be particularly durable in accelerated testst, As there is often doubt on site whether the available sand is Type $ or Type G, a general purpose mortar is recommended for internal and external use regardless of sand type. ‘The mix is an air-entrained Portland cement: lime: sand. 542 by volume In two e4 used: * where clay bricks with a sulphate content in the 'N’ category in BS 3921 are used externally and are subject to a high risk of saturation; * where groundwater sulphate can reach the masonry. sulphate-resisting cement should be ‘able 2 Designated mortars other than Portland cementlimessand Arent Masonry Portland cementsand_cement'sand Hydrant fimessand Proportion by volume Designation " Cement Sand Cement Sand Lime Sand « voy 1 = | Gi) nS 1 = fa 1 1 23 ww) | "8S $224 oF BS EN 413 MC 12. cements only *Sulphate-esstng cement may be used i requiredDESIGNATED MORTARS OTHER THAN PORTLAND CEMENT/LIME/SAND Workable and frost-resistant mortar can be produced without the use of lime. There is, however, some evidence that the absence of lime reduces resistance to the damaging effects of sulphate Portland cementisand mortars with plasti With some of the finer sands, a straight cementisand imix may produce workable mortar without the use of a plasticiser, but the durability will be reduced. More mixing water will be required and the pore space within the hardened mortar will have none of the tiny spherical pores which give air-entrained mortar its frost resistance. Mix proportions for Designations (ii) to (iv) are shown in Table 2 Masonry cementssand mortars The lower Portland cement clinker content of masonry cements leads to a requirement for higher cement contents in mortars made with masonry cement, This is shown when the mix proportions for equivalent designations in Tables 1 and 2 are compared. The mix proportions in Table 2 are those appropriate for ‘Masonry cements to BS 5224 or BS EN 413 MC 12.5 and MC 12.5X; “X" indicates that the cement does not incorporate an-air entraining agent so this must be added at the mixer. MC 5 cement is for internal use only and is restricted to situations suitable for mortar Designation (iv). The mix, proportions should be adjusted if necessary to achieve the required strength. Until there is some UK experience with MC 22.5X cement, it should be pro- portioned in prescribed mixes as an MC 12.5X cement. Lime:sand mortars In the UK, the only significant use of hydraulic lime as the binder for building mortar is in restoration work. Its decline from being the main binder was due to the much faster strength development of mortars containing Portland cement. This led to quicker construction and, more importantly for the UK climate, allowed work to continue in all but the most severe Weather conditions. The continued use of hydraulic lime in many member countries of the EEC means that it may soon become more widely available again in the UK. For this reason, it is included in Table 2 but is considered suitable only where Designation (iv) mortars could be used. 362 LOW-PERMEABILITY JOINTING MORTAR Ifa jointing mortar is required to resist water pen tration, a good dense mortar is necessary. For example: © between the impervious ceramic units in a drainage or sewerage system; © between the units composing a capping, coping cill or damp-proof course in a wall © between the bricks in a water-retaining wall (particularly one with no waterproofing on the retaining face). For this purpose, Designation (i) mortar with a Type $ sand is recommended; the face of the joint should be tooled to compact the mortar to give ita firm contact, with the unit Concrete and calcium silicate units are unsuitable for damp-proof courses. If used as cappings, copings or cills, in drainage or sewerage systems or in retaining, walls, a Designation (fi) 1:14 Va mortar is recommended, Mortar formulations using polymer additives (eg butadiene styrene or styrene acrylic) can be uscd to reduce the permeability. They should not be used if the sand has a high clay content, HIGH-DURABILITY MORTAR ‘The mortar in some types of masonry construction must be highly resistant to severe weather conditions. The principal areas where extra precautions are needed, irrespective of the composition of the masonry units, are below or near external ground level, free- standing boundary walls, earth-retaining walls, parapets and chimneys. An air-entrained 1:1/2:4l/2 cement-lime:sand mortar is recommended. If clay bricks with a soluble sulphate content in the ‘N’ category are used, either in these situations or in unprotected (or even rendered) external walls subject to a high risk of saturation, the mortar should be made with a sulphate-resisting cement. In chimneys, where sulphate can be deposited from the flue gases, sulphate-resisting cement is recommended irrespective of the type of brick. OW-STRENGTH MORTAR ‘There are two cases where the General Purpose mortar is not suitable for both leaves of a cavity wall: ‘+ where the exposure of the outer leaf is judged to be unusually severe (requiring high-durability mortar); * where the inner leaf is subjected to exceptionally high moisture or thermal changes. Under these circumstances, separate batches of mortar must be used for each leaf and strict site quality control applied to ensure that they are not misplaced. MORTAR FOR LOADBEARING MASONRY The compressive strength values for Mortar Designations (i) to (iv) shown in Table | may be used: asa guide but for loadbearing masonry itis necessary to check that the mortar meets the designed strength requirement. Stringent control on air content is necessary if an airentraining admixture is used