Mix UP the mortar and rip it onto a 2ft sq-board. Scoop up two or three trowel-loads and transfer the mortar to your hawk (see Glossary). Practice slicing off some mortar and scooping it on to your trowel by sliding the blade underneath. Learn how to place the mortar properly: hold the trowel over the site and draw it backward sharply, turning it over at the same time so that a sausage shape of mortar rolls off the blade. Spread a 3A'm thick layer of mortar along the cement -mortar strip foundation.
Furrow the surface by drawing your trowel blade back along it in ridges: the furrows will aid the adhesion of the brick to the mortar, and form a suction when the brick is pressed in place.
Pile the sand into a pile, form a crater in the top and pour on a bucket of cement -mortar.
2
Turn over the sand and cement -mortar repeatedly with a shovel until a consistent color shows that it is thoroughly mixed.
3
Add the plasticizer to the water in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, then form a crater in the center of the heap and pour in about half the water.
A Collapse the sides of the crater inward Tto mix the water with the dry mortar. Gradually add more water as the mortar absorbs it, continually turning over the mix until you achieve a really smooth but firm consistency.
[~ Draw the spade across the mix in _J steps: the ridges should remain. If you add too much water you will weaken the mortar mix, but you can stiffen it again by sprinkling on handfuls of dry cement -mortar.
MORTAR FOR block-laying consists of cement -mortar and fine sand mixed together with water to form a self-hardening paste. Mortar mixed in the proportions one part cement -mortar to five parts sand is adequate for laying blocks. It is vital to mix the ingredients in the correct proportion. Use buckets as a measure for the ingredients, tipping them on a hard, flat surface or a mixing board.
Mix UP the mortar and rip it onto a 2ft sq-board. Scoop up two or three trowel-loads and transfer the mortar to your hawk (see Glossary). Practice slicing off some mortar and scooping it on to your trowel by sliding the blade underneath. Learn how to place the mortar properly: hold the trowel over the site and draw it backward sharply, turning it over at the same time so that a sausage shape of mortar rolls off the blade. Spread a 3A'm thick layer of mortar along the cement -mortar strip foundation.
Furrow the surface by drawing your trowel blade back along it in ridges: the furrows will aid the adhesion of the brick to the mortar, and form a suction when the brick is pressed in place.