Email us: peter@makeitmudbricks.com.au Peter Jirgens Copyright: Jirgens Civil Pty Ltd T/as 'Make It Mudbricks', 2009
MUD BRICK MORTAR
Make it Mudbricks can supply mortar soil for your home which will match your bricks perfectly, eliminating the need to render or paint your walls. When the mortar and bricks are made from the same material, a wall that is uniform in its properties is created. Our mortar soil is mixed and screened to provide a consistent well graded material for excellent results.
Supplying your own mortar soil
You can source your own soil for making mortar, however it is unlikely the colour will match so you will need to use either a render or an earth paint to make the walls a uniform colour.
Mortar soil should have approximately 30-35% clay with the remainder being silt and sand. You are aiming for a well graded material with a range of particle size from clay to silt and sand. The maximum sized particle should not exceed 10mm. Remember the smaller the largest particles, the easier it is to obtain a smooth finish, so it is often desirable to screen the mortar soil to remove any large stones. The mortar soil should not include any organic material such as topsoil, roots or leaves.
Mixing Mortar
Mixing up your mortar is fairly straight forward, but before you start you need to know the dry weight of the mortar soil in your mixer (or wheel barrow). To measure this, fill the mixer to the desired height, then tip the contents out into 20 litre buckets and weigh.
ASS Grow Mulch bitumen emulsion is added at 2% by weight to the mix i.e. 2 litres of ASS to every 100kg of mortar soil. ASS Grow Mulch can be sourced from Boral at Greystones in Sydney, Phone 02 96209557 or we can provide it to you in the correct quantities.
When making up the mortar mix for outside walls, add the materials in the following order: Water, 2% ASS Grow Mulch, Mortar Soil and then sand if required. The amount of water required will vary depending on the soil characteristics. The finished mortar mix should be the consistency of biscuit mix and smooth in consistency. For inside walls the ASS Grow Mulch emulsion is not required as these walls will not be exposed to the weather.
Tips for laying mud bricks
The process for laying mud bricks is similar to that used to lay ordinary fired bricks using simple measurements, string lines and a spirit level. With the mortar and the brick being the same material, the laying does not have to be perfect, in fact the variations in the wall give it character. The process of laying the bricks is not particularly complex when it is shown to you. Our mud brick building workshops detail making mortar, laying mud bricks and finishing the walls with plenty of opportunity to have a go yourself. To read about our mud brick building workshops click here.
Mortar joints, both horizontally and vertically are generally 20mm thick. It is preferable to finish off the mortar joints as best you can as you go depending on the finish you desire. It can be very time consuming to try and finish the joints after the mortar has fully dried. To read about different wall finishes click here.
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Phone 02 44460 140
Fax 02 44460 510
Mobile 0407 460 140
158 Hockeys Lane, Cambewarra, 2540
ABN 60 100 721 882