What is mortar?
Mortar is a paste used to bind blocks together while filling the spaces between them. It is used most commonly in the masonry trade to bind stone, brick or concrete blocks during building construction. It can also be used to repair when the original application has crumbled or washed away. Mortar is a combination of sand, a binder such as lime or concrete, and water. It is applied as a thick paste and sets hard. It creates a tight seal between bricks to prevent the entry of air and moisture into the structure. It bonds with any joint reinforcements, anchor bolts or metal ties, and compensates for size variations in the bricks to create an aesthetically pleasing and structurally sound building. The first mortar used by man was nothing more than mud or clay combined with water. The ancient Egyptian pyramids, dating back to 2600 BCE, were made of limestone bricks bound together with mud and clay. Eventually, concrete mortar came into popular use. Today, there are several different kinds o
“Any of various bonding materials used in masonry, especially a plastic mixture of cement or lime, sand, and water that hardens in place and is used to bind together bricks or stones.” At least, that’s what the American Heritage Dictionary says. The people who make the bricks, as represented by the Brick Institute of America (BIA), go into more depth, as you would expect. “Mortar is the bonding agent that integrates brick into a masonry wall. Mortar must be strong, durable, and capable of keeping the wall intact; it must help to create a water resistant barrier; and it must accommodate dimensional variations and physical properties of the brick when laid. These requirements are influenced by the composition, proportions and properties of the mortar.” What we find is that two of those factors proportions and properties actually govern the third, composition. According to Brian Carney, vice president and general manager of Spec Mix, Mendota Heights, Minn., “You need to be concerned about
