This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Top tips for getting it right on site!
Sands and aggregates for lime mortars. Roz Artis, BLF Treasurer and Director of the Scottish Lime Centre Trust, provides tips for working on site once the perfect sand for a project has been identified.
- Buy all the sand you are going need for your job in one go, keep it in the same condition throughout the job – this means that the water dosage per batch is consistent and the fines are not washed out.
- Store sands protected from the weather and from contamination from air borne leaves, seeds and other unwanted debris.
- Always measure sand by volume
- Check the void ratio of your sand to ensure your mix has sufficient binder to coat all the sand grains and fill the spaces (voids) between the sand grains – making a complete mortar.
- Don’t ever use frozen sand
- For tight city centre sites with little room for storage, buy pre-bagged dry mixes, colour matched to your requirements.
- For large volume house building, silo mortars are the obvious choice.
2024 Conference and Gathering
The next BLF Conference and Gathering will be held in Brighton, 6-8 September. Booking will open in May, but hold the dates!
Membership of the Building Limes Forum is open to all. No prior knowledge or experience in the use of lime in building is required. The membership form may be downloaded by clicking on the link below.
Become a member
Members of the Building Limes Forum form a community of lime enthusiasts and practitioners, most of whom are producers, suppliers, specifiers or users of lime.
Useful documents
Contact Building Limes Forum
Building Limes Forum
Riddle’s Court
322 Lawnmarket
Edinburgh, EH1 2PG, UK