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.