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Help with mortar color

dperfe | Posted in Construction Techniques on January 23, 2005 03:15am

Hello all,
My mason has started on the front facade of my owner-build home and i have to make a decision concerning mortar color. Originally i was going to go with stone and stucco, but for cost reasons i’ve kept the stone, Citadel Driftwood, but switched the stucco for a red brick, buckingham tudor. The mortar for the stone is dyed, and i need to make a decision whether or not to dye the brick mortar as well. My stone supplier is encouraging me to do it. But my mason says it will make the brick look too dark. I don’t want to screw up the aesthetic, however, I would prefer the lighter color mortar. Any thoughts would be helpful. Here’s a fairly recent picture. I’m sorry i don’t have a picture of the brick, I would say it approximates a burgandy color, but not quite as deep or dark.

Thanks,
DP

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  1. Terry1343 | Jan 23, 2005 05:09am | #1

    DP,

    It's your choice! 

    My honest opinion.... I always go with regular gray mortar if possible.  To put it blunty however, I hate mortar coloring.   Sure, it's pretty when new, but it create's problems in the long run. It's hard enough to match brick when remodeling, much less having to deal with the coloring that has faded over the years.   It's also tougher to repair or patch without being obvious.  If I did use coloring, it would be a popular color that is readily available.  In my experience the colored premixed mortar in the bag works better and is more consistent than the "bags of dye".  Colored mortar is also more expensive.   You'll have to decide what works best for your job.

    Kentucky

     

     

     

     

  2. tuffy | Jan 23, 2005 05:33am | #2

    The best thing you might do is drive around and look at some buildings until you see an example of what you're considering, or at least look for some photographs.

    You could also have your mason do a quick mock up--just set up a few bricks with the colored mortar and see if it looks okay. If not, it's no biggie to knock 8 or 10 bricks down and start over.

    If you're asking whether or not to use a buff mortar with a red brick, well, offhand it seems like that would look a little strange--perhaps contrived. It may depend on the specific colors, and how well they coordinate. There are all kinds of historic buildings out there where the mortar color is exactly matched or very similar to the brick color. If you're thinking of going more that route, that may look fine (except that those bright white Pellas will stand out glaringly bad against a dark brick background).

    I wouldn't worry much about maintenance or repairs as far as color goes. I've matched existing colored mortar pretty precisely for new work, and if I can do it easily enough, surely anyone else can. And it's not like even a standard color will always stay precisely the same color it was when new--things do tend to age after all. A future mason would be considerably more concerned with trying to match the actual stone or brick than the mortar.

  3. WayneL5 | Jan 23, 2005 05:44am | #3

    I've done a bit of mortar coloring.  On my own Craftsman style home the foundation was faced with a reddish tan stone.  Gray mortar just did not go with either the Craftsman aged look nor the stone.  I used a light tan mortar.  It's made by mixing a powdered pigment into mortar.  Because of the light color the mason had to use white mortar instead of gray mortar for his mix, according to the color chart from the manufacturer.  It came out great.

    I don't think a dark mortar with the red brick would look good.  If it did not contrast with the joints you'd loose the pattern of the brick.  If the rest of your colors are earth tones, I'd consider some sort of tan rather than a gray for your brick mortar.

    But, if I can tell the colors right from the computer screen, your Citadel Driftwood is gray rather than brown.  That makes me think that a mortar that complements the stone, too, (even if it is not the same as the mortar for the stone), would be nice.  That brings me back to something on the gray side.

    1. dperfe | Jan 23, 2005 06:35am | #4

      Unless there's some serious risk to disrupting the aesthetic of the house, then i'm inclined to use no color, or if i do, then to match the level of gray in the stone and not the mortar.Thanks people.-DP

  4. gzajac | Jan 23, 2005 03:49pm | #5

    Dp

    Last house we did the mason made samples of the majority of the masonary installed. All went fine except the one fireplace face he didn't make- homeowner didn't like the  dyed  color. He ended up grinding it all out and redoing.Make the samples, money well spent.

    Greg in connecticut

    PS Are your windows flashed in ?

    1. dperfe | Jan 23, 2005 07:54pm | #7

      Windows are flashed.

  5. User avater
    GoldenWreckedAngle | Jan 23, 2005 04:25pm | #6

    Don't worry about screwing up the asthetics by changing mortar color on the brick. The brick is a different color than the stone - a different colored mortar is perfectly acceptable, and often preferable in that scenario. Pick the color that makes the brick look best in your view.

     

  6. MrBill | Jan 23, 2005 08:27pm | #8

    dp,

     Just curious where you are located ? Stone looks nice, would love to drive by and see it in person.

    Bill Koustenis

    Advanced Automotive Machine

    Waldorf Md

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