Mortar is produced by mixing a binding material (cement or lime) with fine aggregate (sand, surki, etc.) with water. For construction purposes, different types of mortar are used. Depending upon the materials used for mortar mixture preparation, the mortar could be classified as follows.
- Cement Mortar
- Lime Mortar
- Surki Mortar
- Gauged Mortar
- Mud Mortar
Cement Mortar
Cement mortar is a type of mortar where cement is used as binding material and sand is used as fine aggregate. Depending upon the desired strength, the cement to the sand proportion of cement mortar varies from 1:2 to 1:6.
Lime Mortar
Lime mortar is a type of mortar where lime (fat lime or hydraulic lime) is used as binding material and sand is used as fine aggregate. The lime to the sand proportion of cement mortar is kept 1:2. The pyramids at Giza are plastered with lime mortar.
Gauged Mortar
Gauged mortar is a type of mortar where cement and lime both are used as binding material and sand is used as fine aggregate. Basically, it is a lime mortar where cement is added to gain higher strength. The process is known as gauging. The cement to the lime proportion varies from 1:6 to 1:9. Gauged mortar is more economical than cement concrete and also possesses higher strength than lime mortar.
Surki Mortar
Surki mortar is a type of mortar where lime is used as binding material and surki is used as fine aggregate. Surki mortar is economic.
Mud Mortar
Mud mortar is a type of mortar where mud is used as binding material and sawdust, rice husk or cow dung is used as fine aggregate. Mud mortar is useful where lime or cement is not available.
tags: mortar types, mortar mix, mortar cement, mortar for brick, mixture of sand and cement, cement masonry, mortar types for brick, brick mortar types, mortar ratio for brick masonry, masonry mortar types