How to make cement-lime mortar for plastering

Cement-lime mortar popular among builders and home craftsmen, as has certain advantages over the other "fellow". One of these advantages is their low cost. However, plaster will cost you even cheaper if you know how to prepare cement mortar by yourself.

Indeed, cement-lime mortar is not only cheaper, but also very malleable to work with. It has good ductility and adhesion to surfaces. In addition, you will have more time to make the plastered surface smooth as possible and smooth, as the solution for a long time retains a buttery texture.

Preparation for work

To make cement-lime mortar, you will need the following:

- cement grade 400;
- sand;
- lime or a lime paste;
- gauze;
- sieve with cell size of 2-3 cm;
- container for mixing the solution with a height of 30 cm, a width of 70 cm and a length of about one meter;
- capacity for lime slaking;
- shovel or hoe;
protection sunglasses;
- rubber gloves.

Preparation of a dry cement-sand mixture

First mix the sand with cement. The sand must be sifted through a sieve to remove clumps of clay, shells or small stones. Prepare the dry mixture using cement and sand in the ratio 1:4-5 respectively. To do this, alternately pour in a container of layers of cement and sand, and then stir the mixture with a shovel or hoe.

Preparation of lime milk

If you purchased in the store ready-made lime putty, then just dilute it with water, and make milk of lime.

If you bought ordinary quicklime, you will have to repay. To do this, pour the lime in a barrel of water, cover, and hold during the day. Slaked lime is accompanied by bubbling, so do not be amiss to protect the eyes with safety goggles and hands with rubber gloves.

Then strain the slaked lime through cheesecloth. The resulting doughy mass dilute with water to the consistency of milk or liquid cream.

Preparing a cement-lime mortar

In a dry cement-sand mixture, add milk of lime in a ratio of 5:1. Stir the solution thoroughly with a shovel or hoe, if necessary, adding water.

Now the obtained cement-lime mortar should be checked for the correct consistency. To do this, place a shovel and removing it from the solution, pay attention to how the solution adheres to the metal surface.

If the shovel was a large amount of solution, then he is too fat. In this case, add a small portion of sand. If the shovel was almost pure, so the solution turned out to be too skinny. Then it is necessary to associate a cement or limy test.

Ideally, the solution should adhere to the shovel, and if you achieve this, then cement mortar is ready for use. Try to prepare so much solution to be enough for no more than 2-3 hours, as it gradually loses its properties.