Pointing indian sandstone - Best mix for sand&cement pointing

[Chris May]

Hi

Can anyone tell me what is the best sand to use for pointing Indian Sandstone? Also what ratio sand to cement? Thanks

[Carberry]

Building sand, 4:1

Pointing

[ambient]

washed river sand 3 to 1

[dig dug dan]

washed river sand 3 to 1

are you sure? ive seen that and it looks terrible too gritty.
LLL says plastering sand 3-1

[mickg]

are you sure? ive seen that and it looks terrible too gritty.
LLL says plastering sand 3-1

not in the north west area of the UK, its used for rendering too

[ilovesettsonmondays]

double washed sand 3 to 1

[Pablo]

I all depends on what sand is available locally to you I can only get building/ plastering and course and to confuse matters more one suppliers building is good and the others plastering is good. Never able to get seived sand so all of it's got grit in it up to 5mm which is a f#ckin pain.

[dig dug dan]

that makes sense.!

[local patios and driveway]

Im trying 3 rendering 1 building this week, will see the result

[Chris May]

Thanks for the info. 3 to 1 seems favourite. We'll have to take a look at the sand available. I guess we're looking for sand that's as fine as possible?

[r896neo]

No don't look for sand as fine as possible because it creates a weaker mortar. Most of the of recipies mentioned above are a mix of finer sand like building sand and coarser stuff like plastering sand/ sharp sand.

[Chris May]

Ah, I see, thanks.

[lutonlagerlout]

on this we used plastering sand and cement 2.5:1
through a pointing gun with plenty of feb

slightly rougher but stronger than soft sand

cheers LLL

[Chris May]

Thanks for the pics. Now that's a neat job. If only you lived near me Are pointing guns relatively easy to use? We were going to trowel it in using a fairly dryish mixture but there is a lot of patio to do. Does the mortar have to be reasonably wet to go through a pointing gun? Sorry to be thick but what's feb?

[Al Jardin]

Thanks for the pics. Now that's a neat job. If only you lived near me Are pointing guns relatively easy to use? We were going to trowel it in using a fairly dryish mixture but there is a lot of patio to do. Does the mortar have to be reasonably wet to go through a pointing gun? Sorry to be thick but what's feb?

Try puting the sand through a sieve. Any larger bits will clog the gun. Lime has been mentioned to aid workability but plasticiser works well. Experiment with a thicker consistency first and add water if it is hard to push out. Pre wet the joint first but not too much.

Al