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Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 11:10 am
by 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
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 3:23 pm
by Carberry
Building sand, 4:1
Pointing
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 6:17 pm
by ambient
washed river sand 3 to 1
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 6:34 pm
by 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
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 6:40 pm
by 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
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 6:43 pm
by ilovesettsonmondays
double washed sand 3 to 1
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 6:53 pm
by 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.
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 7:36 pm
by dig dug dan
that makes sense.!
Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 9:18 pm
by local patios and driveway
Im trying 3 rendering 1 building this week, will see the result
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 5:26 pm
by 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?
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 6:17 pm
by 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.
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 6:52 pm
by Chris May
Ah, I see, thanks.
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:09 pm
by 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
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 7:46 pm
by 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?
Posted: Mon May 14, 2012 9:09 pm
by Al Jardin
Chris May wrote: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