Ready mix mortar, how many bricks?

[tomo8]

Were starting a house this week an its pre mixed mortar with a dye in. Weve got to order as we go an dont want to waste any.

Its ages since we used pre mix an cant remember how many bricks you can lay for 1m3??

Got a feeling its 1000-1200.

Anyone any ideas?

Cheers

[lutonlagerlout]

depending on frog size,frog up, frog down,10mm beds etc
around 12-1400 bricks to a metre2 of compo

it used to be 1000 bricks to a yard2 of sand but a yard2 is a lot less than a metre2

cheers LLL

[Brucieboy]

Tomo - if you're using retarded ready-to-use mortar, 1 m3 will lay about 2000 solids (range 1700 -2400) and about 1600 perforated or frogged (range 1300 to 1800) assuming no wastage.

[tomo8]

Cheers for that felas.

[henpecked]

Its about a pack a tub of gobbo (1/3 cube)

[lutonlagerlout]

in the real world bruce that is unlikely
i never liked those tubs,
day 1 like soup
day 2 ok-ish
day 3 like floor screed
if you got caught wetting it up or adding fairy it was down the road
we used tonne bags of ready dyed sand last year tommo that worked out good because if it rained you didnt have to worry
a metre a day would be good going for a 2 and 1 gang
LLL

[digerjones]

the local buildbase [b,m] has got a silo and i have only seen i tub go out all the times i have been in there. and the silo must have been there 3 years now. it just dose'nt seem very popular, i would use it on the right job.

[Brucieboy]

LLL - you're quite right. Retarded ready-to-use mortar is very difficult to produce consistently due to the many variables involved - the weather being one. Furthermore, it's very subjective. What's good muck to one brickie is absolute sh*t to another. A lot also depends what brick is being laid. For heavy, non-absorbant solids such as Class A, the brickie wants it fairly stiff, for highly absorbant bricks, it needs to be more workable. Getting a good compromise when doing a milk run with the same base mix is an art (mastered only by a few). The main reason the target number of bricks per m3 isn't achieved is down to wastage - difficult to quantify as it depends on the quality of the mortar, the weather (particularly when on day 2 rain or freezing conditions stop play) and site practice.

It's why the dry silo system is becoming more and more popular, particularly for the larger site. The mortar consistency can be changed quickly and the sytem shut down when you don't need it.

[henpecked]

Rain = tarp. Frost = cellotex on tub. Easy

If it gets fruzzed, it will be piss-like. If your there when the guy drops. he will wet it up as its poured if its too stiff. Be careful with dyed mortars ,as wetting will change the shade .... sightly

[tomo8]

Id rather not use it, but the client wants it and has arranged for it. He wants a normal pre mix for the blockwork, which i dont want!!

Going to tell him to get sand an cement for block.

[Brucieboy]

If you're forced to use it, as henpecked says, ensure you're on site when it's delivered. That way you've got a better chance of getting what you want. Depending on how much has been ordered relative to the size of the mixer, these guys often do milk runs with very early starts generally on site well before 7.00 am for their first drop. If batched correctly, it should remain useable for two working days.