Masonry 101 #3 - Mortar

This lesson provides a comprehensive introduction to mortar for masonry construction, especially for those who have little to no experience with masonry but find themselves needing to design or review projects. It describes the purpose of mortar joining masonry units and the desirable properties of fresh and hardened mortar. It describes the materials that comprise mortar and explains how mortars are specified, batched, and mixed. Mixing considerations necessarily include good practices for hot and cold weather construction and the additional care required for colored mortar, both for materials and mixing requirements. This session briefly describes quality assurance and quality control for mortar, the difference between QA and QC, and typical reporting requirements related to that. Specialty mortars and ingredients will be briefly discussed to note differences with traditional mortars complying with ASTM C270.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe fresh and hardened mortar properties for masonry construction and describe the materials used to produce plain or colored masonry mortar
• Explain the two methods for specifying mortar for masonry construction and reporting requirements (submittals)
• Overview the proper construction practices for mixing and placing, and review quality assessment procedures
• Review specialty mortars and ingredients and discuss differences with more traditional mortars.