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How Pigmented mortar saves the day It all started out when I rescued these graciously aged bricks from eternal entombment at a local landfill. Some people just have no respect for the charmingly rugged character and the seasoned appearance that are earned over a lifetime. I have given these well worn little guys new life and purpose as a garden wall. Since they are abutted to a rubble stone wall their crude, chipped, mortar encrusted surfaces provide the perfect accompaniment for this rustic setting. My likes don't lean toward fine formal brickwork anyway. The consensus around here is, that's because I'm just as crude,chipped and mortar encrusted as those abandoned old bricks. My reply? "Bah humbug!" As I was saying I wanted to make this
curvaceous brick wall, but alas... So much for grand ideas. A major problem arose when I
found that cutting these old bricks into the weird shapes that I needed was a major
headache. The old crumbly bricks just weren't up to the job and neither was
I. ( I may be old, but being crumbly is not a problem yet ) A good
example of the problem is where the bricks have to go around a sharp bend. Since the
bricks would not bend (now that's a problem I do have) it left a space that had to be
filled in with mortar or else I had to use a delicately cut wedge of brick. That
meant untold hours of cutting and fitting just to have it break at the last moment. Rather than admit defeat I set out on a plan to conquer the smug little red blocks. I could use plain mortar to fill in the triangular space between the bricks, but decided this would look horrendous. I had some Blue Mountain terra cotta pigment in the shed. What if I mixed the orangey red color in with the mortar? The color was an exact match! With a little fancy groove work around the edges the colored mortar wedge looks just like a brick. In fact I think I'll tell people it took hours to cut that brick to fit in there! Won't they be amazed at my brick cutting dexterity. Especially after I tell them how hard these crumbly old buggers are to cut. Don't you just love bricks. I do. There's something so wholesome and fundamental about them.
Pigment Fun duh mentals
If you use less than a bag of cement in your mix adjust the amount of pigment to match the amount of cement.
This brick laying project requires us to mix pigment with
mortar. There is about 15% to 20% cement content in mortar mix. The
balance of the mix is comprised of sand with some lime or gypsum added.
Next I added a heaping tablespoon of #3415
Terra Cotta pigment for each coffee can full of mortar mix. It doesn't take much pigment
to color a lot of mortar. Thoroughly blend the dry components then add only enough water
to dampen the mix. Mix the ingredients again and add water a few drops at a time if it is needed. Keep the mix good and stiff. You'll be surprised at how little water it takes at this point to turn the mix into a concoction that looks like tomato soup. Mix it long enough to be sure the pigment is blended evenly all the way through.
You may have to wait a while longer, maybe
another hour, before you can put the groove around the edge.Use a wet sponge to
clean off the surrounding bricks.
This is how it looks all grooved in and
cleaned up. Snug as a plug in a jug ( o' shine.)
The bricks will develop a fine patina of green moss and color muting grime over time. Fifty or sixty years from now someone will tear down this wall and haul these bricks to the landfill. Then some poor unfortunate soul will happen upon the pile of insolent little red devils and haul their prize cache home. I hope they have as much fun taming these unruly little fighters as I did. They're a tough bunch. Well that's it. Problem solved. Another job well done. Blow the dust off the bottle boys 'cause I'm comin' home! Blue Mountain Pigment | Plaster Master Home | Dan Does It Archives | Mold Companies | Email Us |
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Damn these rotten old bricks! I should drive them to the
town landfill or heave them off a cliff.
I start out by dumping my dry mortar mix in a
flat mixing pan or tray. I only mixed enough mortar to do a few bricks at a time. A
coffee can full or two of mortar mix was the amount that I could handle before it started
to set up in the mixing trough. There's a lot of hand work and shaping that has to be done
so there's no sense having a large batch of mortar mixed up which you will not use. 
Butter up your brick and place it in it's
assigned position in the course. It may help to soak the brick in water first. Crusty, dry
old guys like this one will draw out the water from the mortar as soon as you trowel it on
the brick. That'll make it tough to place the brick.
Here the bricks overhang the course below so
the mortar hangs out in the open air.Try to press the mortar in with one or two smooth
strokes. The more you play around with it the more it sags and slumps away from the brick.
After about an hour the mortar will be set up
enough to scrape off the top.You need to scrape it give it a coarse sandy texture.
This is what gives it the illusion of an old brick. You especially want to break up
any gloss left by the trowel. 
