Why does nobody talk about how old lime mortar beats portland cement on old brick walls

I was repointing a 1920s house in Cleveland last month and kept fighting cracks in my portland cement mix. An old mason walked by and told me I was basically gluing bricks to plastic wrap. He showed me a lime mortar mix he uses and it flexes with the wall instead of fighting it. I did a test patch and after two weeks of drying the lime side has zero cracks while the portland side already has hairline fractures. Has anyone else dealt with this difference on historic homes?

2 comments

2 Comments

oliver71918d ago

Yeah that old mason was right, I've had lime mortar hold up way better on my own old brick repairs too.

verafoster18d ago

Yeah @oliver719, it's like how old tools last longer than cheap new ones, same idea exactly.