Mortar is made by mixing with water a bonding agent cement or lime with fine aggregate, sand, & surki, etc. Various types of mortar are used for construction purposes. The mortar could be graded as follows, based on the products used for the preparation of the mortar mixture.
- Cement Mortar
- Lime Mortar
- Surki Mortar
- Gauged Mortar
- Mud Mortar
Cement Mortar
Concrete mortar is a form of the mortar used as binding material for concrete and used as a fine aggregate for gravel. The cement to the sand ratio of cement mortar ranges from 1:2 to 1:6, based on the required strength.
Lime Mortar
Lime mortar is a type of mortar used as binding material for lime (fat lime or hydraulic lime) and for sand as a fine aggregate. The lime to cement mortar’s sand ratio is set at 1:2. Giza’s pyramids were built with lime mortar.
Surki Mortar
Surki mortar is a form of the mortar used as binding material for lime and surki as a fine aggregate. Surki’s commercial mortar.
Gauged Mortar
Gauged mortar is a type of mortar that uses cement and lime as both binding material and sand as a fine aggregate. It’s basically a lime mortar that adds cement to gain higher strength. The process is referred to as gauge. The lime percentage of cement varies from 1:6 to 1:9. Gauged mortar is economical than cement concrete and also possesses higher strength than lime mortar.
Mud Mortar
Mud mortar is a form of mortar which uses mud as a binding medium and used as a fine aggregate for sawdust, rice husk or cow-dung. Mud mortar is effective in the absence of lime or asphalt.