Bricklaying Tips - Mixing Mortar 

You're a legend Stu! I'm just a DIYer but I love learning stuff like this off your channel. Cheers!

Hi Stu, these videos of yours have been a huge help. I have never laid a block in my life but always ready for a challenge if I know I have good resources to learn and follow. I am building a 10,000 litre raised koi pond in our garden. I have a good friend who is a builder who has shown me the basics each step of the way and I ask too many questions lol and I copy and then I get on with it and he picks up the phone and checks and so on. Your vidoes have been so clear, no ego nonsense, just genuine and taking time to show those without a clue every detail. Refreshing content and full of value. If you ever get time or maybe you have done a video already but I feel like I have watched all your content, could you show how to set up 4 corners as if you were going to build a rectangle? A bit like building a raised koi pond. It took me ages to get the right angles across the four corners and then lined up with each other in all the different ways. I reckon there are a few other begiiners out there who would want that as more people are building ponds. Anyway really appreciate the videos.. you mak eit look too easy! Best and stay safe.

Great work guys. Fellow masons at it. Just here to mention to your crowd that mortar plasticisers are a great way to adjust your mortar workability without disrupting your water / cement ratio and thus requiring too much water. Also if you live and work in warmer climates, as I do, plasticisers can do miracles SINCE they are not absorbed by cement as fast as water allowing you greater working time and slower setting time. This might not be so obvious in colder countries but when working under 35 degrees its a "lifechanging" difference. Lastly, a mortar plasticiser can also add some wateproofing properties to your mortar.

My dad told me never to put a spade in the mixer too, normally while he was putting a spade in the mixer.

Lots of valid information in a easy to follow video,great job mate keep up the good work 👍

Always a pleasure watching you show Stu.

That block wall looks amazing.

Always informative and very well made tutorials man. A pleasure to watch 👍🏻

Thanks for the mortar tips. I used the exact same mixer a while back. Handy tips for using it on my next job so mixes don't get stuck on the back.

That was very informative mate. I've always been a bit dumb when it comes to this but now I know, thank you for your help 😉

Nice simple clear video. I like the look of the hose tap. Thanks for sharing

FINALLY!!! Someone else who adds the Feb to the water while in the mixer turning not to a bucket of water. Mixes well better this way and end up with butter cream

Great to see you using gauge buckets. to many people think that a shovel of sand is the same as a shovel of cement

Stu,.....I always use the mister setting on the nozzle to keep the cement/dust way down immediately. Great Job!

cheers stu! as a spread / joiner i figured id give this nocking down my garage and re building it a go , have to say i have a greater appreciation for brickys now probably chose the wrong week to start it as its boiling and on a 9m x 3m ive managed to lay 2 courses per day so far, its not so bad now im up to a good hight but those footings and the lower bricks dont half kill your back off! thankfuly i cant go over 2.5 m otherwise i may of gave you a call! haha

Stu Compton , is the MAN. Good show chap...........

I'm just getting used to the colour of the sand up here. Bought some bags at a merchant in Birkdale, nice red sand. Where I used to live, south of the Thames, it was a more yellow, golden coloured sand. When Wickes first opened up in the south, they brought in red sand. You couldn't use it for exposed work, it stuck out like a sore thumb. They soon changed it. When I worked on site many years ago, I used to watch the hod carriers knocking up pug and putting the shovel in the mixer. How they never broke their wrist's. Occasionally the shovel would get caught on the drum paddles. They used the fut, fut, crank start diesel mixer, which usually got a good beating with a scaffold pole at the end of the day to clean it. P.S. Been here six months and love it here. People actually talk to you here. Wish I'd done it years ago.

Nice vid Stu I work down south and nice sand is super rare nowadays it’s mostly like sharp sand gritty and no body to it, add lime and it’s still crap like it’s been dried out and put through a siv

I use this method and platiciser makes it so much more workable.

learnt so much watching you

Your bricklaying is magnificent. 👍

Good video stu, wallpaper in the back round! good stuff!! also just a tip never start a mixer with weight in it, it will stretch the belt, good stuff mate! Keep in coming.

Одлични видео прилози! Одлична школа!

Great video,keep up the good work👌

Easy simple tips spot on bud

Dude. That's really helpful stuff cheers. In some situations I was asked to add washing up liquid and or PVA to the mix. Didn't have a mixer just a plaster whisk thing and a old orange black and decker drill.

Really enjoying your content.

Perfect mix 👌

i followed this advice and added fairy liquid and it was great. I built a little step into my back door.

5&1 above 4&1 below or 3&1 below i was always taught 4&1 above is to strong the gobbo should never be stronger than the material your laying. any movement and you will get cracking through brick and not the joint. The batching plants send ready mix out at 5 & 1 above dpc. I worked with some fellow bricklayers not long back that kept getting cracking through there internal blockwork and after working with them found out they was mixing 4&1 And it was to strong. I love your vids mate not nit picking it's just a very common mistake lads make.

Thank you mate such good video😊🤚

5:15 he’s right, the concentrated feb is much better 💪💪💪

Good tutorials and nice music always.

Thanks Stu just the job.

Thanks for the video. I'm assuming the bag cement is more of a pure Portland cement and that is why you add the plasticizer. Here in the U.S. we use pre bagged masonry cement that includes Portland cement, air entraining ingredients, and plasticizers such as lime or ground clay already pre-mixed in the bag. Then we add sand to the mix and water. Three parts sand , two parts masonry cement and water. No plasticizers are necessary since they are already in the masonry cement. I Googled Hansen multicem , but did not pull up the data sheet, they are a major distributor in the UK, I think that's where you're located. Enjoy watching your videos, it's good to see how things differ from country to Country. Keep up the good work and the good attitude.

Interesting to see the difference in how counties prepair their mortar and what type of trowels that are common to use. UK are using the "old way" of prepairing mortar, While scandinavia are using premixed 25kg bags, just add 4 liter water pr.bag and its ready to go. I enjoy your videos alot Stu, keep up the good work and quality!

Thanks great video just what I needed

Something new to learn 👍🏻

Thank you for the video

great vid good instruction.

I liked the video, and the bucket technique, it was safety glasses you needed really more than a dust mask as you can hold your breath for a few seconds and step back. And a bit of a guess with the Feb, there will be a ratio for that too as it weakens the mix

I use optimix plasticiser it’s brilliant.

top tips pal. perfect for the newbies

Fire the Feb in Stu,my old boss used to make me clean his Belle mixer religiously,I've got one of my own now and as I've got no labourer I've neglected the old girl-dosent take a lot to clean your tools at the end of the day (good practice)keep posting Stu...."The Big n from Wigan" 👏👏👏👌

Another great vid. I can see why I get claggy mortar rather than the creamy stuff you and the pros get, far too stingy on the plaz - thanks mate

Just about to start a small wall and iv never laid bricks before. Just wondering if u have a video of how to knock down and replace double skin a driveway wall. Thanks

Nice vid mate, I tend to find the concentrated stuff is the best, only using 10ml a gauge and adding just over half a bucket of water seems to be perfect every time for a 5-1 mix, tend to find when the muck is flowing through the holes of the blades and is rolling at 2 o’clock it’s normally cock on for bricks and thermalites.

Love the new video. I’d love a video on clean laying ie keeping the face clean. keep up the great work. Rob

Stu do you ever use the stand for the mixer,

Do you wet those blocks down first? In that weather at least? Or make the mix wetter? Struggling to get the mix to stick to dry blocks...

I always like to let it spin for another 5 minutes after it’s all mixed. I just think it helps the pug stay workable that bit longer once it’s on the boards.

Love your show/tutorials! You commented " Just add more water till it's like soup" When adding water, isn't there a point whereby too much can weaken the strength of the mortar?

Waw great content, I was wondering yesterday how you get your mortar so smooth ! I'll tell my father how you do, he keeps buying " ready to use" mortar from the depot. This red sand looks awesome too ! Man a can look your videos all day long, it's hypnose for me haha... Im in tiles for the moment. Around 900 sq feet ... damn my back hurts.... I laughed so hard when you said "bend the knees" .... god we'll Sleep when we'll be dead... :p

In canada our ratio is 3:1 because of weather and we stop the mixer 5 minutes and remix it for it to last longer

Hi Stu, Liking your videos. I’m looking at laying standard dense concrete blocks to build up a sloped garden for prep in laying a small patio...about 12” high. Should I use sharp sand for the mix? Thanks

Does the colour of the sand make any difference? in Birmingham the builders merchants use red but you can order yellow builders sand

Havent you got a stand for the mixer? goes straight into a barrow?

Here in the northern us we use 1 part masonry mortar to 2 parts sand. But our cement comes in different types n,s,m,o the different types have different amounts of lime to cement ratio. Do you use straight cement or is it a Pre blended mortar?

you make a cleaner bricky than a labourer pal. :)

See the mortar plastersizer is that instead of washing up liquid back in the day 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻?

So do you allways blend your mortar free hand in the UK? Generally over here in sweden we get pre mixed sacks. And plasticizer explains something i have allways wondered aswell why your cement look so sticky. Great vid , fun to see how you guys do it!

How much cement would you add if you already had a lime mortar, 6 or 7 % lime. ?

Great stuff as usual, guess adding water to get the right consistency comes with experience. On the rare occasions I do a bit of diy brickwork in the garden I always struggle to get the mix just right

Haha love these vids mate but you don’t wear no dust mask 😂 I can’t find it 😂 😂

Nice video. and that blockwork behind you looks 100%'. I Wish you would have built my extension. I have got about 5 different colours of mortar on mine. bricky who doesn't really take too much pride in his work. left mess all over the place, has a new labourer every week making a different mix. I did email you but I guess you must have been too busy. hey ho. still enjoy watching your videos. very talented. keep it up.

thanks for this nice basic sand cement mix tutorial, on your background wall, the mortar at the top seems having color of red and Bottom has white color, or it just needs some time to settle/cure then it will all turn to white. if I want to make red mortar , like many house these days, we use red sand or red cement to make the mortar red ? thanks

Excellent tutorial Stu , your kid will be kicking off saying "Stu, look at me new floor "!! 😁😁😁😁🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗

quick question, what are you doing with the concrete floor? will it need a layer of self levelling compound on ?

Top Notch stuff, as always. One question: Can you add plasticiser to a hand mix, or do you need an actual mixer to make it work?

Stu, turns out I'm a shit bricky! Fancy coming down to Norfolk and finishing my massive outdoor kitchen? You could even rebuild it for a Vid if you like!

Havent done bricklaying in 12 years since I left college, trying to get back into it any tips ? Bricking up a door way. Keep up with the videos great watch

Салам Брат . колхоз дело тонкое сам каменщик без слов понимаю.удачи и здоровья Мастер.

If you didnt use plastisizer, how much lime would you put in that 4:1 mix? What 3 part ratio would that be?

Dish detergent works great too, to make the mortor more workable on a hot day!

Your vids are so good man! Don't they say it should slide off the trowel clean in the mixer when it's just right? Something like that! How many bricks or blocks would you expect to get out of a four bucket mix Stu???

I only gauged it if boys on face brickwork or rendering, good video

It’s a well known and oft repeated statement but how do you actually determine the strength of the mortar and how do you know what strength the bricks are that are being used to make sure you’re getting the right mix

You make much time to prepere

That 2nd toss off sand changed your water ratio, massive glug of water came flying out 😂 love your channel though!

How about 3:1 That is 3 sand : 1 cement is alright? Thx 🙏🏻

Están perfectos tus vídeos el problema que no entiendo el inglés

I'm starting next masonry next week. Any tips of what a beginner should bring to the job site to be 1 step ahead?

Can I use quickkrete for my cement and does it matter what kind of sand because yours looks very like wet and heavy compared to normal like beach sand I'm new to this don't judge me

Good instructions stu, do they still make Feb mix. Weres kc is he golfing again😀😀

Good, easy instructions. Any tips on how to clean out mixer after use? And how to dispose of the waste from mixer? Cheers

Top stuff Stu. Just about to tackle sandstone slabs in back garden. What ratio sharp sand/cement mix would you reccomend?

whats the difference between the plasticiser and fairy washing up liquid? great video and and takes me back some years when I was the labourer for a builder and this was my job when I was 16, I am now 55 and had forgotten the ratio and wether or not it is sharp sand or soft sand, I am pretty sure it is soft sand?

Hi Stu, lovely job on that block! Question... what grade of sand do you prefer for general 4:1 ?

I can’t find my dust mask 😷 🤣 ok stu 😉 also why don’t u use the stand for the mixer

8:37 “Never mix your mortar stronger than the material...” To which I agree, and that is what I was taught. If the mortar is too strong, any movement and also moisture has to be absorbed by the material causing it to be under more stress and deteriorate faster. The mortar should instead absorb those stresses - it can be repaired if needed. Someone started an argument with me over this, and insisted setting brickwork with pure cement would be a good idea.

Maybe put the mixer on its stand . The work all looks great...

Now that's the secret recipe

Hello friend Stew, I back in Riga, here we do mixing by hand, don't have luxury mixers is from soviet times wanting everyone equal. Man with mixer not equal so bad for soviets. You are true craftman and I bring little gift for you and your great dad, is metafor for you to have. Do you already say to your student brickmen, be thy mortar like cream cheese. Of course they should not be tasting because we looking for texture of not the taste of cheese and please explain not add cheese for taste like cream cheese. In fact better they eat the cheese. Is only little gift for all the wunderful recipes you give us.

Sharp sand is good?

How do you measure how much spilled on ground

Hi! I really enjoyed the video. I had a few questions. What is the size of the buckets you are using in liters? I am asking to understand the ratio of plasticizer you add to the mix -- it looks like you use about 1/4 of a 5-liter container. Also, I was unclear about the amount of water you add in total to the mix.

I could never mix and not level off the buckets flush 😜. Then i know its exact. If on a stand which I prefer you can lift it up slightly as you did to get any sticking off the back or jam it up slightly. Each to there own similar ways same kinda results. 👍🏻 Prefer a stand for tipping out. KEEP HER LIT! 👍🏻

I thought Hanson multicem had plasticiser already added?

What about water temperature ? Is it ok if water is hard ?

I like that bloke