The Great Wall & Brickmasons of China (Mike Haduck) 

thanks Peter, I appreciate the comment, I could never get a straight answer on the type of mortar they used and what it was make of, I am going to mexico to film the pyramids there. I bet you would know what they used there? let me know, mike

I was going to comment on the sticky rice & lime mortar, but Peter beat me to it. Great vid otherwise though Mike, and always interesting to see local masons doing it their own particular way :) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_rice_mortar

I prefer to slake and make my own mixes from quicklime, it's great to show people how it all worked and how it's still relevant. I started out as a general labourer and felt drawn to the plastering and rendering side of the trade but since about 1995 only do the lime side of the building game. On a previous film you were talking about how complicated modern brick walls are now with the re-bar and all the extra unnecessary stuff thats used and I feel the same about lime which uses no PVA or chemicals to get it to stick to a surface, you just need a good, roughed or scratched up background. You can use lime putty for a base coat, middle coat and top coat as well as for your flooring screed or the internal & external paint. I was reading in an 1870's book that they used Jhagery or sugar in the mix to help fight frost in India, so I put a 2% solution of molasses in a lime mix to see what would happen and it all turned to soup. As to whether or not it stopped the frost, I have no idea because that year it was unusually mild and stayed around 3 degrees and I haven't tried it since. I once worked up north on a church where the weather plummeted down to -8 and the lime surface at the top of the walls looked like a map of the world, the ice crystals had pushed the mortar out about 5 millimeters and turned the mortar back to sand. Sugar is a retardant and you can also pee in the mix too as another retardant but generally it's best to keep things as simple as possible, it makes your life much easier and unlike the quicker drying cement you don't really need a retardant with lime.

Morning Fete, I only added a rice flour to a lime mix, I never tried any sticky rice before but the link you put up was certainly very interesting indeed thanks.

I was going to say that my daughter visited several sites in Mexico and brought back some found samples of lime mortar for me. The mortar in some places was really thick and looking at a cross section of the mortar there wasn't much in the way of coarse stone particles like you would find in a sharp angular sand, they all looked quite fine, so I'd love to know what mixes they did as I have no idea what their quantities of anything were. When I talked to a guy who does pargetting work he told me that he never even uses sand, he uses different grades of chalk. In Fete Fatale's link it says that they only used slaked lime and sticky rice which sounds like an expensive mortar where you would need a lot of rice. When you make a putty mortar and any cracking appears these cracks are supposed to self heal anyway as I was once told but really for the optimum lime mortar then you would need pumice or crushed lava and mix it with sea water because there is a chemical reaction where 'Philipsite' is formed, these are plate like structures that bend rather than shatter when stressed. Considering how the Pantheon is the oldest Roman structure still with it's roof then for durability I'll go with the Roman cement every time I think.

Same here!! 🤣🤣🤣

thanks Jeff, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Mike, I appreciate the comment, mike

Pretty cool.

thanks, I appreciate it. mike

hi ed, it is amazing how many people was there before, I appreciate it. thanks mike

thanks Andy, you are making me smile too. keep up the tradition, mike

thanks Kazak, I had a lot of fun doing it, mike

Thanks, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Allan, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Jim, I appreciate it. mike

HI JAMIE, something different for sure, glad I did it , thanks mike.

Thanks stan, It was fun, mike

Thanks, Mike

Thanks Troy, very true, lol, mike

Thanks David, I appreciate that, very true, thanks mike

Thanks Kenny, mike

thanks M D, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Welders, mike

thanks pinky, I appreciate it. mike

Hi C.O.G. I appreciate it, thanks mike

Thanks Michael, mike

Thanks Thomas, mike

Thanks, Mike

Thanks Jim, it was a great trip, Mike

thanks allamakee, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Thor, mike

Thanks ouchen, Mike

thanks Bill, I try, I appreciate it. mike

thank noah, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Mireya, I appreciate it. mike

thanks , I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Brian, Mike

Thanks Michael, I appreciate it, Mike

Hi Neil, I just filmed it, but they knew their stuff, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Brandon, mike

Thanks Matt, Mike

thanks Jeff, It was special to me , too, thanks mike

Thanks James, i appreciate it mike

thanks Beetje, mike

thank you col, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Glenn, I appreciate it, mike

thanks Abraham, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks ,I appreciate hearing that, Mike

Thanks Slam, Mike

thanks Ken, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Camping, mike

Thanks, I appreciate hearing that, Mike

Thanks Mike, Mike

Thanks Cornell, Mike

thanks bc454, I appreciate it . mike

Hi Edwin, fun trip for sure, God bless also, thanks mike

thanks John, I appreciate it . mike

thanks super, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Wave, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks, mike

Hi Andrew, did the pyramids, but before youtube and all the others, (If I only knew) I appreciate it. mike

hi joseph, glad to hear that, people in USA have a whole different outlook on it so I was glad I got a chance to film it, thanks for the input, I appreciate it. mike

thanks Mattew, I appreciate it. mike

Hi Fillow, I don't know much about the wise part, and if I have any abilities it is only a gift of God, I can not brag, and am fortunate, I appreciate it. thanks mike

Thanks again Jesse, Mike

thanks Hannah, it was fun being there, thanks mike

thanks robert, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks John, mike

thanks inspironator, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Greg, Mike

thanks Paws, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks larrpan, Mike

Thanks, mike

Thanks Ryan, Mike

Hi strike, I believe you are right, I appreciate it. mike

thanks bric bybrick, I appreciate it. mike

thanks brian, it was fun, mike

thanks George, I did watch a bit of them building that castle on tv, thanks mike

thanks Matt, I appreciate it. mike

thanks very much, mike

Hi David, they know their stuff, th.anks mike

Fred Dibnah is a legend that guys bravery in steeplejack work amazing ive never seen anyone climb ladder towers & chimneys the way he did.

Absolute hero...

Hi Sue, ran around real crazy, and everything clicked, I was glad it all worked out, thanks mike

Thanks Adam, Mike

Thanks mike

Hi Tony, yep, they still do it that way, I seen some cement mixers but only on huge jobs, thanks mike

sometimes we still mix it like that in America on like a piece of plywood if it’s only a medium sized job

thanks 55098, it was, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks Tu, Mike

Thanks John, Mike

I’m now working as a mason using info I learned from your channel no big deal ha ha

Thanks One, your right, every mason had their own techniques and style, thanks mike

Mike Haduck Masonry, my pleasure, thank you for the great videos Mike!

Thanks off grid, I appreciate it, Mike

hi michael, thanks, your right, I appreciate it. mike

Thanks mikey, Mike

Thanks, Mike

Thanks, mike

Thanks Gosselink, I appreciate it., I am also a big fan of kirk, fun trip . thanks, mike