# Is there a way to age mortar joints.



## jacselee (Mar 5, 2014)

Just had a contractor fill in some mortar joints for me. It is curing and turning really light gray, not matching the old grout lines. How do I age these new grout lines to match?


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

https://books.google.com/books?id=s...age&q=aging mortar by Russell versaci&f=false


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## S.U.M (Apr 17, 2013)

Contact a company to tint the mortar joints to the colour you want or grind out the joints and repoint them with the a colour in the mix to match the surrounding.


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## Tscarborough (Feb 25, 2006)

Rub dirt on them.


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## GenerationX (Feb 28, 2015)

Use Mapei fuga fresca.


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## JBM (Mar 31, 2011)

How old are the other mortar joints?


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## concretemasonry (Dec 1, 2006)

Dirt is a great solution to naturalize the tints of cured mortar.

Colored mortar is a commonly available commodity. However, it does take some skill to order the right mortar since mortar gets lighter and some the lower quality/type pigments also lose tinting strength.

Fortunately, the colors for mortar are not as strong or permanent as the pigments for concrete products that are impossible to use on a job site. Those are highly pure and permanent and costly (up to $5.00/lb in large quantities depending on the type.

For making your own colored mortar, do not make the mistake of getting pigments from a source that uses the synthetic, strong pigments (99.5% pure) that is like playing with dynamite. Many pigments for masonry are natural iron oxides that are not as strong and a little variance in the measuring and the sand variation can be tolerated.


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

Tscarborough said:


> Rub dirt on them.


Seriously, it's the only way you will get them to match the old dirty ones.


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

It depends on what direction you want the color to go. How old is the old mortar?

Coffee and tea can help, although I have found it best to apply them while the mortar is still moist.

Call the contractor back and ask for his solution. If you didn't discuss color importance before hand, that would be your fault. The contractor should have been aware of the desire for a match and he should have made some attempt to match...

What we have here is a failure to communicate.


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## summithomeinc (Jan 3, 2011)

How big is the project? Why not wash the(wall?) and see if they will match the new afterward? Alot of bleach and a little dish soap does wonders.


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## FrankSmith (Feb 21, 2013)

jacselee said:


> Just had a contractor fill in some mortar joints for me. It is curing and turning really light gray, not matching the old grout lines. How do I age these new grout lines to match?


Only time can age them. Dirt however could definitely help them match the rest of the building.


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## Builders Inc. (Feb 24, 2015)

You thought about acid washing the old? I did some mortar repair on a house built in the 70's and acid washed the area around it to make it blend. Muriatic acid is less than $15 for two gallons, took about 30 minutes to do. But then again it wasn't tinted color mortar... That might make a mess if you acid wash it.


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## Diamond D. (Nov 12, 2009)

Just a note, colored mortar will age as well, but differently.
I personally wouldn't mess with pigments, unless of course the original was pigmented.

I'd start by cleaning the original, and see how that looks, if it's close, it won't take that long to blend, in the grand scheme of things.
It will catch up, eventually.

With that said, it sounds to me like he went heavy on the Portland.

D .


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## heavyc (Jul 2, 2013)

Time? Works for me!


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## superseal (Feb 4, 2009)

Sure-Klean 600 or muri will certainly take off the brightness factor and open up the surface pores of any rich portland mix. 

Rinse well with water to neutralize the area. 

Muri is not recommended for colored mortar as it will streak the appearance noticeably.


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## dakzaag (Jan 6, 2009)

Get a buffered cleaner instead of Muratic, acid is just too harsh and attacks everything around it. 

Still curious about the age of the original?


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## fjn (Aug 17, 2011)

heavyc said:


> Time? Works for me!





The trouble in letting time match the new mortar to the twenty year old mortar is that in twenty years,the twenty year old mortar you are trying to match is forty years old.:laughing::laughing:


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## heavyc (Jul 2, 2013)

fjn said:


> The trouble in letting time match the new mortar to the twenty year old mortar is that in twenty years,the twenty year old mortar you are trying to match is forty years old.:laughing::laughing:[/QUOT
> 
> Sorry missed the 20 year old mortar part in the thread start?
> FYI according to Brixment's chemist I spoke with. Mortar reaches it's finished final color or blend in one year from time of placement?:whistling


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## NYCB (Sep 20, 2010)

fjn said:


> The trouble in letting time match the new mortar to the twenty year old mortar is that in twenty years,the twenty year old mortar you are trying to match is forty years old.:laughing::laughing:


Yup, a friend of mine re pointed the top half of a stone chimney I drive by almost daily. 5 years ago and I can still see the difference.

The new stuff aged, but the old stuff is even more dirty now.

I told him to scrub it with some mud water but he was in a hurry to tear down the scaffold.


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## Eddie's Masonry (Feb 7, 2015)

I would call the contractor back and have him grind out all the mortar joints tint the mortar and repoint. http://www.eddiemasonry.com/


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