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Bricklaying & Repointing

Laying in bricks in cold weather or rain

Anonymous user 09/03/2024 - 3.00 PM

We had someone round laying bricks and a couple hours after he left there was some snow showers yesterday. The contractor is meant to return today , the temp for the today and tomorrow struggles to get above 3 degrees. Now our contractor has suggested putting antifreeze into the cement - is this worth the risk? My gut feeling and other sites I have read indicate it is too cold for the cement to cure

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

4 Answers

ak brickwork

Rating: 5 out of 5
Newton Le Willows
2 degrees and rising is the rule on the site we are on at the moment but ive heard it to be higher on other sites , and yes hessian is needed to cover walls when temperatures go below as frost will damage mortar
Answered31 January 2019
1

Anonymous user

Hi Brickwork can be done however it needs to be protected with hessian protection to avoid frost damaging mortar. As long as weather not going to be below 5c it can be done .mortar is likely to exhibit slower setting times and lower early strengths in cold weather.
Answered23 January 2019
0

Anonymous user

The majority of bricklayers including myself will not lay unless the temperature is 3 degrees and rising. But as stated above there are ways of laying, for example you can put an additive into the mix. Also covering it with hessian helps to keep direct frost off the wall. The problem is setting time as it will take longer to go off so if frost was to get onto the wall some joints could blow as frost has got in.
Answered23 January 2019
0

e.lyon construction

Rating: 5 out of 5
Prescot
the above answers are correct. A building inspector once passed some usefull information when we had this problem. You can set at zero degrees by using a frost retarder and a kettle of boiling water. As the mortar is setting, its a chemical reaction which generates heat.This with the addative and the boiling water will get you on your way....
Answered14 February 2019
0