Lightening Coloured Mortar in new Fireplace All manner of questions and solutions to problems and issues surrounding the subject of brickwork, blockwork and stonework

[Tomsmr]

We've just had a fireplace (for a woodburner) rebuilt & had asked the builder to repoint with mortar that would dry a light colour (was previously lime mortar). It's come up darker than we'd hoped - is there anything we can put on it to lighten the colour (e.g white blackboard chalk?) that would be heat resistant? Many thanks!

[thedoctor]

Hi,

You could always use heatproof paint or try a selection of coloured chalks Tom but in all honesty its a whole lot better to rake out the mortar and start again. There is a page on the website about matching mortar colours and we suggest in this page that you mix a little bit first and leave it to dry so you can be sure of the colour before you "attack" the brickwork. See https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/Matchmortar.htm

The easy way to rake out the mortar is to put one of these https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/DIY-superst ... r-bit.html in your drill. It doesnt take long and this way you can be sure of a consistant colour before you start.