Mortaring question.......please help?

Question

i have an old house with an old stone and mortar foundation. there is a part of this foundation that a window used to be but the window broke and the previous owners had it boarded up. i took out board and old window frame and cleaned it out to the stone foundation . i want to replace stone and mortar instead of a window. anyone experienced in mortar repair and stone please help. i'd like to have some good instruction before i continue with this project?

Answer 1

my cellar windows are 2 courses high and almost 40 in. wide...if i were going to fill them in , i would get 4 stones 9 in. high and 20 in. long and buy some mortar mix . mix it stiff and lay the stones in the opening...forget all the additives , they didnt use them when they originally laid it up and its not necessary now...you can opt for shorter stones to lessen the weight you have to lift but it just wont look original...

Answer 2

It's good you cleaned out all the wood frame etc. Now take a water hose and use the hard stream to rinse out all fine debris from mortar.

Get your stones in a pile close by, clean all dirt debris off of them also.

Prior to this go purchase several bags of pre-mix mortar (just add water). Also purchase some mortar additives such as Thorobond, or other bonding agent that helps mortar stick well to other mortar and stone. Mix additive to water - then mix this liquid into the dry mortar mix. Mix it all up a little dry -  It's easy to get mortar too wet so mix it all up what you think is a little too dry. The mortar should be like a thick milk shake.

Now get you a mortar board, a pc. of plywood about 18" square or anything smooth to put mortar on.

You also need a medium size brick trowel, a margin trowel ( 1-1/2" x  5" long, a mason brush.

Put mortar on the board from the mix that was a little dry - now add a little water on the board if you need to. Remember the stones are pretty heavy so runny mortar won't hold them up- keep it a little dry.

Lay a generous amount of mortar on the existing stones - now choose the stones as you place them in the mortar. Try to keep the look similar to the existing stones, and mix large stones with the smaller ones. Take your small margin trowel and scrap off any mortar oozing out of the joints. If your wall is thick you will need to put stones  in layers - concentrate on the appearance of the outside more than the inside.

Try turning the stones until you get the best look toward the outside.

Keep layering the mortar and stones until you are finished.

Let the stones and mortar set up for about 1 hour. Now take the margin trowel and clean up around the joints a little. Take an old toothbrush and use the handle end to go over mortar joints again to pack it in tight. Dip handle end of toothbrush in water and run across joints. Let joints sit for about 1/2 hour, then take the masonry brush and dip it in water, shake off excess and now brush over the stones and mortar to clean off any residue. You can do this several times until the stones are clean. Let set for 1 day, then you are done. I wouldn't worry about the inside at all.