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Just had a old mason tell me mortar color doesn't matter much
Talked to a guy named Pete at a job site in Cleveland who's been laying brick since the 70s. He said he never bothers matching mortar color exactly because after 5 years of weather and dirt, it all looks the same anyway. At first I thought he was crazy but then I looked at some of his old work and honestly he's got a point. Has anyone else run into old timers who just ignore half the modern rules?
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the_patricia2d agoTop Commenter
Oh man, Pete is absolutely right in my experience! I've done a few jobs where I purposely used a slightly different mortar shade just to test it, and sure enough after a couple seasons you'd never know the difference. The weather does way more to change the color than any pigment you can mix in.
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Pete's not wrong. After a few freeze/thaw cycles and some good old air pollution, that fresh mortar look fades fast. I've repointed a few old chimneys where the original mortar was a totally different color than what I mixed up, and after a year you can't even find the seam. People stress way too much about buying the exact pigment blend when in reality the sun is gonna lighten it and the rain is gonna darken it no matter what. The only time I bother matching precisely is on something like a historic restoration where the homeowner is paying top dollar. Otherwise, just get the strength right and call it a day.
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