How to match your mortar and brick for a fantastic facade

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR CHOICE OF MORTAR WILL SAY ABOUT THAT NEW BRICK HOME YOU ARE DESIGNING?

Mortar colour is an often overlooked and underestimated piece of the design puzzle when new home buyers plan out their new brick home. While mortar is an important structural element when building with brick, it also plays a key visual role.

Your choice of mortar will add contrast – in terms of colour, texture, or both – and intricacy to your façade. And in doing so it will impact the overall look of your home.

Mortar is a bonding agent that hardens on building materials such as bricks. It binds the materials and forms the timeless brick wall that we are all so familiar with. Mortar is produced by mixing a binding material, such as cement or lime, with a fine aggregate such as sand or surki, and water.

Two factors determine the quality of mortar – adhesion and water resistance.

Critical to ‘good mortar’ is its ability to adhere to building materials such as bricks, and water resistance, meaning that the mortar should have the capacity to prevent water penetration. However, in modern home design there is so much more to mortar than its functional properties.

The aesthetic appeal of mortar

Mortar offers aesthetic appeal and an ability to contrast with face brick. This makes it a crucial design element for achieving a beautiful brick façade for your new brick home.

While mortar colours may look similar from a distance, it’s important to be aware of the many different colour options you have for your mortar. Mortar joints can also vary in style, from flushed to ironed, rolled, and raked.

“In modern home design there is so much more to mortar than its functional properties.”

If contrast is not your style, when you build with PGH Bricks & Pavers we can custom tint your mortar to match the colour of your bricks. This mortar choice creates a subtle contrast of texture, rather than the more widely seen colour contrast.

Helpful hints for choosing your mortar

To help simplify the mortar selection process, let’s break down some of the more common mortar colours. And in doing so, we’ll explain how each mortar colour can be used to make sure you get the most out of your brick façade.

Natural (Grey)

The most common of the mortar colours, “natural” (also known as “grey”) works well with the majority of brick colours due to its simplicity. Natural mortar is also a great option when you want your new brick home to blend in with its natural surroundings.

Being a natural cement colour, grey mortar is always the most economical choice. Grey mortar is often the standard inclusion when you build with a large builder Natural mortar colour pairs wonderfully with Black and Tan from PGH Bricks & Pavers’ Smooth range.

Off-White

Off-white mortar is a rapidly rising trend in residential building due to its unique ability to emphasise the true colour of the brick. With a darker brick such as our Morada Nero, off-white mortar acts as a distinct contrast and adds intricacy to the brickwork.

With mortar making up around 20 per cent of a brick wall, this contrast can be the star attraction that makes your overall façade shine. When building with lighter brick, including white brick such as our Morada Blanco, off-white mortar blends with the brick to create consistent, yet textured, façade detail.

Charcoal or Black

Charcoal, black, and even dark greys are emerging as popular mortar colour choices for homebuyers looking to add unique character to the façade of their new brick home And in commercial construction in particular, these darker mortar colours can be used to create a sense of modern sophistication when paired with a dark or black brick.

These darker mortar colours also present an opportunity to create a contrasting façade in a very different way to the façade contrasts that most are familiar with. Pairing the charcoal, black, or dark grey mortar with a light or white brick is a very modern and intriguing way to make your front façade stand out with added street appeal.

CREAM AND BROWN

Ideal when building with a cream or brown coloured brick, these mortar colours are perfect for colour matching mortar and brick to create a seamless colour throughout the façade. While they are not typically used to create contrast in colour, they do offer a textural contrast which helps a façade maintain a consistent colour throughout without appearing dull or boring.

This same affect can be achieved with any brick colour, as mortar can be custom tinted to match the colour of your bricks. For example, try pairing Red from our Smooth range with a custom tinted red mortar for a very dramatic warm earth façade effect.

Ready to choose your mortar colour?

If you've chosen your brick but need a little help choosing which mortar to pair with it, contact the PGH team on 13 15 79 to speak with our brick selection specialists.

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