I own a house that was built in 1890. The area of my foundation that I need to work on is an exterior section that is above ground. It is the part between my driveway and where the siding starts. I believe it is fieldstone, but am unsure. I have contacted Sakrete to as what type of mortar they would recommend and they said Amerimix Tuck pointing mortar, which is only available a few hours from my house and is Type O mortar I believe. Is Type N a bad idea to use? The reason I ask is because it seems to be more readily available in my area, but I've read posts where people warn against cracking their stones as Type N has a higher psi than Type O.
We have had problems recently with mice and I would like to dig out the old mortar and fill in with the new to decrease the amount of mice getting in and to help maintain the exterior foundation. Any guidance on if this is actually fieldstone and the type of mortar that is acceptable would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Best Answer
Type “O” mortar is often used because it is not very strong and it’s somewhat flexible. We generally use it for “sandstone” not fieldstone and interior use only. See below:
https://www.builddirect.com/learning-center/flooring/different-types-of-mortar-and-their-uses/
I’d use Type N for exterior use.