How to select the correct mortar rake?
How to choose the right mortar rake |
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Remember your A, B, C when choosing a mortar rake tool:
A – Area of mortar you’ll be removing B – Blend of mortar you’ll be removing C – Choice of power tools you have and are they suitable for the area / blend of mortar you will be working on |
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Sometimes you will be removing mortar in order to take out a brick and replace it. | |||
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Other times you will be removing a larger area of mortar. | |||
Removing an individual brick |
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If you want to remove an individual brick, then a longer mortar rake will be more useful, as the length of the mortar rake will allow you to remove mortar to the depth of the brick without damaging the other surrounding brick faces.
As a result, you should look for a mortar rake with a working length of 110 -150mm (4½” – 6″). |
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This mortar rake is designed to grind a small area of mortar whilst covering a deeper depth.
It is the rake’s length that either cuts or grinds away the mortar as you move the tool sideways. Therefore using a long mortar rake on a shallow depth would be inefficient and could easily fatigue the user. |
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When removing an individual brick, you will need to rake out the mortar to the depth of the brick. An average brick has a depth of 100 -110mm (4″ – 4½”).
Most long mortar rakes that are designed for the removal of individual bricks have a length of 150mm (6″). |
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You would not be able to reach the back of the mortar beds with a shorter mortar rake. | |||
Removing a larger area of mortar |
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If you are removing an area of mortar and leaving the bricks in position, you will not need to rake that deep. | |||
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Instead, a mortar rake will need to go only twice the height of the mortar between the brickwork (usually a depth of 25mm (1″). | |||
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In which case, a standard length mortar rake (with a width of 8mm) would be sufficient. | |||
