Call Virginia Lime works and save your self a lot of problems

Ken

-----Original Message-----
From: Concise Headers Rule
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Nate Gillette
Sent: Sunday, November 17, 2002 10:29 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: The quest for Lime

Well, thank you to everyone who had some input on my little repointing
project.  To answer a couple of questions that I didn't have time to before,
yes this is just a little experement not a major project.

I've narrowed down the morter to a Type O, slightly harder then K but less
then N.  Now comes my hard task.  Finding suitable lime for the mortar
mixture.  My first stop was to Home Depot.....nope no lime there.  Looked in
the masonry section and the garden section to no avail.  Next stop the local
garden store......Sorry we sold out last week and we're not expecting any
till March.  Foiled again!   Next stop Lowes once again no luck in the
masonry section.  I did however have an interesting converstation with one
of the employees that went something like this:

Lowe's Employee: Can I help you find something?
Me: Yes, I'm looking for some Lime to make mortar for a conservation
project.
LE: (Glassy eyed stare.....the answer to this question was not in the Lowe's
training manual)   Dude, why don't you make it easy on yourself and get a
bag of sakcrete?
Me: Well...... thanks for your time.

After prowling around the garden section I did come up with one prospect,
but I'm not sure if it's the right material so I'm asking here.  The product
they carried was pulverized dolomitic limestone.  Maybe someone can tell me
if this what I need.

I also made a call out to a feed store about 20 min from my house.  They
carry hydrated lime in a 50lb sack.  I'm thinking this is more of the
product that I want to use.

Can someone explain the difference between, quick lime, hydrated lime, and
pulverized limestone???

Thanks,

Nate Gillette
Grand Rapids, MI