Comment Re:Amylopectin (Score 1) 194
It depends where you live in the world. In my region, Perth Western Australia, 90% of houses are double brick construction. There is plenty of architectural research into the use and stability of lime mortar mixes used in the early to mid 20th century brick buildings.
In Australia, the use of lime mortar was in common use until the late 1950's. Lime mortar will only work and is only suitable in a cool climate because the lime mortar absorbs moisture from the atmosphere to keep it stable. In parts of Australia especially Perth Western Australia, over time the lime mortar becomes dry and turns to powder due to the dry climate. The simple solution is to cement render the walls. No different to sealing rammed earth construction walls.
8 parts clean sand, 2 parts Portland cement and one part lime was used for building brick walls for many years until detergent additives replaced the lime. The only purpose of detergent is to make the mixture pliable for the bricklayer. The problem with detergent additives is that the detergent eventually leaches through the mixture where using lime actually helps to harden the mixture.
(Modern Portland cement is manufactured by super-heating clay and crushed limestone. When combined with water a chemical reaction occurs and binds both products. When lime is added to the mixture a farther chemical reaction occurs.)
Lime mortar was used in England for hundreds of years. Some of the buildings are over 500 years old and still in good condition. They will remain standing long after the Australian houses collapse.