Portland cement mortars reinforced with silicon carbide (SiC) powder were manufactured in this study. The volume of SiC powder added to the mixtures ranged from 0 to 8 vol.% of the total volume of the mixtures studied, in addition the volume of SiC powder added replaced equivalent volumes of fine sand, within a standard mix of Portland cement mortars. (75 vol.% of fine sand and 25 vol.% of Portland cement). SiC powder used was manufactured in the laboratory from the reuse of wood waste following wood pyrolysis processes to obtain carbon powder, followed by thermodiffusion of metallic silicon into pyrolyzed carbon powder. All manufactured mortars were studied physical, microestructural and mechanically by helium pycnometry tests, optical microscopy and uniaxial compression, respectively. The average real density found for all mortars was 2.1 g/cm 3 . The microstructure observed in mortars suggests the presence of three well-differentiated phases (Portland cement, fine sand and SiC particles), while the mechanical data found shows higher values of maximum resistance in mortars with 4 vol% SiC added, which would appear to be the most suitable amount of SiC powder to be added to the Portland cement mortar mixture.