Feltwell
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Zebra said:
Don't make it too taxing. How about giving up marzipan? That's an easy sacrifice. Well, it is for me, I hate the stuff.
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Don't make it too taxing. How about giving up marzipan? That's an easy sacrifice. Well, it is for me, I hate the stuff.
Zebra
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I broke a mug this morning and I'm hoping that'll do.
At some time (probably next year, when the piggy-bank has recovered from this year's onslaught) we're going to have to render the back of our little house. Lime, of course.
At the moment it's an unsightly patchwork of blocked-up doorways and windows, punctuated by scars from redundant plumbing holes. It's become clear that removing the pebbledash will leave the original (standard yellow London) bricks in a horrid state, hence the inevitability of the rendering.
Which is why I'm interested in self-coloured render, and the problems caused by the 12-hour advice.
Does anyone have an idea of the shelf-life of the render? I like the sound of it because it would save us the expense of re-limewashing every other year.
And - is there any solution to the 12-hour problem? I'm a bit concerned because, although our little house is anything but grand, the rustic look would look odd. Perhaps this is really a question for Nigel.
At the moment it's an unsightly patchwork of blocked-up doorways and windows, punctuated by scars from redundant plumbing holes. It's become clear that removing the pebbledash will leave the original (standard yellow London) bricks in a horrid state, hence the inevitability of the rendering.
Which is why I'm interested in self-coloured render, and the problems caused by the 12-hour advice.
Does anyone have an idea of the shelf-life of the render? I like the sound of it because it would save us the expense of re-limewashing every other year.
And - is there any solution to the 12-hour problem? I'm a bit concerned because, although our little house is anything but grand, the rustic look would look odd. Perhaps this is really a question for Nigel.
Feltwell
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Zebra said:
Hmm - only if it was this one I suspect.
Zebra
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Sorry, what does this mean?Moo said:
Shelf life as in how long it lasts in the bag before it is no good to use is about six months for the stuff I used.Moo said:
Where I have yellow brickwork I've used St Astier's Hourdex as a base coat. It does have cement in it, but as this part of my house is not old, I'm not bothered about that. It is part-lime, part-cement, and is strong enough to carry the through-coloured top coat. Otherwise you could use NHL3.5 perhaps. A soft putty-based lime render is not strong enough to carry the through-coloured top coat which I used, which is WP Finish by Lime Green. You can't put a strong coat on top of a weak coat, so where I have a soft putty-based lime render I can't use the through-coloured top coat so am going to use Earthborn Exterior Masonry paint. No idea whether any of that helps.....
Sorry, Zebra. I should have phrased that post much more carefully!
By '12-hour advice' I meant the problem that your plasterers had with the final coat: ideally they should have waited for 12 hours before sponging it, but that would have meant doing the work in the middle of the night.
As I understand it, you gave it much longer so that they were working during daylight hours, and the result was a bit rustic.
And by 'shelf-life' I meant how long the actual plaster would last on the walls before it began to look a bit manky.
I hang my head in shame.
By '12-hour advice' I meant the problem that your plasterers had with the final coat: ideally they should have waited for 12 hours before sponging it, but that would have meant doing the work in the middle of the night.
As I understand it, you gave it much longer so that they were working during daylight hours, and the result was a bit rustic.
And by 'shelf-life' I meant how long the actual plaster would last on the walls before it began to look a bit manky.
I hang my head in shame.
Zebra
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The Goddess of Lime Plastering is smiling on us. So far. The base coat is all on! Top coat next week.
(In other news, the god of putting-sockets-in-the-right-place-so-that-they're-not-in-the-way-when-it-comes-to-boarding-the-walls is laughing at me. But the god of taking-it-all-out-and-doing-it-all-again is much pleased.)
Moo, I will let you know in a week what the solution to the 12 hour problem is. They want to try sponging it off the same day. We'll see.
As for how long it lasts, I can't see any reason why it would not last as long as any other lime plaster. As it is naturally alkaline it is resistant to algae, if I'm not mistaken, and if it gets dirty it can probably be washed. I don't really know the answer to that. Can I let you know in a few years? Actually, now you mention it, I might ask the suppliers myself how to clean it, just in case....
(In other news, the god of putting-sockets-in-the-right-place-so-that-they're-not-in-the-way-when-it-comes-to-boarding-the-walls is laughing at me. But the god of taking-it-all-out-and-doing-it-all-again is much pleased.)
Moo, I will let you know in a week what the solution to the 12 hour problem is. They want to try sponging it off the same day. We'll see.
As for how long it lasts, I can't see any reason why it would not last as long as any other lime plaster. As it is naturally alkaline it is resistant to algae, if I'm not mistaken, and if it gets dirty it can probably be washed. I don't really know the answer to that. Can I let you know in a few years? Actually, now you mention it, I might ask the suppliers myself how to clean it, just in case....
Zebra
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By the way, I overheard one of the plasterers (who weren't specifically lime plasterers) say to the other one "Do you know, I reckon lime should just be used for everything, forget cement." A convert!
LadyArowana
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Zebra said:
Somebody should make a 1,000 armed Quan Yin carrying a selection of things from the toolkit. Then we wouldn't need all these assorted Gods and Goddesses as the Bodhisattva could handle it all, well, maybe with a little help from Ganesha in his capacity as "remover of obstacles".
agbagb
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The God, Goddess of lime smiled on us as well. All done and just the look I was after, "keeping it soft". We went for rubbed finish, so the surface is a bit "open" with a light texture. I can almost hear the walls giving a sigh of relief now the OPC render is a thing of the past.
tobydog
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Hi agbagb. Very easy on the eye and I hope the seagull didn't christen it. Maybe it should for luck. What did you use, putty or NHL?
Zebra
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Agbagb I love the curved edges on the reveals and around the doorway.
Flyfisher
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LadyArowana said:
. . . . as well as providing some background music as well, perhaps?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBiLrZT3eno
agbagb
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Thanks. The curves seemed more "in keeping" (as well as being easier, less materials) than trying to pack it all straight, flat and square. I love it as well !
It's NHL3.5. Ready for lime washing now, I think the colour will be similar to what it is, Missus to confirm. Either that or I'll leave it a few months and have the local guano look.
It's NHL3.5. Ready for lime washing now, I think the colour will be similar to what it is, Missus to confirm. Either that or I'll leave it a few months and have the local guano look.
LadyArowana
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Flyfisher said:
Brilliant, and I notice that Joce has been making merit by modelling for devotional paintings ( at about 1.20 of the way through ).
Zebra
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Top coat is going on over the weekend. Please everybody get out and start doing anti-rain dances. Really really hope the rain holds off!
Zebra
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Thank you Goddess! Thank you everyone! It is on!
In the end they ignored the "12 hour advice"and the result is much smoother. They applied each elevation, waited 10 mins or so, sponged it and trowelled it again, gave it another half hour or so, sponged it and trowelled it again. Done. Very smooth, and hard after only a couple of hours.
The only thing that worries me about it, is that because I didn't want visible beading at the corners, I was supplied with soft mesh corner supports which get buried in the base coat at each corner, and then the rendering is done the old fashioned way, with battening the corners, and doing alternate elevations each day. The corners seem very delicate. I'm not so sure if I bashed into them with the wheelbarrow that they wouldn't chip. I think agbab's rounded corners will be much more resilient.
Pictures coming in another thread.
In the end they ignored the "12 hour advice"and the result is much smoother. They applied each elevation, waited 10 mins or so, sponged it and trowelled it again, gave it another half hour or so, sponged it and trowelled it again. Done. Very smooth, and hard after only a couple of hours.
The only thing that worries me about it, is that because I didn't want visible beading at the corners, I was supplied with soft mesh corner supports which get buried in the base coat at each corner, and then the rendering is done the old fashioned way, with battening the corners, and doing alternate elevations each day. The corners seem very delicate. I'm not so sure if I bashed into them with the wheelbarrow that they wouldn't chip. I think agbab's rounded corners will be much more resilient.
Pictures coming in another thread.