Mark and Jen
Member
- Messages
- 17
- Location
- UK
Via a combination of YouTube, reading, guess work and blind luck (or bad lulck) I have come up with the following "technique" for turning the walls of my stone barn into smooth, white, finish - perfect for it as my workshop and gym. BUT...it almost feels TOO easy - so am I missing a trick here and it will all fall apart in a couple of years?
Here's my process.....
The current walls are stone and lime mortar and in some places need new stone adding as lumps are missing, in other spots they just need re-pointing and lastly some bits the pointing is good.
So - I am mixing quick lime 1 (dry powder) to 2.5 sand and 1.5 gravel - this makes a gritty mortar that I am using to fill the big holes and re-set any new stones (that I'm collecting from my stream) to fill gaps.
Then I have a mix that is 1 lime / 3.5 sand that I am using to re-point where the old mortar has just left a 10-30 mill space that needs fresh grout.
Then I have a mix that is 1 lime / 3 sand but made quite watery.....I then slap this on the top of everything (with a brush) as a sort of render/plaster/slurry.
This is leaving me with a really nice smooth wall that still shows the undulations of the original stone work but no gaps or holes - the top slurry coat just smooths everything out lovely. Once I have finished (its going to take weeks to do the whole barn) I will mix up a hot lime wash (metal bucket...this stuff gets HOT when mixed neat ! ) and paint it all white.
So....am I missing something? I'm keeping the wall from drying out too fast with a daily spray of mist - but humidity in the barn is pretty high so it's drying slow anyway.
It all seems to be coming together real easy - Part of me thinks "of course it is.....some low skilled Roman was doing this job thousands of years ago - clearly I can do it with eas in 2025!" BUT part of me also thinks "this is supposed to be an art that only a few master builders can do with success.....I must be doing it wrong"
So - am I just lucky? Screwing it up? Or a Roman builder in a previous life?
Mark
Pics show an example of a few holes we have! A section of wall that needs only a little pointing and slurry and a section we have done - grey as it has yet to be lime washed (will do that last of all)
Here's my process.....
The current walls are stone and lime mortar and in some places need new stone adding as lumps are missing, in other spots they just need re-pointing and lastly some bits the pointing is good.
So - I am mixing quick lime 1 (dry powder) to 2.5 sand and 1.5 gravel - this makes a gritty mortar that I am using to fill the big holes and re-set any new stones (that I'm collecting from my stream) to fill gaps.
Then I have a mix that is 1 lime / 3.5 sand that I am using to re-point where the old mortar has just left a 10-30 mill space that needs fresh grout.
Then I have a mix that is 1 lime / 3 sand but made quite watery.....I then slap this on the top of everything (with a brush) as a sort of render/plaster/slurry.
This is leaving me with a really nice smooth wall that still shows the undulations of the original stone work but no gaps or holes - the top slurry coat just smooths everything out lovely. Once I have finished (its going to take weeks to do the whole barn) I will mix up a hot lime wash (metal bucket...this stuff gets HOT when mixed neat ! ) and paint it all white.
So....am I missing something? I'm keeping the wall from drying out too fast with a daily spray of mist - but humidity in the barn is pretty high so it's drying slow anyway.
It all seems to be coming together real easy - Part of me thinks "of course it is.....some low skilled Roman was doing this job thousands of years ago - clearly I can do it with eas in 2025!" BUT part of me also thinks "this is supposed to be an art that only a few master builders can do with success.....I must be doing it wrong"
So - am I just lucky? Screwing it up? Or a Roman builder in a previous life?
Mark
Pics show an example of a few holes we have! A section of wall that needs only a little pointing and slurry and a section we have done - grey as it has yet to be lime washed (will do that last of all)