Type of plaster

[athina k]

Hi All. I have bought a 1929 house and I am having difficulty finding a decorator who knows how to decorate its internal walls. The internal walls are lath and plaster and the plaster is horsehair plaster. Plaster is crumbly pinkish and has a slightly dusty feeling to the touch. I know that this is not lime plaster , as it is not white. It is not definitely the hard, polished pink gypsum plaster used in newer properties.Would I be correct to think that the plaster that I got is a mixture of lime , sand and various aggregates there the plaster should be treated as breathable so I need to use breathable products? Thank you all very much

 

[aockenden]

What makes you think it's "horsehair plaster"? Have you actually seen any horsehair in this plaster? I would look at those pics and think "gypsum" any day of the week.

 

[Kearn]

As an aside, my walls currently look like they’ve been abused with gypsum, but my lime guy favours Ty Mwar and their local sand is pink tinged…!

A lot if older lime was indeed white using chalk, but other aggregates would change the colour.

 

[athina k]

Some parts of the plaster were knocked out when the wallpaper was removed, so I could see hair in it. Apologies, I am not an expert, so I thought it could be horsehair plaster as properties of that age were usually built with that type of plaster.

 

[a twig]

Could possibly be a gypsum skim over the original lime plaster, difficult to see from the pictures.

A decent (non-vinyl) emulsion is probably a good compromise if you are unsure. There are various recommendations for breathable ones if you search the forum for “emulsion”

 

[athina k]

Thank you for your replies