When to limewash new lime plaster ?

[masochists-r-us]

Just had our rear extension plastered in lime and we're keen to get decorating. The plasterer says 6 weeks to be totally dry, but we're wondering of it would be ok to limewash it in the meantime.

 

[malcolm]

I did mine quickly after rendering as I wanted to get the scaffolding down. The limewash shouldn't damage the plaster as it is breathable. The only snag I found was I got some colour coming through presumably from whatever was in the sand, so ended up having to wait a week or so to let everything settle before the final coats of limewash.

 

[a twig]

I did it two days after once, terrible idea, salts coming through the lot, 5 days had been my limit since for limewash and no dramas

 

[Flyfisher]

Just had our rear extension plastered in lime and we're keen to get decorating. The plasterer says 6 weeks to be totally dry . . .

Hmm. Isn’t it more important for the lime plaster to be properly carbonated rather than totally dry? Especially given that one of the first things to do when applying limewash is to first damp things down so the limewash doesn’t dry out too quickly and possibly compromise it’s own carbonation.

 

[Flyfisher]

While researching something else I came across this ‘technical guidance’ regarding the use of limewash on new lime plaster:

Limewash can be applied to newly applied lime plaster and render before it has fully carbonated as the permeable limewash does not impede the carbonation of the plaster beneath.

https://www.roseofjericho.co.uk/technical-advice/use-limewash