8665 Lime wash

I am looking for a source for lime wash exterior coating in Le Marche for application to an existing stucco surface.

Category
Building/Renovation

Lime wash is made by mixing dry lime with water! Very easy.Simple earth pigments in powder form can be bought in a good paint/decoration shop.Add these carefully and measure the quantiy as you will probably use more than you think.

Buying any lime products in Abruzzo is virtually impossible as people prefer plastic paints, but you can always buy bags of lime hydrate for under 3 euros.

Traditional way in Uk is to use quicklime and add water, caution - caustic and heat is generated, wait till cool,add water to correct consistency and slap on - caution again - protect your skin! and eyes!

If the surface is good then emulsion is OK

If the surface is good why would you want to cover it in plastic paint as you are in effect sealing in damp? Plus the cost of paint in Italy is astronomical!!

Lime is much cheaper.No need to use quicklime as its dangerous.Plain dry lime will do.

Hi
I too am interested in using a lime plaster but would like to add bulk as a form of insulation. I have heard of this done elsewhere with hemp husks? (could be interesting for the neighbours if the house went on fire)! I was wondering if anyone on the forum has heard of these kind of additions to plaster and if hemp is not available what else might work?
I understand you can add fire retardants (I was just kidding about the fire I know its a serious consideration) and a simple one would be bicarbonate of soda? Any experts out there might shed some light.

Thank you
Michael

There are several good books out there on natural plastering technics which include some elements of what you are looking for though I am unfamilar with the extension to more bulky insulation.

I would look up natural plastering techniques on google, or search amazon etc for the books.

Traditionally hair is added to plaster but not for the reasons you state.I believe it makes it more 'elastic'.

The hair would come from goats usually but it would be quite tricky to get enough hair unless you had a lot of goats so other organic materials were added;the plaster we removed from a 400 year old wall contained oak leaves!! I may even experiement with adding these myself as we have so many this year!

Let us know how you get on.