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December 2006
12/15/06
Natural Plaster
12/9/06
12/9/06
Friday, December 15, 2006
Subject: Natural Plaster
Time: 5:26:00 PM EST
Author: meenhenry
Kristina, asked how difficult it is to get the natural plaster to stick to itself, and where did we get the recipe? First question first. The plaster is remarkably easy to work with. I have stuccoed with "traditional" stucco of sand, lime and cement, as well as with other types of plaster, such as earth with asphalt emulsion added as a stabalizer, and this is by far the most pleasant experience dealing with plaster. First it is non-toxic and all natural. Second, it is free. Third you can actually touch it with the hands without the caustic burn caused by cement and lime. And finally it has a beautiful elasticity to it. It adheres very well to the cob wall. The only question so far is how will it hold up to weather? Often with natural plasters one must replaster periodically, once a year, or every couple of years. That's why concrete and lime stucco is so popular. With the busy modern lifestyle, people just can't get out there and do it, even if they had the knowledge to do it. With Diane's and my changing lifestyle (slowing down, making less money, spending far less money, etc) we can see ourselves doing it once in a while. We'll throw a plastering party!!!! Invite all our friends, get plastered (pun intended), and enjoy ourselves. That's what it's all about anyway, right? I have the feeling though that this will hold up well to the weather, it has a good strong feel to it. As for the recipe, we got it from a book on natural plaster from the Arivaca Library. The book is called appropriately, "The Natural Plaster Book" it is by Cedar Rose Guelberth & Dan Chiras. It is available at several branches in the Tucson. The recipe only called for manure and clay, but our friend Kyle Young, a natural builder in Arivaca suggested the fermented nopal juice. Nopal has been used traditionally for a stabalizer. The have used it on the restoration of Mission San Xavier del Bac. Most of the time it is boiled, but Kyle suggested fermentation for a couple of reasons, the micro organisms in the finished product aid in creating the strength, and with fermentation, no fuel energy is used to make the juice, just the sun and time.
So, there you have it....that's about all I know about the subject. As I said in a previous entry, I'll let you know how it holds up.
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Subject: Natural Plaster
Time: 5:26:00 PM EST
Author: meenhenry
Kristina, asked how difficult it is to get the natural plaster to stick to itself, and where did we get the recipe? First question first. The plaster is remarkably easy to work with. I have stuccoed with "traditional" stucco of sand, lime and cement, as well as with other types of plaster, such as earth with asphalt emulsion added as a stabalizer, and this is by far the most pleasant experience dealing with plaster. First it is non-toxic and all natural. Second, it is free. Third you can actually touch it with the hands without the caustic burn caused by cement and lime. And finally it has a beautiful elasticity to it. It adheres very well to the cob wall. The only question so far is how will it hold up to weather? Often with natural plasters one must replaster periodically, once a year, or every couple of years. That's why concrete and lime stucco is so popular. With the busy modern lifestyle, people just can't get out there and do it, even if they had the knowledge to do it. With Diane's and my changing lifestyle (slowing down, making less money, spending far less money, etc) we can see ourselves doing it once in a while. We'll throw a plastering party!!!! Invite all our friends, get plastered (pun intended), and enjoy ourselves. That's what it's all about anyway, right? I have the feeling though that this will hold up well to the weather, it has a good strong feel to it. As for the recipe, we got it from a book on natural plaster from the Arivaca Library. The book is called appropriately, "The Natural Plaster Book" it is by Cedar Rose Guelberth & Dan Chiras. It is available at several branches in the Tucson. The recipe only called for manure and clay, but our friend Kyle Young, a natural builder in Arivaca suggested the fermented nopal juice. Nopal has been used traditionally for a stabalizer. The have used it on the restoration of Mission San Xavier del Bac. Most of the time it is boiled, but Kyle suggested fermentation for a couple of reasons, the micro organisms in the finished product aid in creating the strength, and with fermentation, no fuel energy is used to make the juice, just the sun and time.
So, there you have it....that's about all I know about the subject. As I said in a previous entry, I'll let you know how it holds up.
Written by meenhenry Blog about this entry |
Add to del.icio.us | digg this
