We’re currently working with lime plaster to finish a few interior feature walls and we thought we’d share this amazing product with you!
Image credits: Simon Burt and Simon Maxwell
Nowadays, lime plaster is thought of as an out of date building material that is ineffective and impractical in todays world. Wrong! Lime is one of the best materials you can use. It’s flexible, breathable, reduces condensation, is easy to work with, affordable and looks bloody good too! Here are a few reasons to consider specifying lime plaster.
- Lime plaster is vapour permeable: In other words it allows buildings to breathe so that when moisture forms it can escape.
- Lime plaster is good at absorbing and releasing moisture: It acts as a natural humidity control, taking out moisture from the air when there’s too much, and releasing it back when the air gets too dry, all of which makes for healthier living conditions.
- No condensation – healthier for you and your home:When you use lime plaster or mortar for building, you won’t get condensation on the surface of walls. Lime has disinfectant qualities, especially when it’s used as limewash, but the same is also true for lime mortars, plasters and renders. This means it will resist the build up of moulds, creating a healthier living environment.
- Long lasting strength: Lime is made of very fine particles, much smaller than those that make up cement. This allows it to penetrate into the tiny spaces on the surface of other materials, binding to them extraordinarily well and making it both strong and long lasting.
- Lime plaster is flexible and more forgiving: As lime is a ‘flexible’ building material that gives a little when a building moves or shifts, it’s far more forgiving than more brittle materials like cement.
- Easy to work with: Lime mortars and plasters stay smooth and malleable, even against a porous brick and block.
- Lime self-seals and heals
- Lime also heals itself: When water penetrates and fine cracks, it dissolves any ‘free’ lime it encounters, depositing it there as it evaporates. In this way, lime seals and heals.
- Lime is environmentally friendly: Lime not only absorbs carbon dioxide, but the amount of energy required to produce it in the first place is less than is required for the production of cement. As lime is a natural material, it doesn’t ‘leach’ damaging chemicals,
- A natural finish: Lime as a surface finish is aesthetically pleasing, with a more ‘natural’ look that comes from the double refraction of light through the calcite crystals that are present in it. This creates a softer texture than you get with ‘harder’ cement-based products, which can complement the appearance of either contemporary or traditional buildings. With lime plaster and render, you also get a visually unique finish each time with the surface quickly developing a distinctive ‘patina’ that has a translucent glow, something that’s seen for instance on the beautiful buildings in Venice.
If you’re interested, there is an excellent article written by Tim Ratcliffe, a lecturer on ‘all things lime’.
So, if you’re planning a new build, looking to renovate and refurbish your home and you’d like to consider lime plaster, then please get in touch with us!