Stucco and earth plaster.

[Eric D. Hart]

At 11:18 PM 9/25/96 -0400, patrick newberry wrote:
>I was putting stucco on the outside of a straw structure today and well its
>going on slow but sure.
>Anyway (yes this is about Cob)
>In order to be economical and such I used one of the receipes for earth plaster
>Natural Plaster (from Robert  LaPorte's Moose prints)
>
>Rough coat:
>                         1 part creamy clay slip (from site or mixed water
>and clay)
>                         2 parts medium sand
>                        1/2 part fiber (chopped straw)
>
>
>Finish coat
>                        1 part creamy clay slip (etc)
>                        2parts medium sand
>                        1/2 - 1 % oil or eggs (by volume)
>                        fiber optional
>
>well I started on the intererior wall with (rough coat only) and it was
>great to work with. I Mean it applied much easier than the comercial
>mason/stucco mix I used for the outside. I realized that this was only a
>little different from cob. I mean cob is 20 to 30 percent clay and the rest
>sand with straw for fiber.
>Right.
>I really enjoyed working with it. 
>I could see where some rubber gloves might be usefull for longer work times
>and to prevent wrinkled hands.
        Great, I'm glad that the recipe worked out for you!  Where did you
get the clay slip from?  I am guessing that you got the clay from the site
rather than from a bag.

>The  sand I used in from our road. it's very sandy here and the road gets
>plowed every so often. It's very easy to dig and free from most organic
>material. It has some (i mean only very little) dirt (loam) mixed in with
>it. I have enouph of it to make several buildings.
        Always best to use the most local materials you can!

<Snip> about lime plaster recipes

>Well I went to a store to find this type-n lime
>all I find is some in the garden shop to be used on one's garden.
>Is this the right stuff?
>If not where should I look.
>I did find some type-n cement. 
>So any way I got some garden lime 
>and type-n cement, what ever type-n means.
        The garden type lime definitely will *not* work!  I believe most
places that sell portland cement should sell lime.  I think this type of
lime might also be called mason or masonry lime.  If that doesn't work,
there are masonry supply shops in bigger metro areas (like Atlanta no
doubt).  There is one in St. Paul, MN that sounds like they have everything
you would ever need as far as cement and masonry supplies go.  Personally,
if you are satisfied with the natural plaster, I would hold off on finding
lime until you have a little more time.  Sounds like it might a bit tricky
to find this type of lime in your area.

Eric Hart
Minneapolis, MN