Cob: Decorating

[Charmaine R Taylor]

The other ideas posted on herbs and such were great. Distressed old
paint is very popular, and recycling things like that is admirable ( I
got a 1920's rocker, all chipped up where decades of hands and feet
touched it..I love it)

You can indeed paint with limewash, you can add pigment or even dry
ground clay to limewater to ge  paler adobe colors. Some have tried
launfry bluing- which is supsended iron particles- to get blue tints. If
the cob is dark or dunn colored then a lime plaster will make it  quite
bright, many don't like it too glaringly white. Adding small amounts of
pigments can give you a wide range of colors.  SOme builders use a
wide-hole salt shaker and shake on the pigments and then swirl it with a
trowel to get a wiild color look. ( see pic on
http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/lime.html )

Bayferrox sells dry pigments, I have some dark green which makes pale
green when used sparingly. www.sinopia.com is another pigment maker, but
I haven't used their stuff yet.

You can also put on a 1/2" thick layer and block stamp or incise the
[plaster with designs, or embed sea shells, or "comb" designs with tools
and brushes for a variety of effects.  This is called Pargeting and is
an old art form of lime decoration.  Many people make the upper half of
the wall whiter, and leave the cob color lower to keep dirt and scuffs
from showing.

Charmaine  Taylor/ Taylor Publishing
PO Box 6985, Eureka CA 95502
707-441-1632
www.dirtcheapbuilder.com
email: books at dirtcheapbuilder.com