[Cob] Lime Putty

[Henry Raduazo]

It depends! You might be able to do it with one bag or you could  
consume dozens of bags.
	If you want to be cheap, you can first fill in all the wall  
irregularities with some form of earth plaster and use the lime as a  
paint. I have just done the outside of my 10 x 36 foot walkout area  
with one drywall bucket full of lime. I used paper/clay/sand plaster  
to completely cover and finish all the walls then I diluted the lime  
with water and brushed it on with a firm brush. I have also used  
earth plaster made with horse shit. Both take lime paint well, but I  
like paper plaster better.

	I also have a 10 x 12 foot wall that was unfinished and infested  
with mason bees. I used five times as much lime mixing it with sand  
and applying it as a thick layer of putty to exclude the bees and  
fill in their holes.

	The question you are asking is impossible to answer or even guess at  
with out knowing how irregular the surface of your wall is and how  
thick you intend to apply the plaster. I believe that earth plasters  
bond better to cob than lime plasters and crack less so usually I  
favor an earth plaster of some sort followed by lime, and the lime  
can be as thin as a layer of paint with or with out sand mixed in.
	I have had no problems with my lime over earth plaster walls, but my  
walls are very sheltered. I have only one small area that is not  
sheltered, and I do not know how well lime paint will do exposed to  
weather because I just did it a couple weeks ago.  George  
Washington's wooden home at Mount Vernon is more than 90% original  
wood and it is protected only by a lime and sand paint. Based on that  
fact I have high hopes for my lime paint.

Ask me how the lime paint is doing five years from now. Time will tell!

Ed

On Jul 30, 2010, at 7:26 PM, Janet Standeford wrote:

> Can anyone tell me how much lime putty I will need for a house 30  
> feet long by 16 feet wide with an additional 14 x  16 on the low  
> side at around 8 feet high on three sides. The South side otherwise  
> is 14 feet high and the low, North side is 8 feet high.
>
> I also need to know where to buy it. I'm collecting what I need as  
> I can this year so it's here for spring. All the straw is in.
>
> I also need to know if anyone has located a really good source of  
> bags at a decent cost?
>
> Janet Standeford OR
> www.buildingnaturally.info (Owned by you)
> A resource for healthy homes.
>
>
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