[Cob] Limewash

[Shannon C. Dealy]

On Mon, 8 Aug 2005, Rodger Chenoweth wrote:

>> Hi there,
>> I'm doing a lime plaster on a cob structure, and having a hard time 
>> figuring out how limewash sets, and works generally.  It seems like the

You refer to both a lime plaster and limewash, which are you having 
problems with?

>> result is the same whether I wet the wall ahead of time or not... both 
>> cases end with a wall coated in lime.  Both whiten nicely, but neither seem 
>> to harden.

Are you using the right kind of lime?  It should be type S or type N 
builders lime, not any kind of agricultural lime.  Type N must be made 
into putty and aged before use, type S can be used straight though it will 
work better if made into putty and aged a bit.

>>  Every other coat of limewash seems to bring out the sand again, 
>> and just add more lime to the lime that was there.  Is the idea to keep 
>> doing coats so that the lime builds on itself so that eventually it covers 
>> all the sand particles?  And is it supposed to turn into a dust free 
>> hard surface?

There are different variations of limewash mixes, how many coats and how 
dustless depend on the variation you are using.


Shannon C. Dealy      |               DeaTech Research Inc.
dealy at deatech.com     |          - Custom Software Development -
                       |    Embedded Systems, Real-time, Device Drivers
Phone: (800) 467-5820 | Networking, Scientific & Engineering Applications
    or: (541) 929-4089 |                  www.deatech.com