You’re invited to a special event! Join us at a two-day plastering party/workshop at a beautiful home we recently baled during a seven-day workshop in Temecula. The county was not willing to let us plaster until they had completed another inspection, and now that inspection is done. We are ready to throw some mud!! HERE […]
I recently asked my friend Michel Couvreux of TransMineral, USA to write a guest piece about lime and the many confusing aspects of choosing and/or working with the right material for a straw bale house.
The importance of protecting natural plaster can’t be over stated. It’s not the same as conventional stucco and it needs specific conditions for application.
In this article I discuss using American Clay plaster over a Natural Hydraulic Lime plaster, making sure that cure times are accounted for.
Plastering has a lot of challenges to it from mixing recipes to application techniques. Some challenges may not be obvious from the start, so be sure to spend some time learning what you need to know before you jump in. Today I spoke with a client who had spilled Natural Hydraulic Lime (NHL) all over their […]
When acid staining concrete floors, it is very important to properly mask off walls and doors so that none of the stain gets onto places where you don’t want it. One of the hardest surfaces to protect is unsealed plaster.
There are a lot of finish plaster texture options available for your straw bale home and knowing which one is best for you can be difficult. The best decisions are based on understanding the combination of application-technical difficulty, personal aesthetics, durability, crack hiding ability, and material availability.
If you have a straw bale house and are willing to share your experience with an international master program, then please fill out the following questionnaire.
Here’s a great use for any left over bags of natural hydraulic lime you may have from your straw bale plastering job.
I know that the topic of metal in straw bale wall assemblies is a contentious one, and that is precisely why I want to bring it up and talk about it with you all. I have been saying for years that the use of welded wire mesh and plaster lath is essential to a quality bale house, and that sentiment has not changed. I want to quickly share my thoughts about using metal mesh and lath, and then hear from those of you who either agree or disagree with the practice.
