Clay and lime renders, plasters and paints: A How-to Guide to Using Natural Finishes

Interesting content, cover slightly damaged

Very hood book, a lot of infos !

excellent book well worth the price

Lots of good information and detail.

This book was first published by Green Books in 2008 under the title: Using Natural Finishes. This 2015 edition is a reprint which uses a different and more helpfully accurate title. The book is entirely about the composition and use of natural materials in building construction, especially those imparting a finish to surfaces, both external and internal. Natural materials are defined as those derived from lime and the various earth minerals which have undergone minimal processing and contain no synthetic ingredients. Plasters are coatings which are applied internally, in contrast to renders which are applied externally, and the book explores the different recipes and different techniques that each involve, especially those employed by the emerging green building movement.There are six main sections: (1) Looks at buildings and their design, particularly wall systems and some moisture problems that are encountered. Various wall materials are explored: monolithic clay walls, cob, clob, wychert, mud, clat, and clunch. Unfired bricks, adobe, clay lump, wattle and daub, straw bale construction. Also considered are lath and plaster, reed mats and boards, natural stone, hemp-lime, wood and wood-wool boards, and of course conventional masonry and concrete blocks. Building health in respect to an increase in moisture levels is examined with proposed natural solutions.(2) Discusses the preparations necessary before plastering and rendering can begin. A basic understanding of site preparation, specialist tools required and the techniques used to successfully employ them, the types of aggregates used, are all fully discussed. Going beyond the commonly used hawk-trowel-float techniques the book also demonstrates using a render-gun, harling, scratching, scraping, scouring, hand-throwing and much more.(3) This is the heart of the book which examines the different types of lime-based plasters and renders, how to prepare them and use them. There are articles by master plasterers, pargeters, and the Society for the Protection of Ancient buildings, as well as architects and researchers, giving a wealth of information, recipes and advice. There are tables giving recommended lime-sand-pozzolan ratios for different types of wall. There is also a trouble-shooter’s guide to solve problems.(4) Deals with the earth and clay based plasters from locally resourced materials, which were common until the end of the 19th century. The chemistry and mechanics of clay is explained together with the suitable aggregates and additives such as hemp, straw, sisal, animal hair, horse manure, kaolin, linseed oil, milk proteins, lime, etc. Instructions are given how to prepare, test, and apply these earth-clay plasters.(5) In an attempt to avoid synthetic paints this section examines the large number of home-made lime and earth and casein based paints and washes which can be use to coat plastered and rendered walls, revealing their ingredients and attributes.(6) Looks at natural wall finishes from around the world eg: Marmarino in Italy; Tadelakt in Morocco; Litema in South Africa; Shikkui and Arakabe in Japan; Adobe in North America.The book is illustrated with a multitude of colour photographs, although perhaps too many of them are simply young enthusiastic persons dressed as artisans applying lime and clay plasters to walls with floats. The text is well written, the style is easy and pleasant to read, always informative, and thoroughly professional in its approach and structure. The ethics in the book are always fine without being dogmatic or coercive. Above all, this is a practical book designed to pass on and share knowledge and insight into traditional building techniques which have sadly fallen from favour in a haste driven society. The techniques described are not always easy to master, nor can they often be accomplished swiftly, but for many connoisseurs of ancient buildings they create a satisfying atmosphere in dwellings as well as a satisfying glow in the emotions of the builders.Kevin McCloud of Grand Designs thinks it a splendid book, very complementary to other existing manuals on the preservation of old buildings. It is easy to agree with him, the book both preserves and contributes to the ancient knowledge of the local natural materials which our ancestors used to create harmonious surfaces, in which to live close up and personal, yet with minimal abuse of the very planet from which they were obtained.