The Lime Green Plaster Blog » Tadelakt

North American Interior Designer Discovers Tadelakt Lime

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:16 +0000

Up beat Vancouver interior designers are always looking for cool plaster wall finishes, Looks like San Francisco Bay area designer Kit Golson is very upbeat,checkout the use of Tadelakt lime on her design blog Chic Provence .

More pictures Kit ! the red and gold back splash is a stunning example of Tadelakt Lime Plaster.

“I had never seen anything like it before, and rarely have since I had stumbled upon one of the oldest and most treasured plaster finishes in the world. The art of tadelakt is 4,000 years old, and comes from Morocco.

The tadelakt process is deceptively simple. A natural powder paste is applied to the surface, then polished with a smooth stone. This is repeated seven times. Finally, the surface is sealed by rubbing with a black olive oil soap”

Read the rest of the blog here  Chic Provence

Tadelakt ….the “Red City”

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:14 +0000

A fellow Tadelakt lover recently wrote to me with some of her experiences during a visit to Marrakesh,where she participated in real world application of true Moroccan Tadelakt….here is an excerpt from that email.

“What I really loved about Marrakech is that Tadelakt is everywhere in the red city, indeed I would say it is the red city because of the Tadelakt and all the beautiful pigment you can mix into it. In some of the very old palaces (Bahia and others) you can still see Tadelakt on the walkways and in the pools hundreds of years after, so it clearly withstood the test of time. Maalem Majid said that they add marble powder to the mix for the swimming pools. He even worked on the villa for Yves Saint Laurent who also owned the Majorelle Garden right next to it with all the walk and waterways made from Tadelakt. He was very humble and taught us a lot, you could tell he himself works mainly by knowing and feeling the material and he had a lot of patience (a thing that I lack) but he could also be really fast when needed without stressing (which would happen to me). When working on a wall you really have to do the whole thing at once, starting from the bottom up and once you are done with the whole thing it is time for the next step, no time to kill with mint tea and Moroccan delights there. But since I was able to do it in 45 degrees heat in Marrakech I hope I can do it in the Okanagan (Indian) summer”

Nicole is planning a Tadelakt workshop in the very near future on her home in Western Canada’s BC interior , I plan to attend and help her put this together,no times or dates as of yet …interested?? just let me know here.

Here are some shots of Tadelakt from the “Red City” of Marrakech

Exterior Tadelakt

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:10 +0000

A sneak peak of an exterior Tadelakt plaster finish, before we are fully complete, had to leave the project for awhile due to the weather…close to finished here are a few of photo’s….tough tough job …not for the faint of heart

Interior Tadelakt of the Villas of L’Amandier

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:09 +0000

Check out this web blog about the Villas at L’Amandier in Marrakech there are plenty of photos with Tadelakt lime plaster either being applied,or already finished in the background. Personally I find it interesting to see the Tadelakt being applied in its native setting,all of the interior walls are finished with Tadelakt lime,and then protected using “savon noir” (black olive soap) Apparently there are more photos on the way, as some of the Villa’s have been completed ….if your looking for ideas for your interior, you like Moroccan architecture,or you want to buy a villa in Marrakech! …check out this blog!

Mikaela Fenton-Jones sent me this email of her personal account of Tadelakt lime plaster in Marrakech, and included updated shots of the interior of the Villa’s.

Thank’s Mikaela!

The lucky new buyers of these villa’s should give Maryam a shout from My Marrakech Lifestyle and interior design Blog, for some inspiration in furnishing there newly acquired abode

“The Moroccan art of Tadelakt plaster is one of those building traditions that has thankfully survived the test of time and is not, as so many other traditional trades and skilled practices are, dying out with a reduction in the knowledge pool. It is alive and kicking in Morocco. Now, I am by no means an expert in tadelakt, but I love that fact that it is ubiquitous here in Marrakech; it’s historical ‘ birthplace’ . I also love the fact that it transcends the luxury décor/functional divide and is just as widely used in public hammams (steamy bath houses) as the most trendy of boutique hotels The beautiful rounded edges and curves achieved on showers and bathubs, allow for the most indulgent of designs and the natural pigments used produce a wide variety of colours. See for example a couple of the bathrooms at the fabulously bohemiem Riad El Fenn in Marrakech”

“We are in the process of building an exclusive villa community, L’Amandier, in the foothills of the Atlas Mountains . Our British architect set out to blend a contemporary design with the traditional Moroccan materials and he chose Tadelakt for all the interior walls. He was absolutely right, because in my opinion, Tadelakt gives an overall impression of depth and warmth. It seems to both reflect and absorb the light and gives the feeling that the walls have somehow organically grown into the design of the house”

Assuming it is skillfully applied, Tadelakt is durable (although be careful of corners; rounded edges advised), waterproof, and stunningly beautiful…

Interior Vancouver Tadelakt Wall Finish

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:06 +0000

So after 3 months of collaboration with Francois Naudi of Mainland exteriors,a week ago today the largest Tadelakt project ever to be tendered in Vancouver was secured …phase 1 will be a whopping 25,000 + square feet of Stucco Italiano’s Tadelakt lime plaster .Watch this blog for video and photo updates of this exclusive residence receiving the wall finishing treatment of Tadelakt .

Now the real reason for this boring blog post…..We will be offering 3-5 positions of real hands on, on site Tadelakt training ,this will comprise finishing of actual wall surfaces, you will learn the process of installing Tadelakt lime plaster,you will learn tricks of the trade in running a decorative plastering crew. Add to this, we will teach you the concepts behind the estimating side of the venetian plaster business, you will complete a portfolio of 8 finished Tadelakt samples to show your clients.

"Tadelakt Training Course"

This on-site Tadelakt class will encompass 3 1/2 days of intense job site training

This on-site Tadelakt class will encompass 3 1/2 days of intense job site training,with the last half day being a discussion hosted by Aaron Cohen of Stucco Italiano inc. from Seattle, the focus of the discussion will be on real-life installation situations and color theory, helping you to progress beyond the sample board and into the successful completion of the most challenging Tadelakt projects.

You will then be well on your way with your new business venture, installing Stucco Italiano Tadelakt lime plaster.

This Tadelakt application course is open to all levels of plastering skill including the DIY’ER… for more information please use my contact page for email, or leave a comment below to be contacted with details.

Stucco Italiano Tadelakt Photo OP

Authenticlime — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:24:09 +0000

Aaron cohen from Stucco Italiano in Seattle stopped by one of my exterior Tadelakt lime plaster projects in Vancouver BC today …the big ham seized
the opportunity for a photo op…couldn’t keep his hands off the walls either. We then shot off to the sushi restaurant for some sea urchin ..mmmmmm

Exterior Vancouver Tadelakt Plaster project complete!

Authenticlime — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:24:03 +0000

Landscaping is almost complete, this private residence in West Vancouver BC has the best of the best in contemporary finishes including a smooth exterior Lime Plaster Tadelakt finish …there is no other house like it in the lower mainland of British Columbia.

Ryan Chivers of Artesano in Boulder county Colorado seems to think this is the only, if not the biggest exterior ever done in north America with Tadelakt lime plaster …if you know of another …drop me a line.

For a smooth stucco finish there is no better finish then Tadelakt ,this Vancouver exterior Venetian Plaster, also incorporates a rain screen cavity system,usually associated with leaky condos here in Vancouver,but which became part of the BC building code approximately 2-3 years ago.

Tadelakt Seamless Monolithic Finish

Authenticlime — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 14:59:11 +0000

Tadelakt is a morroccan finishing technique, the word “tadelakt” comes from the Arabic verb “dlek” which means to rub, knead or caress.

Tadelakt

Tadelakt plaster is a beautiful natural material that can enhance elements of the modern day home. With a texture and patina unmatched by any interior or exterior lime based plaster available on the market today,resembling honed stone and often referred to as looking like like leather. It is a mineral-based polished hydraulic lime plaster Authentic Plaster FX is the leading installer of Stucco Italiano’s Tadelakt lime plaster and stucco in Vancouver BC in Western Canada.

Tadelakt plaster is becoming an extremely popular alternative to traditional wet area materials such as limestone and ceramic tile . Tadelakt functions extremely well in wet areas and can form a seamless, monolithic finish to kitchen back splashes, bathroom, shower and powder room areas. Made from natural hydraulic lime, quartz and marble. Tadelakt is naturally white in color and can be pigmented to varying intensities using natural color earth pigments creating spectacular intense patinas .

After black olive soap is applied, Tadelakt plaster finish becomes very durable, water resistant and repellent.

It is applied by hand and is compressed to a dense smooth finish, The olive soap (a fatty acid) penetrates the Tadelakt, then reacts with the lime creating a water-resistant surface.

Down to earth Tadelakt

Authenticlime — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:16:20 +0000

Stumbled upon this blog with some great photography from a Tadelakt workshop

Tadelakt in France

Our workshop in France had an additional workshop within our workshop. Two Moroccan/French masons were there to teach “tadelakt,” a method of burnishing or polishing lime plaster and then sealing it with black olive oil soap. We had brief exposure to it some years ago from a young guy who had studied it in Morocco.Since then, we’ve collected numerous accounts of how it is done and as one would expect, those accounts differed enough to make our French opportunity all that more valuable.

Read the rest of the blog here The Canelo Chronicles

Athena and Bill I’ll guess that you have more shots from this workshop…I know I for one would very much appreciate to see them.