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Pozzolanic Hydraulic Lime

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:18 +0000

A type of lime that has been used in construction since ancient Roman times is now covered by an ASTM International standard. ASTM International Committee C07 on Lime has approved ASTM C1707, Specification for Pozzolanic Hydraulic Lime for Structural Purposes. The new standard is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee C07.02 on Specifications and Guidelines.

Read more here ASTM International Standards

Greening of Mortars with Pozzolans

Quote from ASTM.org

“Growing interest in sustainable building has created a strong interest in fly ash and other coal combustion products (CCPs). Emergence of agencies like the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and the Coal Combustion Products Partnership (C2P2) of the USEPA has accelerated this trend. Their primary goal is sustainable development, focusing on environmental and social concerns. More than 30% of the 100 million tons of coal combustion products produced in the U.S. annually are being beneficially used in such things as manufactured stone, ceramic tile, shingles, concrete, aerated cellular concrete blocks, concrete blocks, stuccos, and mortars. The use of CCPs positively impacts the environment. Specifiers, contractors, and industry need to recognize that environmental stewardship today affects our children tomorrow. The features and benefits recognized in pozzolanic mortars reach beyond the technical, environmental, social, and sustainable aspects of this mortar. They signal future generations to track, improve, and develop mortars beyond any of our current technology”

Natural Hydraulic Lime (NHL) is seeing a worldwide comeback

Hydraulicity & Properties

Hydraulicity is the property of a binder to harden in contact with water.

Hydraulicity is produced by burning a limestone containing silica, alumina and iron oxides which above certain temperatures combine, totally or partially, with the Calcium Oxide. The resulting silicates, aluminates and ferrites give hydraulic properties to the product. Today as in the past, natural building limes are obtained by burning and slaking limestone and the more or less hydraulic character of the finished product is directly related to the percentage of calcium silicates, aluminates and ferrites formed during burning. The composition of the Earth crust shows the predominance of silica and its presence is almost inevitable in all limestone deposits.

Read the rest of the article here ST. Astier Lime mortars

Cement Stucco’s are Evil !

There I said it….but until the majority of home buyers and builders realize the benefits of hydraulic lime base coats and finishes we will be stuck with cement and acrylic stucco in North America…where time is money friends!

Evidence shows that lime has always been and will remain a practical, sustainable, healthier and greener alternative to cement, worthy of far more widespread use across the building industry.

Until the time the consumers realize these benefits, the ST. Astier NHL will remain relatively expensive,and cement will continue to be used as base coats for exterior stucco’s,which is a shame

Authentic Plaster FX from Vancouver BC. is working hard, exposing local builders to Natural hydraulic lime stucco’s, and venetian plaster finish coats such as Intonachino and Tadelakt. Discerning homeowners, architects and the exterior envelope engineers will look closely at the beauty and functionality of Hydraulic Lime plaster exteriors.

Authentic Intonachino Exterior Lime Plaster

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:17 +0000

Pools done and the landscaping is finished ! a private residence in Vancouver BC. was completed with Intonachino Italian lime stucco and Tadelakt lime based plaster columns, on the exterior of this Langley BC home. A Authentic lime plaster exterior with a heavy Spanish architectural influence, the Intonachino lime plaster glows…you should see this place in the golden hour…what a sight!! More shots to come as I have time.

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

Intonachino Lime exterior

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:15 +0000

An extremely versatile lime plaster finish, usable for interior and exterior applications. Intonachino lime plaster literally glows,yet is a matte lime plaster wall finish. Authentic Plaster FX has completed several interior and exterior Intonachino projects in the Vancouver BC. area.

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

The Lime Plaster Company

Authenticlime — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 23:40:07 +0000

Heads east …Ben Scott, talented owner of the lime plaster company has left Vancouver for greener pastures, and landed in Georgetown Ontario. Good luck Ben and keep in touch! At least keep your blog updated so we can all see what you are doing

Trans Mineral … whats old is new again

Authenticlime — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:24:13 +0000

I had the pleasure of meeting Michel Couvreux from ST. Astier natural hydraulic limes and Trans Mineral USA today in downtown Vancouver. This guy is passionate about his NHL lime plaster products! We discussed the use of natural hydraulic lime base coats and finishes being used here in beautiful British Columbia. There have been a few exteriors done with the product, mostly in the interior and mostly I believe on straw-bale homes, looks like he is working hard to make the Natural hydraulic limes become more mainstream,and he has promised to help in any way he can to make an upcoming hydraulic lime exterior I have in the works, actually come to fruition.

Natural Hydraulic lime exteriors are the way to go,they provide a far better exterior cladding than any portland cement possibly could. Here are just a few reasons.

Walls breath better and moisture can escape
Mortars and stuccos do not set too hard they remain flexable
Thermal movement can be accommodated without damage
Expansion joints can be somewhat avoided
Insulation is improved and cold bridging reduced
There is a reduced risk of condensation

The hydraulic lime material has been seeing a revival over the past few years lets hope Michel’s work in the industry pays off !

Making lime plaster and mortar,a lost art

Authenticlime — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 04:24:07 +0000

The World is our Oyster

Check out this video from the Colonial Williamsburg video library showing the building and history behind a lime rick .

As the rick burned, temperatures of at least 1800 F were were obtained. This is essential if the conversion from calcium carbonate to calcium oxide is going to occur. Ricks were constructed with several tiers of logs supporting layers of smaller logs then covered with the oyster shells.

There are worldwide examples of historic Lime ricks, these were found in close association to shell middens, which are strewn along the eastern seaboard of the USA, with some examples here in western Canada,with further examples worlwide.

The world-over you will see the use of the sir name “Lime-burner” or points of interest called “Limeburner point” “Lime burner bay” or pubs called “The lime burner” or “Limeburners Arms” these are all in reference of the old trade of burning limestone or in this case oyster shells to make lime plaster, mortars, tabby cement and concrete.

Shell or lime middens are a whole different topic to which I am no expert,but I find the subject interesting none the less.

Shikkui Plaster ( Shirokabe) the traditional Japanese lime plaster, is manufactured in much the same way, from the millions of pounds of oyster shell produced from the consumption of oysters in Japan….albeit in a more modern type of lime kiln.

Shikkui Plaster is made of slaked lime , seaweed extracts and natural plant fibers and other aggregates. Has been widely used throughout Japan for both internal and external wall and ceiling finishes of houses, temples and castles, for over one thousand years.

The hydraulic lime used in the technique of Tadelakt plaster was/is manufactured in much the same way ,in ground pits or pit kilns, with palm fronds as fuel to burn the limestone local to Marrakesh.

The renewed interest in the use of Lime Plasters,Venetian plasters and lime based mortars and paints is beginning a revolution.

Lime Plaster, high in alkalinity and very breathable provides healthy environments, excellent luminescent, reflective light, and simply a beautiful surface wall finish for any home.

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.