Lime plaster on dustcrete walls

[@jonathanbinns5725]

top tip from a professional, when you scratch the base coat ,make the lines wavy and horizontal,this forms a good key that will help prevent cracks from travelling (they move in straight lines). All else carry on old chap.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Thank you. It’s a lost art, in America. Glad to pass muster.

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@radicalgastronomy So nice you are showing us all something new and innovative. Shame more are not making great strides with building materials Sir.

[@radicalgastronomy]

@@victoryfirst2878 Glad to be of service!

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@radicalgastronomy Now I would ask you for the best way to heat a home one lives in Sir ?? Thanks

[@radicalgastronomy]

@@victoryfirst2878 My favorite is passive solar with an earthen floor to hold the warmth. My orientation is not due south in this building, so I supplement with a wood stove. I will be building a rocket mass heater for this room, soon. Stay tuned! Another local natural builder just informed me that it has actually become reasonable to run in-floor heat on an electric boiler hooked to PV panels. The drop in cost and increase of panel efficiency has now made this set-up doable with two panels. I also like the old school solar collectors run to a water bath with in-floor heat pulling from that, but he says the electric rout is more affordable factoring in maintenance.

[@KeeperofTheMountain]

My father, my brother and I used this basic recipe to coat straw bale buildings about 30 years ago. It is holding up well. I have a video on it named "Straw Bale House Life 28 Years and Counting". We put up straw bales, wrapped them in chicken wire and then covered them with Dust Crete. It is standing the test of time for sure. You are doing some very nice work.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Sweet! I'll check out that video.

[@daviddixon2209]

I like to pounce the basecoat with a stiff scrub brush. When it's relatively firm, I knock down the high spots with a trowel. The second coat is my contrasting color coat and I flatten it as much as possible. My third coat uses marble dust as an aggregate and no sand at all. I tint it very lightly with either the base color or the second coat color. It essentially fills the pinholes and small dips, while giving a three dimensional effect. Spraying the cured plaster with water glass locks it all together, and makes it easy to clean without bleeding color.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Sweet. Do you buy that water glass, or make your own?

[@daviddixon2209]

@@radicalgastronomy I buy it. I can't justify the time it takes to make it, as cheap as it is.

[@radicalgastronomy]

@@daviddixon2209 good trick. Better than tadelakt?

[@daviddixon2209]

@@radicalgastronomy you might call it lazy man's tadalakt. I've used polyurethane as a sealer, as well as some water based sealers but I trust the water glass more for penetrating and bonding. With tadalakt, the soap polymerizes like linseed oil. It requires a lot of finessing to get good results and I'm too old and arthritic to make it work. I had to come up with something less demanding.

[@bdp-ng6xd]

I can smell that lime plaster. Just gorgeous results! Back in Ukraine I did lots of sand, lime and cement stucco and then we would finish with stuck Mudd (very fine sand, lime and white cement) rooms always had such fresh smell in them. Wish you all the best and joy from your work! Great videos!

[@seansshorts5141]

love this, thx for the video

[@radicalgastronomy]

My pleasure!

[@noah122804]

It looks excellent brother, very innovative, economical, and artsy.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Thanks!

[@gee3883]

Brilliant. A few tips to help speed things up . Mix in a mixer, add water first then slowly add cement, lime, sawdust add more water as required.( this will prevent sticking to mixer blades. Tip from the mixer into a wheelbarrow then wheel it to the wall scoop it out with a shovel into wall and tamp down with a hand made tamp that fits the wall size. Great project dude. PS : One more tip place all materials and mixer as close to the wall as possible to preduce walking distance, you'd be amazed how much faster this will be.

[@fizzedupslade4082]

Love what you are doing here and really appreciate seeing how one does this work. One crit would be - if you could slow down when you move camera around. Imagine you are 80 and a bit slow. This helps the eyes catch up with the lens. TA.

[@B30pt87]

Another great video. Thank you very much. I love these walls- partly because I can do them myself, and partly because I have always disliked sheetrock walls. Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I would never have known about this otherwise.

[@b_uppy]

Ever figure out the R-value on the dustcrete?

[@kevinhornbuckle]

The variability of the colors is pretty cool. Kudos to you for your willingness to experiment and take a risk.

[@terran5569]

Scratch coat scratch pattern should be parallel to the floor or ground. It will hold the mud better.

[@radicalgastronomy]

No failure at 1.5 years. We’ll see…

[@donaldwingate5849]

nice work

[@RJCooper2]

Gotta love your results.

[@lennardg3656]

Cool thanks

[@JoshPLewis]

Hi. How would dustcrete work in a hot humid environment? We don’t have winter here.

[@benjamindejonge3624]

Great textures too

[@Iamtherodlight1453.]

Thank you

[@eclecticcode]

First time I've watched the process of making a wall from start to finish. It looks great, and I really appreciate such educational videos! Does the crack from the cold join have a significant impact on the... I guess, robustness/lifespan/utility of the wall?

[@radicalgastronomy]

The crack is largely cosmetic. Because the post and beam frame carries the roof load, the dustcrete is just infill. The outside of this wall has a clay/lime plaster that has only a hair-line crack. It doesn’t have a draft. There are a couple of other little cracks around the room. I think that this sawdust was a bit too wet when I used it and will try allowing it to dry a bit in future builds. I’m so glad you liked the series! I’ll get a video up of laying the earthen floor, soon!

[@kevinhornbuckle]

It is possible to use ladder wire across cold joints, or even metal lath.

[@brentdobson5264]

Good old painterly wabe goes into supporting colour and character of posts and beams ( pretty easy to live with ) ❤ .

[@peterlawrence738]

Wonderful…a work of art

[@Seafariireland]

Nice finish!

[@th30ldman]

What kind of lime do you use ? Is it hydrated lime or quick lime. What do you purchase and who do you get it from. I don’t really know if there is a difference please educate me. Thank you very much.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Gladly. This is hydrated lime, and it is sold as Type S lime in almost every building supply store in America. Quick lime is fired, but not hydrated. The reaction between quick lime and water is super hot, and quick lime powder is very caustic. One can make hydrated lime from quick lime (by adding water and allowing it to slake). Hope that helps.

[@sz4179]

Thank you very much for explaining hydrated lime.

[@placefor16]

Thank you for the great tutorial videos! What are your thoughts on using spray techniques, like stucco for larger walls.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Spraying certainly lowers the physical demands of plastering. As long as your finish work is good, how it gets on the wall is irrelevant. Glad you’re liking my videos!

[@tsclly2377]

I like the barn door..

[@markwashburn2418]

I like this, great job.

[@casade2831]

No words! Perfection?

[@radicalgastronomy]

I don’t know about perfection, but it sure feels nice in our home!

[@RedandAprilOff-Grid]

Looks great!

[@radicalgastronomy]

Thanks! Did you shoot any footage of your earthen floor install?

[@RedandAprilOff-Grid]

@@radicalgastronomy Yes, we do. This one shows the bottom rammed earth layer, kzbin.info/www/bejne/mXS5e4WXr7Bjl68 and the next one shows the top coat, sealing and wax. We love the floor, it has worked out well!

[@radicalgastronomy]

@@RedandAprilOff-Grid Nice. I’ll watch them, before I edit mine. I have some settling issues, but loving the floor, regardless!

[@jenniferpackard6558]

Thanks for this video!! My husband, a structural engineer, asked if the sawdust would absorb water and then shrink when drying over time, making the wall shrink. Over time has this been an issue for you at all? Thanks!!

[@simongigney2138]

Just a question, would this dust Crete be any good for filling tires an gaps for an earthship?

[@tamasdombi2122]

Thanks for posting! I'm loving the dustcrete! Would it be feasible to top coat it with drywall plaster instead of lime and sand? (I know the look will not be the same, just curious if there is a good reason drywall plaster can't be used.)

[@InTheTubeNotOfTheTube]

Can you give an average of materials needed for the dustcrete ? Like approximately how much concrete and sawdust do you need per square foot or per 10' x10' wall area?

[@MarkRVillano]

Venetian Plaster would make for a great top coat.

[@mostawesome9610]

Everything is looking great 👍

[@terrylutke]

I'm guessing the final interior coats would've turned out fine using gypsum wall board compound in lieu of lime plaster.

[@daphnevega1812]

How easy/difficult is it to put nails or screws into this wall surface? For hanging shelves or artwork?

[@alexmckee4683]

Masonry bit, drill a pilot, take it up to your desired hole size one bit a time, drill slowly to avoid damaging the bit and the surface. Wall plugs (not necessarily plastic e.g. hemp fibre or wood) for a strong fix.

[@rob6052]

A really interesting topic. I'm interested in the difference in mass between dustcrete and concrete. Is there any feasibility to making pre-cast dustcrete blocks or reinforced sheeting?

[@radicalgastronomy]

There may be. The block idea is very intriguing and I plan to do some tests of that concept.

[@jimviau327]

This is Soooo beautiful .

[@jonnybritnorth7966]

generally when plastering work from the bottom up

[@douglaspohl1827]

Mix more lime into your sawdust Crete fill to sanitize it against fungi eating wood inside the wall. Black mold is a toxic hazard you never suspect since you will never open up inside a wall to look... prevention is the key! Spritz with 3% H202 hydrogen peroxide before plaster scratch overlay coating.

[@garyweber6413]

what does the H2O2 do?

[@douglaspohl1827]

@@garyweber6413 Sanitize... lookup hydrogen peroxide.

[@oddshot60]

@@douglaspohl1827 True that ... if you have a mold problem, do not use bleach, use 3% H202 hydrogen peroxide. Look up the process.

[@javiermartinez2751]

Beautiful work, thank you for the information. Do Timbers shrink any leaving gaps to the adjacent dustcrete wall ?

[@radicalgastronomy]

Thanks! I have 1/64" gaps. The cleats of 2x3 with a bead of caulk behind them will prevent drafts.

[@elwood212]

Because the internal walls won’t be subjected to water, would it be sustainable to simply chalk paint in place of pigmented plaster, if I like the texture?

[@radicalgastronomy]

Any render that remains vapor permeable will work well. Earthen plaster is another option. Chalk paint with latex additives could be problematic, but lime wash (pigmented or not) would work great.

[@MrJared0216]

Im a plasterer by trade. Im about to use this dustcrete idea in central Texas. What kind of footer do you have in that building?

[@tracylee8194]

Is the plaster coat neccesary over the dust crete for structural integrigity? I have a bunch of ft high garden terrace walls to make and was thinking this would be an inexpensive way to go about it.

[@radicalgastronomy]

The plaster is cosmetic, but will add durability. You can always do it later, if you want to freshen your wall up. I would use some sort of cap stone on top of such a wall.

[@Justinofalltrades1]

what kind of lime are you using for the lime putty? is it just regular type s lime? Does it cure or just dry?

[@radicalgastronomy]

Type S. It cures. Super durable, so far, and always getting harder.

[@roiad876]

That's very nice but personally I think I'd go with lime plaster on the outside and a clay finish on the inside for a softer look.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Also a great choice.

[@teddyapproved]

I have a question about the cold joint. If you were using Dustcrete in a arched design and were using rebar or something similar and had an inner, and both outer layer of metal that the Dustcrete was tied into like this ((( Would you think it could be weight bearing like the thin walled cement domes I’ve seen built over the years. And would a cold joint be bad in this situation or do you think the arched design would just press it into itself like when arching stone or brick? Perhaps if you had enough people you could finish the whole archway in one day to prevent the cold joint. I’m looking to seal it up and make it earth covered.

[@radicalgastronomy]

This may work, as described. I would only feel comfortable if it was all poured in one day.

[@teddyapproved]

@@radicalgastronomy that’s what I was thinking, just wanted a second opinion. I’m going to experiment with it when I get to the property. I’ll let you know how it goes.

[@vanderumd11]

Any cracks I filled with the epoxy anchor caulk. .

[@1956arc]

Over all how thick is the plaster? Is each coat 1/4” or more?

[@radicalgastronomy]

Over all this wall has 1/2” of plater in two 1/4” coats, plus the skim coat of pigment.

[@harvdog5669]

Thankyou for a response in a fair amount of time.. What would be wrong with just sawdust or wood shavings like the horse world uses ?? I believe the dutch and folks in Sweden build with sawdust in the floors in there log cabins, and they have a very frozen earth in there winter. They have been using sawdust plain for many many yrs.. I have a new Graceland building in northern Arizona at 6850 feet.. I would like to fill my wall cavities with Adobe mud for a thermal barrier. The T-111 is on the outside of building. I am thinking of Adobe or cob, but more on the dryer side as well.. Completely have the Adobe walls inside, nothing else, have three or four windows 🪟. Put regular ceiling insulation in attic and ceiling board on ceiling. The center of roof and the eaves of building are vented the whole length of building, so to keep it vented well, a heat & moisture thing is why they build them this way.. what do you think of my crazy idea.. One other idea is to insulate walls with normal insulation and over the studs, apply one layer of thermal barrier, with a product called REFLECTIX. I Am not sure my spelling is correct.. then put wall boards up over the thermal barrier.. I do have lots of Adobe material all over my property.. Just exploring different ideas before I move forward to make a warm tiny cabin where it gets down in the single digits some winters...thanks again for any suggestions. For I am handicapped and I am limited.. Plus this is my first project like this at my retirement age.. Thankyou again for any suggestions..

[@radicalgastronomy]

Adobe has thermal mass, but almost no insulation value. It is also quite physically taxing to make and instal. I think you would be better of with the conventional insulation, or dustcrete. And yes the finer bedding sawdust is perfect.

[@harvdog5669]

Is this good insulation??

[@radicalgastronomy]

The plaster is not, but the dustcrete wall is.

[@markot4616]

If you can avoid anything fiberglass, especially fiberglass shards, avoid them.

[@ParadoxPerspective]

Hah. I noticed your window unit installed backwards as an efficient heat pump heater!

[@raymondpeters9186]

Very interesting I build pumicecrete homes

[@radicalgastronomy]

I have a friend doing one in Taos. If pumice is local and cheap, pumicecrete is hard to beat!

[@petechabot8948]

Patient man

[@joshuatinkham3703]

Tip (remove the air conditioner from the wall and put it in the new outer wall.

[@radicalgastronomy]

That OSB was the temporary wall for the other half. A/C unit is now in an exterior window during the hot season. We only need it in the middle of 90 degree days, thankfully. 🤪

[@masterdebater8757]

think the old timers used hair in plaster mixes maybe hog or horse hair.

[@radicalgastronomy]

Horse hair was common. I’ll be trying deer hair in upcoming projects.

[@joeshumo9457]

You have that upper Pennsylvania accent like Pittsburgh. I’d wouldn’t be surprised if that is where you were raised. Just a guess. It’s a uniquely subtle accent.

[@radicalgastronomy]

I've been in the Rockies and points west since 4 months old, but come from MI and CT stock.

[@rickcrippen5180]

I can tell you’re a guy who is not afraid of work.

[@radicalgastronomy]

That is certainly true. I’m bad at compliance, but always down for some work. 😉🤣

[@justineheart8200]

Gack only volume in my right ear!

[@radicalgastronomy]

Sorry about that! Thanks for letting me know. Have fixed the issue in later vids.

[@joycelisenbery4663]

What about lime disease????

[@radicalgastronomy]

You only get that from snorting lime lines.

[@kamnapavon4638]

Stay Dusty... Stay Dirty...... It is all about "How You Clean Up".......