Lime plastering

Removing gypsum and tanking to treat damp.
Traditional four coat lime plastering with Dubbing out, scratch coat, float coat and two finish coats.

[@Dampcureservices]

Good to see someone on here doi g things the right way. Unfortunately I come across this week in week out and really cant stand the chemical industry. You really cant go wrong with lime as a superior material for trapped moisture issues. Top man 😊

[@oldhousediy]

Thanks. Lime, lime and lime 👍🏻

[@lelins300]

Good to see someone passionate about lime plaster I have been doing same on my house too just with some differences I used Quicklime instead of slaked lime, thing with lime is the longer the soaking period the better Ingredients are Quick lime with brick dust as pozzolanza and sand with matured jaggery water and boiled Accaia water bonding becomes stone hard after a week depends on moisture and humidity For fibers I used Jute as wanted something organic Covered all of the area with wet gunny jute bags For final coat brick dust and slaked lime, if sealer needed olive oil soap it is Without brick dust did not find the strength in plaster so went ahead Best advantage I got was the night time cooling of walls in summer as compared to cement and walls look beautiful Best wishes for your project ❤👍

[@oldhousediy]

👍🏻

[@WalnutLodgeEspas]

Great video thanks. Have plucked up the courage to give it a go. Scratch coat on! Thanks from SW France

[@oldhousediy]

Good luck 👍🏻

[@vinylspinner87]

How is the process going so far..?

[@oldhousediy]

@@vinylspinner87 mid way through limewashing. (Material delays slowed progress.)

[@vinylspinner87]

I meant for the newbie but appreciate the reply...what products do you use please.? I have a property that will need lime plaster. Its a triple skin house with no cavity and made with mostly brick at the front and mostly chalk at the back

[@matthewhaynesyoutube]

Thanks for the informative video :-). Do you buy the "grit" that you use? If so what is the specification is it? I have seen pozzelans for sale but they look a bit fancy for traditional work.

[@oldhousediy]

Thanks, glad you liked it. At the moment I am using Travis Perkins “Grit/Sharp” in bags, but I still find variations over time and I do move around. I think it depends on exactly where the merchant is getting their supply from at the time as it does vary despite the “name” on the bag. The best bet is to go to a few local merchants and have a look. I also used to suffer with larger grit coming to the surface but that can be reduced by using less grit and more sand in the float coat.

[@reachforthesky1849]

Enjoyed the video. Horrible building sand in my local merchants. Very orange with what appears to be clay in it. These damp proof techniques are still going on today with some well known KZbin channels singing its praises.

[@oldhousediy]

Yes, I find sand varies a lot between the merchants, even between seasons. This lot came from Travis Perkins.

[@beemsquar1]

This video is really helpful, thank you. I'm about to tackle a similar situation in our old house. It has a brick bottom layer about 1.5m and a chalk cob top. In your video you have left the top sections cement render, does the transition layer between the lime and concrete not crack? I assume you have to remove all the paint on the upper section to bare render to paint? What breathable paint do you use. Thanks.

[@oldhousediy]

I only did the bottom as that had been damp treated and rendered. However, the joint is difficult to do well. This room is getting pigmented limewash as paint.

[@NicArnbrough]

Really inspiring videos! The hazelnuts may have been left over as an early form of sound proofing (or a family of Nutella loving mice)

[@oldhousediy]

Ha ha, from what I heard about the previous state of the house I suspect they were left by bushy tailed residents.

[@lizziemcbizzierobin]

Thanks for this video. I have an Edwardian property in London (1906) and need to replaster. What period is your property from? Thanks

[@oldhousediy]

Early 1700’s. Good luck with your project.

[@siaddersl2936]

Hello, newbie here to this lime plastering. Have watched hours of videos on this subject (mainly with men with beards that babble for ages aboput the benefits) your videos are straight to the point and clear. Thank you. Just one thing though I have bought a bag of hydrated lime and on the instuctions it says to use 1 part cement. Would you ever use cement? Once again I am a newbie so be gentle😁

[@oldhousediy]

Never cement. Hydrated lime is added to cement as a plasticiser (makes it easier to work). I assume you know that to use hydrated lime you need to properly rehydrate it to putty and mature it.

[@siaddersl2936]

Thanks for the quick reply, as for the rehydrate to putty I know now after watching your video .

[@tlit3284]

Thank you so much for video and knowledge. I have a question, can I put lime putty on my painted wall? I want my house very healthy 🙏🏻👍🏻

[@oldhousediy]

Unfortunately probably not. The whole system needs to be breathable and that includes the paint so you need to know what the paint is (and it probably isn’t breathable). Also if the plaster is okay why plaster over paint.

[@carlrutherford8456]

How well does the lime, hair sand mix work with fine sand...instead of a coarse sand

[@oldhousediy]

Only my dubbing out and scratch coats have hair. The hair is used to help prevent cracking, as is the grit (the stones make it a stronger). Using hair and fine sand would not be as strong a mix or you’d have hair poking out of your finish coat.

[@themountain9900]

Just out of curiosity, you've stripped the affected areas in your hall way to about 1 meter and replaced with lime, is there any reason you don't do the entire wall?

[@oldhousediy]

Only the bottom is gypsum, it was done when injected damp course was fitted. The rest is already lime, albeit with some dubious paint. I have found that removing just the bottom gypsum and using correct paints is enough. In this room keeping the “drains” properly ventilated will also help a lot.

[@mobilvettamotorhome2056]

Great video thanks! Would be useful to have a summary of the mixes and the time between them in the info caption.

[@oldhousediy]

Dubbing and first : 2 grit 1 sand 1 putty and hair Second : 3 sand 1 putty Finish (x2) : 2 sand 1 putty Normally about a week between coats, look and test. The two finish coats are subsequent days.

[@mobilvettamotorhome2056]

@@oldhousediy Thanks - those are all by volume I guess?

[@jameswatson7167]

what are you going to use for paint,if remaing gypsum plaster has been painted with emulsion.Can you use quicklime paint on entire wall?

[@oldhousediy]

It will all get lime washed. The upper sections get a light sanding first and the limewash sticks okay. (Although you don’t regain the breathability.)

[@chrisatherton3911]

Great video again. We need to plaster a room in our converted stable. The stable is adjoining the main house and our neighbours next door. Could/should we plaster these two stone ‘internal’ side walls with plasterboard/gypsum and just concentrate the lime on the true ‘external’ walls at the front and back?

[@oldhousediy]

You could do the internal sides with gypsum but you would still have the risk coming up from the floor. I would suggest lime throughout if you can.

[@tiagofilipe2481]

Hello do you use paint? Like mineral paint?

[@oldhousediy]

This room will get a pigment limewash. (Stay tuned it will be the subject of another video.)

[@hellopipthecats]

Could this work if you have gypsum plasterboard, then do lime under it? Would the finish be different?

[@oldhousediy]

To get uniformity you may need more coats. However the plaster board will not play nicely with any moisture. Also likely that the plasterboard (unless it’s newly installed) has been painted with modern non-breathable paint.

[@Spencer_White]

Awesome video, I need to do the same, 1984 it was sand cement filled (20mm) with gypsum skim. Do you know if you can build up all coats flush to gypsum level then treat the gympsum above then final skim whole lot in lime finishin plaster? (As oppsed to matching in)

[@oldhousediy]

Thanks, glad you like it. Good luck in your project. The “joint” is always difficult. I’ve not found a great option yet. I would be worried about adhesion between the gypsum skim and a lime skim. I don’t think a lime skim would have much independent strength as it relies on bonding to the underlying coats . Hence the texture of the devil float before the two top coats (and the second top coat goes on while the first top coat is still fresh).

[@AndyPreston-kz5dq]

How come you didn't use non hydraulic like? Was is a listed building or something. NHL would of been so much quicker

[@oldhousediy]

There are indications that NHL gets a lot harder than putty or hot lime based mixes. The hardness can lead to increased cracking (and damage to softer stones / bricks). I do use NHL but only in specific areas where I need a faster set, such as when I re-laid the stone floor. NHL was very common for a period in restoration work as it can be used the same as cement but it has / is going out of use. It is Naturally Hydraulic Lime (not Non Hydraulic Lime) because it has impurities already in it which act as a pozzolan (curing accelerator) so NHL sets much faster.

[@RPBolfork]

Is it hydrated lime?

[@oldhousediy]

The plaster is made with putty, the putty is made with rehydrated and matured hydrated lime.

[@DAPH1918]

Is the top half of the wall already plastered in lime?

[@oldhousediy]

Yes, the bottom got gypsum when the damp wallies got involved.

[@DAPH1918]

@@oldhousediy is it possible to have part of the wall gypsum and part lime?

[@oldhousediy]

@@DAPH1918 ​​⁠yes, quite common in “modernised” houses. When they drill and inject a “damp course” they hack off the bottom 500mm of the original plaster and replaster in gypsum.

[@FeathersMcgraw]

Would you ever use Limelite plasters?

[@oldhousediy]

I make my own putty so no need for me to buy a bagged product. However, limelite is much better than an impervious gypsum but (as I understand it) limelite is closer to a NHL based product which may end up quite hard.

[@RobertSmith-de8rm]

Im having a similar problem in my kitchen/utility room in a Victorian house. I don't understand why its damp in the first place? Ie where is all the moisture coming from? Cheers!

[@oldhousediy]

Typical culprits are high external ground levels, leaking / blocked drains or pipes, poor moisture management (kitchens are prone to problems because of the steam from cooking).

[@RobertSmith-de8rm]

@@oldhousediy thank you, really appreciate your wisdom! So should I also focus efforts on reducing rainsplash externally etc with a drain or whatever or is like plaster and it's breathability that much of a wonder?

[@RobertSmith-de8rm]

Essentially we've got damp in our kitchen/utility where it's been covered in a thick modern concrete render. In process of stripping it all off before we have new kitchen put in. How long should brick be left to dry out before new lime plaster/kitchen is put in?

[@oldhousediy]

@@RobertSmith-de8rm I would leave it as long as practical, as long as your doing lime it will continue to breath. (As part of the lime plastering you’ve got to wet the wall down a lot anyway.) I also didn’t replaster behind our units, I just hacked the plaster off and then left it.

[@RobertSmith-de8rm]

@@oldhousediy lovely, thank you much!

[@vinylspinner87]

Can you say what products you used and amounts ornare yiu a secret squirrel aswel that wont give those secrets away...

[@oldhousediy]

Dubbing and first : 2 grit 1 sand 1 putty and hair Second : 3 sand 1 putty Finish (x2) : 2 sand 1 putty Putty is home made. Making Lime putty kzbin.info/www/bejne/goW4ioSni550nqc Sand is normally from Travis Perkins as I find their grit sand better.

[@vinylspinner87]

@oldhousediy just a quick one if/when you can. Is it possible to apply a thin finish coat over some original lime plaster which is upstairs but has been painted over? It's not the best finish plaster and I'd like to make it a bit better but I'm not sure if the whole lot needs to come off or I can get away with a layer over the top. Sorry if it's a silly question.

[@oldhousediy]

@@vinylspinner87 you may have adhesion issues. I have heard (but not tried) lime water (the clear liquid from the top of mature putty) being used to stabilise old plaster. The alternative, especially as it’s upstairs and less susceptible to damp may be wall paper (traditional paste and plan lining paper).

[@vinylspinner87]

@@oldhousediy thank you very much have a great day

[@andyman1032]

you have cut the bottom 4 inches back but over time the damp vapour will rot the skirting boards over time

[@oldhousediy]

The whole wall can now breathe not just the bit behind the skirting so moisture will not be as much of a problem. I will also be fitting grates over the two drain openings which was where the worsts rot was. I will also paint the back of the skirting which helps as well.