Application - Wetting the wall

Preparing the surface

Lime plaster should be applied to a dampened surface, often the stones/bricks/laths will need to be sprayed with water, how much depends on the absorbency of the background e.g very absorbent materials such as soft red brick, insulation blocks or cob will require wetting down several times before work commences.

Lime plasters or renders will only carbonate whilst moist, if they dry out before they carbonate, they can fail.

Please note if the wall is saturated with moisture - often after a cementitious plaster/render has been removed then the wall needs time to dry out before re-plastering. (If you are using wood wool boards or woodfibre boards as a background for your plaster, pre-wetting is not required, just run a damp sponge over them to remove any site dust.) 

Wetting a Wall

The application of lime plaster is more involved than using conventional plaster. It is highly recommended to use a plasterer experienced in the use of lime plasters or at the very least you should get some practical experience e.g. on a course, as it is not possible to cover every point in detail here.

Disclaimer - no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions or any loss or damage as a result of using the information provided in these guidelines.