Essential Facts About Lime And Gypsum Plasters
There are two most common materials used in plastering – gypsum and lime plasters. Lime plaster was widely used in most plasterworks during the 19th century. Lime plaster is typically made out of lime, fiber, aggregate and water. Lime is usually derived from oyster shells and lime stones while hog or cattle hair is the fiber component used in the plaster mix.
Changes in the construction industry have led to the development of gypsum plaster as an alternative to lime plaster. Eventually, gypsum and lime plasters were also combined and used as a composite plastering material although gypsum slowly became the preferred plastering material for most tradesmen.
When constructing a house or building, the traditional practice of plasterers is to mix quick lime and water in order to hydrate the powder compound. As soon as the water is absorbed by the lime, heat is released. This is an indication that the chemical reaction has occurred and that the mixing process is complete. The resulting putty is then used a plastering material.
A coarse plaster is the result of the mixture of lime, water, sand and fiber. Plasterers apply one or two coats of this coarse plaster material in order to attain the desired thickness of walls. For best results, the normal practice is to use 3 layers of the plaster material. The initial two layers of the plaster material are the brown coat and scratch coat while the final layer is applied as the setting stuff of the plasterworks.
This final layer of the plasterwork uses a plaster mix that has a higher amount of lime putty and lesser amount of aggregate. Further, the plaster mix does not contain any fiber in order to attain a fine and smooth finish.
The first two layers are generally 3/8 inch thick while the finishing coat is only about 1/8 inch thick. Additives may be added to the final coat in order to achieve the desired quality of finish. The more common type of additives used in the final coat are marble dust and white sand. Plasterers also add small amount of plaster of Paris to shorten the setting time of the plaster material used for the third layer of the plasterworks.
Gypsum started to be used as a plastering material at the early parts of 1900s. One of the main advantages of gypsum is that it immediately reacts as soon as it makes contact with water. Gypsum as a plastering material also sets faster than lime plaster and its drying period is much shorter. Another upside of gypsum is that it is proven to be more rigid than lime. Unlike lime, gypsum plaster will not require fiber component in order to attain the binding effect needed in the plastering material.
Notwithstanding all of these distinct advantages of the plastering material, gypsum is prone to damage when exposed to moisture and damp conditions. Thus, lime plaster is more appropriate as plaster coating for masonry and when doing external plastering jobs.
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