Contrary to popular belief, it takes a long time for natural adobe homes to return to the earth from which they were made. The roof (with 2' overhang) has protected these unplastered walls for over 30 years with no discernable 'melting.' As time goes by and the interior is basically done, I realize I have to finish the exterior. So the plastering has begun.
The process is pretty straightforward. Obtain screened soil with the appropriate clay/sand ratio, add a binder (I'm using horse manure - I have a ready source), add water and mix. It's a good idea to wait a few hours to let the mud fully hydrate. Remove dust from the wall, hose it down to help adherance, and then apply mud. Adobe mud is great stuff . You can keep working it forever on the wall. You can keep your mud till the next day. If you have too much mud you can let it dry and put it back in the garden, or the yard, or maybe make some adobes with it.
As for the technique, everyone develops their own. I do not plaster with a trowel because I have a difficult time maneuvering the tool with mud on it. I use my hands to apply the mud, and because I don't have calluses, I use thin leather gloves to maintain my feel for the wall and keep my skin from being ground off by abrasion. Plastering is fun and the end result looks great (as you can see in the photo below).
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| Plastered on the left, unplastered on the right. |
According to my father, a traditional mud plaster without stabilizer will last 40-50 years. After that, the walls have to be replastered. He seemed to think this was a negative, but compared to normal house maintenance, it's not bad. And I think mud just looks great, as you can see here, the result is warm and natural.
Stay tuned for more plastering in the spring..
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