I've had a first ever go at putting a roughcast lime render onto a wall. I rather hope it is a wall no-one will ever look at (and maybe a second coat will even things out a bit). But the render is still there this evening.
Here's how it looks:
It's a purely sand/lime mix, approximately 2:1, and it's mixed reasonably wet. I applied it by flicking it off the trowel, which I know is the approved manner. I have a feeling I should have tried to level the surface at some point before it was completely dry, but I was so pleased seeing it stuck to the wall that I didn't. I couldn't face the prospect of seeing it all slide off. When you flick it on, it's surprising how often successive plops end up in exactly the same place, giving a very amateurish peaks and valleys effect. I hope that with more experience I'll be able to throw it where I want it. Trouble is, if you don't throw it hard enough it falls off (and too hard, it bounces off), and there's a trade-off between speed and accuracy.
I ran out of lime, so tomorrow I'll get some more and try to finish this wall and start the next. I am fairly sure you are supposed to do something clever at the edges, so I'll try to work out what that is before I start next time.
But what the hell, it looks a lot better than concrete blocks!
No comments:
Post a Comment