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| Wall plastered a week before |
Work goes on in the plastering department. Sifting out the bigger lumps makes a huge difference. The plaster applies well and looks good. When it dries it you can run your hand along the wall and nothing sloughs/dusts off like it did before plastering. However, some hairline cracks are still forming. Some possible causes and solutions I’m considering:
1) Wall sucks moister out of plaster
Solution: As I work I constantly mist the wall before applying plaster. I don’t think this is the issue.
2) Plaster drying too quickly
Solution: Throughout the work day I’ll return to recently completed sections and mist them. Perhaps I could cover the wall with a damp blanket overnight. I might get some help from the weather if it ever cools down. Cooler temperatures will slow down the drying process.
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| Crack Detail |
3) Not enough aggregate(sand) in the mix. The binder(clay) will swell when it absorbs water and then shrink back as it dries out. Aggregate is needed to fill in the voids.
Solution: I bought some masonry sand today and started adding it to my plaster mix.
In non-plaster news we’ve gotten the doors on. Hurray! I was careful during wall building to make sure the rough openings would fit the windows we purchased because windows aren’t known for their ease of resizing. I wasn’t as particular about the doors because I planned to custom build them. We decided on a rustic look so I’ve had my parents on the lookout for retired fence pickets.
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| Disassembled fence panels courtesy of my parentals . Gracias! |
Doors looks fantastic. I thought the rustic plans were for the outside? Make it looks like a Mexican adobe shed. Really does look good. Plastering is always a problem – my solution was always to get a professional plaster in, but then that would defeat the purpose!
I just realised, perhaps the idea is to always have the doors open! Stylish but in secure.