errantember (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
errantember) wrote2009-11-28 03:39 am
errantember) wrote2009-11-28 03:39 am
Entry tags:
Plaster Progress
Thanks to help from several friends, my new housemate's room is coming along at a phenomenal rate. Except for minor touch-ups and finish work, the natural plaster is finished, meaning that about 200 lbs. of sand, clay, and pigment have been loaded onto the walls. I'm not 100% happy with the result, yet, but over all it's not bad for a first try. The final color is a light terracotta, with the ceiling left a much-lighter natural clay color. One nice thing about clay plaster is that all one has to do to re-work it is get it wet and wait a while.
I'd like to improve the texture and make the color a bit more uniform. Due to time constraints, I was forced to do the first layer without pigment, and it shows through in an unappealing way in a few areas. Overall it's been a major learning experience, and I now know a huge amount about coloration, mixing, different troweling techniques, and the strengths and weaknesses of various consistencies of plaster. It's definitely an art, but one I'm picking up amazingly quickly.
After much pigment testing and several trips to Armadillo Clay, I decided to use the original American Plaster pigment. I could probably have found a way to do the same color cheaper with the stuff from Amadillo, but not under my psychotically short time constraint. I used a tiny amount of the American Clay plaster itself for a test batch, though, and only three or four of the ten color packs. The final calculations aren't done yet, but it looks like I saved at least 65-70% by mixing my own plaster, assuming I can re-coupe my cost on the extra American Clay stuff.
It turns out I had enough bamboo flooring left over from the rest of the house to do the floor in it, and that's about 40% done. Joseph will be doing the morning shift in a few hours, and I'll probably finish it when he poops out.
The room originally had these super-bright fuchsia miniblinds, and because 1) I don't have the time to buy new ones and 2) re-doing it in another color wouldn't take very much paint, I've decided to use this color for the doors, trim, and kick panels. I got some VOC-free paint today at Eco-wise, and will be painting tomorrow. It's too bad the walls didn't stay the deep brown color they were when they were wet. It looked *sharp* with the fuchsia! If my new housemate really hates the current setup, we may try putting a colored wash onto the surface of the walls to darken it later.
I got a major reprieve today in that the roommate isn't moving in until Sunday, so we still have all of Saturday to finish things out. Having to get it all done by tonight would have, at the very least, meant no sleep for me tonight at all.
I'd like to improve the texture and make the color a bit more uniform. Due to time constraints, I was forced to do the first layer without pigment, and it shows through in an unappealing way in a few areas. Overall it's been a major learning experience, and I now know a huge amount about coloration, mixing, different troweling techniques, and the strengths and weaknesses of various consistencies of plaster. It's definitely an art, but one I'm picking up amazingly quickly.
After much pigment testing and several trips to Armadillo Clay, I decided to use the original American Plaster pigment. I could probably have found a way to do the same color cheaper with the stuff from Amadillo, but not under my psychotically short time constraint. I used a tiny amount of the American Clay plaster itself for a test batch, though, and only three or four of the ten color packs. The final calculations aren't done yet, but it looks like I saved at least 65-70% by mixing my own plaster, assuming I can re-coupe my cost on the extra American Clay stuff.
It turns out I had enough bamboo flooring left over from the rest of the house to do the floor in it, and that's about 40% done. Joseph will be doing the morning shift in a few hours, and I'll probably finish it when he poops out.
The room originally had these super-bright fuchsia miniblinds, and because 1) I don't have the time to buy new ones and 2) re-doing it in another color wouldn't take very much paint, I've decided to use this color for the doors, trim, and kick panels. I got some VOC-free paint today at Eco-wise, and will be painting tomorrow. It's too bad the walls didn't stay the deep brown color they were when they were wet. It looked *sharp* with the fuchsia! If my new housemate really hates the current setup, we may try putting a colored wash onto the surface of the walls to darken it later.
I got a major reprieve today in that the roommate isn't moving in until Sunday, so we still have all of Saturday to finish things out. Having to get it all done by tonight would have, at the very least, meant no sleep for me tonight at all.
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You can do it! Yes you can! GOoooo, you!
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