Why We Are Using Lime Plaster Over Our Cob Earthen Walls

5 months ago
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Entertainment Homesteading off grid homestead sustainability natural building permaculture simplify raising animals solar rainwater collection

In this episode we are going to why we are using lime plaster over our cob earthen walls.

Hi - We are Douglas and Keri! In May of 2022 we quit our jobs and sold our home in Denver, Colorado to move to our 36 acre off grid homestead property in Cochise County, Arizona. Follow along with us as we build our homestead from scratch!

We are using lime plaster over our cob earthen walls and here is why:

1. Lime is a natural, sustainable building material.
2. Lime allows the walls to "breathe" which helps regulate humidity and temperature unlike concrete which does not allow the walls to breathe and can perpetuate molds.
3. Lime is inexpensive and very long-lasting.
4. Lime is a "tried and true" building material being used as far back as 4000 B.C. when it was used to plaster the pyramids in Egypt!

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After we used cob to cover the earthbags, we let this cure for approximately 3 weeks. This is important and should not be skipped, even though you'll be tempted to :) Before applying the lime plaster, you'll want to spray the cob walls down with water. We used a pressurized hand pump like this one: https://amzn.to/3sX8Whf

Our lime plaster mix is made with slaked lime which is 1 part hydrated type S powdered lime to 1 part water. We soak this in a plastic tub for several days. For the first "scratch coat" seen in this video we mixed 3 parts sifted sand, 1 part slaked lime putting, and 1.5 parts water in our cement mixer for about ten minutes before applying. You'll want to spray your cob walls with water before applying the plaster. This will help the plaster to not crack. If your cob walls are too dry, it will actually pull the moisture out and cause the lime plaster to crack. Then, we troweled it on with these very nice Japanese style trowels; https://amzn.to/3N6vJxZ After application of the lime plaster, we used a stick or rock to make approximately 1/4" deep "lines" in the plaster. This will give the next layer of plaster something more to grip onto.

BOOTS! We are including a review of these boots in this video. We do not often review products unless we really, really like them and recommend them. Let me say Douglas is EXTREMELY hard on his shoes and these boots passed his quality test! He found them to be very good quality and durable. They've also got excellent tread for our rocky/sandy soil to keep from sliding around and they are waterproof and very breathable! Doug loves them and feels they are just as high quality as other much more expensive boots on the market. You can grab a pair here: https://amzn.to/47VTvVl and they are currently 40% off on that link! You can see more of their styles here: https://www.kalkal-online.com/
#kalkalboots

Check out our Cochise County Resources list at TwoRebelsOffGrid.com

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DISCLAIMER: Douglas and Keri are not contractors and the information contained in this video is for entertainment purposes. Please make sure to do your own research!

Once again, thanks for following along with us and we hope to inspire you to live your best life, whatever that might mean for you!

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