[Ferro List] Session time

[Walter Jeffries]

On Apr 28, 2008, at 9:35 AM, Peter Payne wrote:
> Is there an issue with the mortar staying workable long enough to  
> trowel
> on the whole batch?

Peter,

There are retardants that delay the curing both for portland cement  
and for plaster. Doing it cold also delays the cure - an option in  
Vermont. :)

The big big trick we've found is to break up our job into lots of  
smaller jobs each of which is doable in a batch / session. This makes  
a difference in quality as well as how tired we get which cycles back  
to a difference in final quality. Sometimes this means building that  
thought of small sections into the design.

For example, doing one wall face with the first coat only. Next  
session we do the next wall face. We do our thicker coats first and  
then do the final coat in a very thin coat which goes faster and uses  
less material. For a long wall we look for where we can hide session  
joints in motif.

At this point we're doing white portland with various tints and not  
doing real plaster because I decided I didn't like the fragile and  
non-durable nature of the real plaster although I love working with  
the stuff. I can parge with the cement such that it looks just like  
plaster - people come visit and think I have plaster on the walls,  
but it is concrete with PVA fibers and tints, primarily variations on  
Buff.

If we're going over old concrete then we do a wash of neat portland  
before doing the parge. I have not tried it but the same trick might  
work with plastering.

Cheers,

Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm LLC
Orange, Vermont
Pastured Pigs & Sheep
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/blog
http://HollyGraphicArt.com
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