Material Notes: Lime Plaster

Three years ago we specified lime plaster for a salt-battered house on the Atlantic seaboard, mostly on instinct. It has since become our default finish for coastal work — but not before it taught us a few expensive lessons.

What it wants

Lime breathes. Moisture that would blister a cement render simply passes through it and evaporates. But it cures slowly and it hates being rushed — our first application failed because a programme said the walls were ready and the walls disagreed.

Specifying it well

Budget for the cure time, brief the client on the mottled first year, and find a plasterer who has done it before — not one who is willing to try. The surface that emerges is worth every accommodation: soft, mineral, and alive to the light.

Three years and several coastal houses later, we would still choose lime again on every one of them. The mottled first year has become something clients look forward to rather than tolerate — proof that the wall is doing exactly what it was asked to do.