Monday 15 November 2010

Our "New" Stone Wall

When I last mentioned the office project we were knee deep in dust. Since then, the wall has been "chaux'd" and looks really good.

The process itself is very simple, but physically hard and very time consuming.

1: Mix 2 parts sand to 1 part chaux, and add
water until it becomes "like the shit of a cow"
2: Wet down wall with water and apply mixture to the wall,
pushing it hard into the gaps between the stones
3: Wait at least 30 minutes, then brush back
the excess chaux with a stiff bristled brush4: Allow to dry for weeks. The chaux will take
longer to dry the thicker it is applied.
We now have to wait about 6 weeks before the chaux cures properly, but you can see from the bottom photo that the colour lightens amazingly as it dries. We used red sand in our mix, and at first I was worried by how brown it made the wall, but it will eventually dry to a subtle shade of peach. The very dark patch in the bottom photo is where the mixture was applied into the holes which were excavated for the plumbing when this space was the bathroom.

Simon

3 comments:

chm said...

I can't wait to see the finished product.

softinthehead said...

I am just about to start the same project myself, so great to see what the finshed product will look like. I am not looking forward to the dust. :(

Simon said...

chm. You and I both! Although at the moment I don't need to see it finished, but rather just have it finished and the dust go away.

Softinthehead. Welcome to the blog. Think of dust in the samw way as wine and terrine: all part of the lifestyle... The chaux you want is CAEB. Not many places stock it, but it does a better job.

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