As you enter the condo, a plastered feature wall was already there. Instead of trying to strip this wall and paint over it, we thought we would use American Clay, a natural earth plaster that is non toxic and uses natural dyes in their product. In our previous entry about these finds we also mentioned that American Clay actually takes toxins out of the air, making your home that much more fresh.
It was a product we had never worked with before, and wanted to give it a try ourselves to see if it is something we would use again. It was definitely a new experience, and once at the job site, we realized it wasn't as simple as we expected.
A sanded primer is required. Which is basically a "green" primer, also from Riva's Eco store, mixed with a sand. This allows for the plaster to have something to hang onto once applied to the wall. Next we had to mix the first coat, "Loma" to apply once the primer was dry. In order to mix the clay itself a drill with a long attachment to stir it was required. We weren't sure at first we would need that, and while at Home Depot we were just going to get a large stick to stir it, but these men overheard us and strongly recommended we rent a drill to do this. Good thing too! It saved us a lot of time. So once that was mixed we let it set for about half an hour and began to apply it with a trowel. The application itself wasn't difficult, just messy so it is a good idea to lay a drop cloth on the floor underneath the wall you are applying this too.
We let the first coat set over night, and the next day mixed the "Porcelina" coat, which requires the tint. Two coats of the Porcelina are required, then smoothing with a spray bottle of water and a trowel once dry to seal the American Clay.
It was a product we had never worked with before, and wanted to give it a try ourselves to see if it is something we would use again. It was definitely a new experience, and once at the job site, we realized it wasn't as simple as we expected.
A sanded primer is required. Which is basically a "green" primer, also from Riva's Eco store, mixed with a sand. This allows for the plaster to have something to hang onto once applied to the wall. Next we had to mix the first coat, "Loma" to apply once the primer was dry. In order to mix the clay itself a drill with a long attachment to stir it was required. We weren't sure at first we would need that, and while at Home Depot we were just going to get a large stick to stir it, but these men overheard us and strongly recommended we rent a drill to do this. Good thing too! It saved us a lot of time. So once that was mixed we let it set for about half an hour and began to apply it with a trowel. The application itself wasn't difficult, just messy so it is a good idea to lay a drop cloth on the floor underneath the wall you are applying this too.
We let the first coat set over night, and the next day mixed the "Porcelina" coat, which requires the tint. Two coats of the Porcelina are required, then smoothing with a spray bottle of water and a trowel once dry to seal the American Clay.
Loma Coat Mixed
Beginning of application on top of sanded primer
First coat complete
2nd coat complete
(Photos of the complete renovation to come!)
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