Rendering old stone walls

[Barkham]

    The front of our house is rendered, half in a cement render, the rest in what I assume is an old lime render, which is starting to fall off. The walls are traditional stone filled with muck, and I want to re-render the damaged half using an appropriate material, not cement. Could anyone please advise me of the correct materials and mix, and any tips for application. The only lime I've come across here is quicklime, which doesn't sound right to me

[Monika]

There has been a really good thread on repairing stonework 18th August. It gives you the name of the material to use and a really good explanation by "legs akimbo" (what a weird name!) why its important to use lime mortars. I think it is www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/733936/ShowPost.aspx. I printed it out and stuck it into our DIY Manual it was that good!

[legs_akimbo]

Lots of info here too, this is an Irish company that specialise in the sale of lime mortars, and if I remember correctly the products they use are French made.

http://www.traditionallime.com/

[cooperlola]

That's a very short thread, Monika but is interesting.  Anybody used this stuff, you read dire warnings about how dodgy lime is to work with?

[fulcrum]

[quote user="cooperlola"]That's a very short thread, Monika but is interesting.  Anybody used this stuff, you read dire warnings about how dodgy lime is to work with?[/quote]

Certainly you should wear eye and hand protection.

[Wozza]

Lime can be extremely dangerous, depending upon what type you use. Hydrated or slaked lime is less dangerous, but can still cause burns if you are not careful. Quick, or unslaked lime, is potentially very dangerous - I used to build equipment to de-acidy industrial exhaust gases to prevent acid rain etc, and we used quicklime to neutralise the acids. The lime would be slaked on site, an exothermic (gives off heat) reaction that makes the lime slurry boil. When training operators, we would demonstrate the dangers of quicklime by putting some in a glass and adding water - the heat of the reaction would cause the glass to shatter within seconds. Buxton Lime of the UK produce an extremely good lime safety booklet - you may be able to find it online.

Having said all that, I have a friend who got very serious burns when trying to shovel concrete whilst laying foundations for his house - it filled his boots, literally! Cement just being calcinated lime, guess it makes sense (cement plants produce a lot of acid gases too, you know, just for the eco-warriors out there!)

[TroisChatNoir]

Intermarche three musketeers Brico sells white lime (expensive) and

grey lime (less expensive) in bags just like cement, if you wear

gloves, paper face mask and goggles whilst mixing it up in a mixer you

should be reasonably safe, mix it up about 4 to 6 parts sand to 1 part

lime depending on the strength of finish required, the dried colour

corresponds to the colour of the lime/Sand

[Dave&Olive]

hi

       ok before you go mixing it at 6-1 ???? have a look here for  the right mix....

          http://www.stastier.co.uk/

                           dave

[Cassis]

I agree with Dave - 6 to one sounds very weak.  There is also another thread on the subject of stonework and repointing/rendering here:

Renovating Stonework