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Plastering Entries

Workshop Interior Finish Plaster

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2016

Now that the cottage plaster is done and the floor is drying, Chad and his crew have moved on to the finish plaster in our wonky, wonky workshop. Good luck team, you're going to need it! ...

Straw Bale Cottage Exterior Finish Lime Plaster Coat Complete

Tuesday, June 21st, 2016

Well before Tyler and I could have ever dreamed of completing the exterior plaster of our little cottage on our own, Chad and his crew have finished it. Looks great! ...

Straw Bale Cottage Exterior Finish Lime Plaster Coat

Monday, June 20th, 2016

Next on the docket, Chad and his crew tackle the finish plaster on the outside of our little straw bale cottage. Go, plasterers, go! By the end of day one, most of the house is plastered! ...

Our Cistern Shed Gets Plastered

Friday, June 17th, 2016

Today is a whirlwind of activity on the homestead as Chad and Liz prep their crew for plastering. First in line: our cistern shed. Carly tapes off the trim, while Liz and Camille sift sand and mix plaster. I pitch in to collect buckets, make a wash...

Preparing the Workshop for a Plastering Crew, Part Three

Thursday, May 26th, 2016

The workshop is nearly ready for plastering! One of our last big projects is installing trim around the building's massive 8 foot tall, 8-foot wide alderwood doors. This weekend, we discovered that they didn't come with enough trim to complete the ...

Preparing the Workshop for a Plastering Crew, Part One

Thursday, May 26th, 2016

With Chad and Carly's mid-June arrival looming, we've been working like crazy to ready our homestead. We're going to be on vacation in California for two weeks prior to their arrival, so everything needs to be finished before we leave! First off, w...

Preparing the Cistern Shed for a Plastering Crew

Saturday, May 21st, 2016

The plastering crew who will be putting the final coat on the inside of the workshop is also going to finish the outside of our cottage and cistern shed. Since the cistern shed isn't plastered at all, we need to get at least one coat done before th...

Indoor Eave Trimming

Saturday, April 30th, 2016

When building our little cottage, we didn't stack straw bales all the way to the roof. Instead, we left an open, angled channel running along the eaves. The base of this channel is a "bale stop" that compresses the straw for increased wall strength...

Bringing in Help

Monday, April 4th, 2016

Building your own home is an amazing adventure, but one that should probably end at some point. Carly, Vermont Natural Homes Since Tyler and I held our Life Summit, I've been busy getting quotes from different companies to tackle vari...

Plastering the Grindbygg Gable Ends

Monday, July 27th, 2015

As I type this, I can practically hear my fingers groaning in protest as they feebly punch the keyboard. I am currently suffering from a condition I've dubbed "plaster claw." It's triggered by a long day of gripping a plaster hawk in one hand, and ...

Strawbale Workshop, Day Seven

Sunday, July 19th, 2015

Quite suddenly, the end of the workshop is upon us. There's a lot of hustle and bustle as everyone kicks into high gear this morning, recognizing that we have just one workday to get as much plastering done as possible. Tyler and I hope with all ou...

Finish Plaster Continues

Thursday, October 9th, 2014

Since working on the finish coat of plaster requires non-stop focus, leaving no time for photos, we asked our dear neighbors, Charlie and Becky to come take pictures of us while we tackled a section of wall tonight. We've said it before, and we'll ...

Finish Plaster Begins!

Monday, October 6th, 2014

Today we successfully completed the finish plaster on one section of wall! Here's what we learned from our first foray into the art of finish plastering: Once again, we were nervous about working with a new material, and once again...

Getting Sand For Lime Plaster

Saturday, October 4th, 2014

For our plaster, we are using a sand comprised of several aggregate sizes. The grains range from very fine to extremely coarse. This type of sand has different names from region to region; at our yard it's sold as "double wash." When we say "...

Into Fall

Monday, September 29th, 2014

Fall is here. The brown coat is in progress. Sunsets on cloudy days set the woods alight with deep reds and golds and muted greens and greys. Our house is looking house-like. Our hot tub is a comfort. Right now, at this moment, all is good. We're ...

Plaster Faster: Finishing the First Coat of Lime Plaster Indoors

Wednesday, September 17th, 2014

For the past few days, Tyler and I have been applying the first coat of plaster inside the house. Each swipe of the trowel is hurried along by a growing sense of urgency. Winter is fast approaching, and I'm anxious about our upcoming trip to Illino...

Pre-Plaster Trimming in Strawbale Cottage

Tuesday, September 9th, 2014

Now that the exterior of the house is mostly taken care of for the year, it's time to really focus on the inside so we can get it plastered. That means trimming out the pony wall... And making window seats... ....

New Chapters & Random Thoughts from the Airport

Monday, September 1st, 2014

Right now, I'm sitting in the Albany airport, waiting for a flight back to the midwest to see my family. My dear, sweet grandma Jeanne had a heart attack and is in the hospital, and every ounce of my being is ringing with impatient need to be there...

Finishing the Exterior Brown Coat

Sunday, August 31st, 2014

Below, a summary of the week of August 23rd, which was mostly spent working on the exterior brown coat (the second coat of plaster) for the house. "I'm tired, but oh my god, this is so cool! It's so much prettier than the scratch coat!" ...

The Little Mortar Mixer That Could

Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

It has been a long time since I felt a deep fondness for a machine, and, thanks to our journal, I can pinpoint the last one exactly. It was four years ago when I fell in love with the little red toyota that Tyler and I drove across Europe and Asia....

Exterior Scratch Coat Completed! And Karina & Ivica Visit!

Monday, August 18th, 2014

High atop our scaffolding, Tyler and I stood with hawks and trowels in hand, applying a scratch coat of plaster to the last section of the last exterior wall. We had about an hour’s worth of work left when two of our favorite people rolled up the d...

Plaster Master

Wednesday, August 13th, 2014

As it turns out, I really, really like plastering. Sure, it has downsides: it is tiring. Lime turns my hair into a grey rat's nest. It chaps my hands and dries them into rough, old-person appendages, and makes it so that the slightest of bum...

Manic Monday, Part One: Solo Plastering

Monday, August 11th, 2014

This morning, Tyler starts a couple batches of plaster going in the mixer, then heads down to the camper to program for the day, leaving me to tackle plastering by myself. I'm reeling from the sudden change of pace: Tyler took the last couple days ...

Pressing Back & Scarifying

Sunday, August 10th, 2014

Once the first coat of plaster is leathery (has dried enough to be pliable, but won't stick to our fingers when we poke it), it's time to "press back." This is where we go over the wall with our trowels, pushing with all of our might to compact the...

For Better or For Worse: Plastering Begins!

Sunday, August 10th, 2014

Our entire home-building process has been full of unknowns and steep learning curves, but the plastering part of it has loomed largest and most daunting of all. While everything about our project feels vitally important, the plaster is most critica...

This is Kevin & Joy: Part One

Saturday, August 9th, 2014

Kevin and I spent the weekend at Tyler and Tara's homestead ostensibly to help plaster (which we did do), but mostly to ask approximately a million questions. Joy Kevin: Visiting Tara and Tyler on their land is something Joy and I ...