I thought that maybe one of the chemists at the factory can help me in answering this question.

A company by the name of BeriCalce, in Vincenza Italy is a manufacturer of grasello and a ton of various lime based products. They claim that it takes years for the lime to go back to stone... the reason is the low quantity of CO2 in the air... However, I am sure the chemical reaction with CO2 is not linear but maybe more logarithmic or exponential, with a great degree of change having occurred in the first 28 days,(as this forum teaches (28 days)

What is the answer to this? I know I have samples of calcenova (straight out grasello or slake lime) where even months later, it is still soft and can be easily scratched with your finger. If I were to sell my applications as having the affinity to turn back to stone, I am selling the client strength and longevity... I assume I don't have to hire Medusa to look upon the walls to help the reaction along.... I mean most clients aren't interested in what happens years later, they want to know that after a short time, it is going to have enough strength...

One very well known finisher in our industry(will remain nameless) teaches to re-hydrate your maromorino and grasello walls when you do interior work by spritzing water on them and dampening them for the first couple of weeks or so.... This doesn't sound right since it is the CO2, not an exothermic reaction in the wet state that is happening. Any thoughts on that?


Also, does the addition of topcoats of any kind, (wax, siloxane or regular glaze) cause this process to stop? Many finishers i the industry from several schools seem to treat lime based products like their acrylic counterparts.

Do the modified versions of lime plasters act differently? (other than the ability to accept darker colors)

please excuse all these technical questions... I tend to be technical in my thinking, having studied Chemical Engineering in college 25 years ago.

I would presume that if the lime you are using is still very soft after months that the lime is either a) not dehydrated at the proper temperature , maybe cooked too hot and too fast or b) cut with gypsum. My educated guess.

Nancy, I was speaking of SAFRA's product, specifically the calcenova... It remains very porous, (accepting of moisture) and still easily scratched, say , little stronger than JC you purchase in a bucket.... I had received a sample of it several years ago and hen recently again. I had the previous sample for a very long time and it didn't change, even a bit. So the question became whether or not all lime plsates will change or if only some do and at what level of change are we to expect.... I will actually be taking the Atlanta class....
And it'snot like I haven't had years of experience in lime plasters. I have used many modified and unmodified, I have skimcoated straight grasellos (stucco creativa), some modified (Firenze) and others such as adicolor, ATova, TExtureline and Totem amongst others that I have sampled only.... (all of them were italian plasters, lime,based). I am not green behind the ears, I am trying to understand and differentiate the diffeences and the chemistry behind em. a good grasello, regardless of where it comes from ought to have the same characteristics (even if there is a shift to the left or right on a graph)

thank you very much NAncy. . This is one thing that is attractive about SAFRA... the technicals... there is a more direct correspondence with the factory, not just with a sales person who answers to his distributor who responds to the factory who then private labels the product so is always hid and behind the scenes... In my experience, I have gotten different answers from diffrent reps over the years who work with a product that is almost exactly the same and it ends up like shopping for a new car; they say what they have to say and if you buy it, then they win....

ps. Nancy, I am a he, not a she.

I am italian and italians have a male name Carmine. Carmen is the spanish equivalent but for a female. You can't pronounce my name correctly until you learn to roll your R's, sound the "i" as a "long e" and the "e" as a "long a".

Nancy, I met Carmine in October of last year, great guy and he'll be a great addition to the Safra family. I didn't notice him rolling his r's. Carmine may be Italian, but he's got a strong New English accent and I question his "R" rolling abilities.

Carmine,

I got your email. The finish you're doing is drop dead gorgeous.
I can't wait to hear of your experience at the School of Italian plasters. James and Shayna are going to take good care of you!

Carl.

no worries Nancy.... I was trying to be funny about it... and Carl is right, I don't pronounce it the way my family does, I use the english version of it.