Lime with perlite instead of sand?

tta2

New Member
Does anyone have any experience, positive or negative, with using perlite in a lime plaster instead of sand? I'm in the US, and hydraulic lime is almost unheard of - available imported, but outrageously expensive. Likewise with lime putty; available from one or two suppliers in the US, at about 10x the price you pay in the UK (plus shipping!) ($120 for a 5 gallon tub)

My hope is to be able to use a dry hydrate lime (what's called "Type S" in the US; calcium with a good deal of magnesium) with perlite. Are there any downsides to using the perlite instead of sand; it's what I've always used in gypsum plasters. I'll ultimately be finishing with a smooth trowel finish.

Thanks in advance for any help!
Tom
 
Using perlite alone with lime doesn't really work that well because you end up with a mono granular mix which cracks however I use it in a insulation mix with two different grades of perlite and hemp shiv this works really well. Hope that helps
 
Using perlite alone with lime doesn't really work that well because you end up with a mono granular mix which cracks however I use it in a insulation mix with two different grades of perlite and hemp shiv this works really well. Hope that helps

Ah, that helps a lot. I hadn't considered that aspect. There's a local perlite mill that sells what they call their "plaster mix", but I'm not sure if they have a range of sizes in the mix - the guy I talked to said it's used mostly for exterior cement applications. They also form it (burn it? mill it?) in other sizes for other uses, everything from ultra-fine to nugget size. If I were to get a wider range of sizes of perlite aggregate and mixed them together do you think that would do the trick?

When I was taught to plaster with perlite/gypsum, we always put a shovel of sand into each mix; the story was it would make the mix harder, so the brittle lime/gauging topcoat wouldn't move and crack. I don't know if that was just an old wives tale, since I always followed the rule (didn't want to find out the hard way that they were right!). If I'm using a straight lime/sand finish coat, do you think I'd run into trouble with the softer perlite/lime scratch and brown coats, or are they all flexible enough that they'd get along OK?

Do you think a lime/perlite fines topcoat would trowel out to a good surface?
 
Ah, that helps a lot. I hadn't considered that aspect. There's a local perlite mill that sells what they call their "plaster mix", but I'm not sure if they have a range of sizes in the mix - the guy I talked to said it's used mostly for exterior cement applications. They also form it (burn it? mill it?) in other sizes for other uses, everything from ultra-fine to nugget size. If I were to get a wider range of sizes of perlite aggregate and mixed them together do you think that would do the trick?

When I was taught to plaster with perlite/gypsum, we always put a shovel of sand into each mix; the story was it would make the mix harder, so the brittle lime/gauging topcoat wouldn't move and crack. I don't know if that was just an old wives tale, since I always followed the rule (didn't want to find out the hard way that they were right!). If I'm using a straight lime/sand finish coat, do you think I'd run into trouble with the softer perlite/lime scratch and brown coats, or are they all flexible enough that they'd get along OK?

Do you think a lime/perlite fines topcoat would trowel out to a good surface?

I think it will maybe crack unless it's mixed for a long time and the water has saturated the perlite giving it more time to shrink if you know what I mean though I've never used multi granular perlite so it might be fine suck it and see I guess
 
I have actually done a lime/perlite mix last week for the 2 external walls of a loft room. Currently working with the stuff the last month. Let me explain the situation.

I bought a 100 YO, red brick, lime based house next to the sea. Lots of salt and lots of unsuitable material used on the house over the period of over 50 years. Cement render outside. Poor roofing with leaking flashing on chimney and leaking guttering. Inside - gypsum plaster over lime. Poor plastering (Actually plastered around a small dresser instead of moving it. Front windows replaced but back not. Panal walls on some of the external walls to cover the damp caused by the cement render on the outside. Cement flooring on ground floor causing florescence and damp up the adjutant walls.

So I started with the small loft room. Took months pealing back layer after layer to try and save some original plaster. It was all shot. The mortar in some of the top bricks was shot too. Ended up taking back to brick and the ceiling down. Only thing I was able to save was some of the original lats. So started up with the normal lime/sand mix for the harl and scratch coat as I couldn't find an insulation I liked. Once I had the first coat done I did a little more research and found that they mix perlite with plaster for ovens. Looked into the composition of perlite and it is very similar to sand in 78% of its makeup. I bought a few bags and tested it. The results are good. A 30 minute mix time. I put in 50/50 sand/perlite. If you get the water right it is lovely to work with. Light and creamy. NOT 1 CRACK on the wall. I did water the wall well after but it is looking good so far. It does shift a bit when using a straight edge but just reflect. On a 1m section of the wall I over wet and over worked and still no cracking and no problems. I wish I had discovered it earlier. I will be putting a 2/5/1 mix together for the ceiling onto lath to increase insulation and reduce weight on the ceiling. I did a small patch on the ceiling with leftover wall stuff and had some cracking but I did mistreat that section badly. It was too dry going up and I over wet it then. And there is a big draft in that room so I should have wet it more often. I would suggest using NHL 3.5 on the scratch coat and 2 on the float if going this route. And wet every couple of hours for the first few days followed by a reduced wetting for the following week. I will only use this mix on the external facing walls and regular mix on the internal facing walls. Will skim with putty after a few months after I have the new windows, sills and other wood in.

Give me a shout if you have any questions. Anyone in the south of Ireland who wants to see it in action I am happy to show you.
 
I have actually done a lime/perlite mix last week for the 2 external walls of a loft room. Currently working with the stuff the last month. Let me explain the situation.

I bought a 100 YO, red brick, lime based house next to the sea. Lots of salt and lots of unsuitable material used on the house over the period of over 50 years. Cement render outside. Poor roofing with leaking flashing on chimney and leaking guttering. Inside - gypsum plaster over lime. Poor plastering (Actually plastered around a small dresser instead of moving it. Front windows replaced but back not. Panal walls on some of the external walls to cover the damp caused by the cement render on the outside. Cement flooring on ground floor causing florescence and damp up the adjutant walls.

So I started with the small loft room. Took months pealing back layer after layer to try and save some original plaster. It was all shot. The mortar in some of the top bricks was shot too. Ended up taking back to brick and the ceiling down. Only thing I was able to save was some of the original lats. So started up with the normal lime/sand mix for the harl and scratch coat as I couldn't find an insulation I liked. Once I had the first coat done I did a little more research and found that they mix perlite with plaster for ovens. Looked into the composition of perlite and it is very similar to sand in 78% of its makeup. I bought a few bags and tested it. The results are good. A 30 minute mix time. I put in 50/50 sand/perlite. If you get the water right it is lovely to work with. Light and creamy. NOT 1 CRACK on the wall. I did water the wall well after but it is looking good so far. It does shift a bit when using a straight edge but just reflect. On a 1m section of the wall I over wet and over worked and still no cracking and no problems. I wish I had discovered it earlier. I will be putting a 2/5/1 mix together for the ceiling onto lath to increase insulation and reduce weight on the ceiling. I did a small patch on the ceiling with leftover wall stuff and had some cracking but I did mistreat that section badly. It was too dry going up and I over wet it then. And there is a big draft in that room so I should have wet it more often. I would suggest using NHL 3.5 on the scratch coat and 2 on the float if going this route. And wet every couple of hours for the first few days followed by a reduced wetting for the following week. I will only use this mix on the external facing walls and regular mix on the internal facing walls. Will skim with putty after a few months after I have the new windows, sills and other wood in.

Give me a shout if you have any questions. Anyone in the south of Ireland who wants to see it in action I am happy to show you.
Welcome onboard mate.
What perlite did you use and was it mixed sized granuals? Post any pics you have.
 
Hi Lastlaff,

It was a generic perlite with grain sizes from dust to 2-3mm. It is not graded well enough for me so I add a bit of sand to reduce the chance of cracking. This weekend I will be doing a perlite rich mix for the ceiling so I will try to get back to you in a few weeks to tell you the results. As this will be on a draughty lath ceiling I assume the scratch coat will crack as the moisture is being drawn off at a massive rate. Not really bothered as I can heal it with some lime wash.
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James - The mix I used for the patch I did was lightly haired. I should not have used it as it was not haired enough and was not made up for ceiling work, it was leftover from the wall. I will be heavily hearing the mix at the weekend. I will add synthetic fibres.

I have read a few posts of people putting gypsum over lime. DON'T do it. I have proof that they don't mix. The gypsum has salts in it which draw moisture and the lime is supposed to hold the moisture. If you mix them the lime moisture will be drawn to the gypsum and destroy it.

My reasoning for the perlite is that the similarity to sand should mean it is compatible. It contains no hydroscopic components that I can make out. It is closed celled (unlike vermiculite) which means it won't 'soak' up water but should have enough pocks and pits to hold a little water so the wall can take being a little damp with out any ill effects. It is light so is ideal for lath ceiling work. Insulating qualities are great as well as noise reduction and fire resistance.
 
OK sounds good Emmet nice to see you are enjoying having a go. If you see any cracks just lightly spray it with water and gently rub up with a wooden float this should help it blend back in.
 
No cracks after 2 weeks. I prefer to self heal the plaster with a heavy lime wash if still within the time frame. It has worked for me in the past but rubbing it up after with a float works even better. Good tip James.

I have a friend from a local lime company coming out to see my mix. He is very interested in it and he is a nice chap. I love working with lime anyway and have done a few friends houses in the past. I'll tell you guys what he has to say as he has all the equipment to analyse it and he is a bit of a geek for stuff like this.
 
No cracks after 2 weeks. I prefer to self heal the plaster with a heavy lime wash if still within the time frame. It has worked for me in the past but rubbing it up after with a float works even better. Good tip James.

I'm wondering how the lime/perlite worked out for you. Was your topcoat lime/perlite or did you go to lime/sand for the top? Did you do a troweled topcoat or sponge/float? How's it holding up?

For my topcoat I used lime and perlite fines - almost dust-like. It didn't trowel out as well as the lime/gauge topcoat I'm used to using. Shrinkage was a problem, and it almost seemed like the aggregate material compressed under the trowel but then expanded again when I took the pressure off. This is my first time not using any gypsum, so I'm not sure if its a problem with my understanding or the materials.
 
Hi tta2,

It has worked out very well. As I am living in the house I can care for it more frequently than a contractor so I can wet it every few hours. Perhaps it needs more care than traditional lime/sand, not sure but the layers I applied myself were fine with little or no cracks except for micro cracks which healed well.

So for the internal facing walls I used a sand lime mix. No perlite as I want them to act as heat retainers.
I only discovered this perlite mix after doing the scratch coat so only the 2 external float coats and the whole ceiling are lime/perlite but I would have done it all in the perlite mix if I had discovered before I started. The perlite was graded from dust to 2-3mm which is why I added some well graded sand in too.

I did the ceiling scratch coat in a perlite/sand/lime mix. So about 5/1/3. It was fine and no cracks after 3 weeks. I then decided to get a plasterer to do the ceiling float coat as it is a very low ceiling and I wanted it very straight.
He said he had worked with lime a lot. I was mixing and he was applying. I came up with the last batch and noticed that the plaster was very wet. He told me he was watering down my mix to make it easier to apply. It was runny. Not happy so told him he would only get the balance once it had cured. Went up that night to float and patches had dropped off and he had not plastered the corners. No way to float it. So I had to scratch it. Left it for a while and it began to crack. I then did a float coat myself a few weeks later. His coat ended up cracking my scratch coat and float coat, badly in some places. Not one crack on the walls that I did. Shame, he lost out on 70% of his payment because he wouldn't invest an extra hour or 2 to do it correctly. I am currently feeding the cracks with a heavy lime wash to get free lime into the cracks. The walls are perfect, only a few micro cracks which I washed once and are healed.

I floated the float coat, then sponged any shrinkage I could see developing and again floated any cracks followed by a devil float. I will be putting a putty skim once the skirting, windows etc are in.

I am waiting for windows for the house so I can't finish the room till that's sorted as the window reveals are to be plastered around.

So I think the ideal method, which I will do next -
Perlite graded from dust to 3-5mm
Scratch coat -NHL 3.5. Mix of 4/2/3. perlite/sand/lime
Float coat. - NHL2. Mix of 5/1/2
Mix well till creamy (It seems to take a bit longer to plasticise)
Wet ever 6-12 hours for 2 weeks.
 

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I have actually done a lime/perlite mix last week for the 2 external walls of a loft room. Currently working with the stuff the last month. Let me explain the situation.

I bought a 100 YO, red brick, lime based house next to the sea. Lots of salt and lots of unsuitable material used on the house over the period of over 50 years. Cement render outside. Poor roofing with leaking flashing on chimney and leaking guttering. Inside - gypsum plaster over lime. Poor plastering (Actually plastered around a small dresser instead of moving it. Front windows replaced but back not. Panal walls on some of the external walls to cover the damp caused by the cement render on the outside. Cement flooring on ground floor causing florescence and damp up the adjutant walls.

So I started with the small loft room. Took months pealing back layer after layer to try and save some original plaster. It was all shot. The mortar in some of the top bricks was shot too. Ended up taking back to brick and the ceiling down. Only thing I was able to save was some of the original lats. So started up with the normal lime/sand mix for the harl and scratch coat as I couldn't find an insulation I liked. Once I had the first coat done I did a little more research and found that they mix perlite with plaster for ovens. Looked into the composition of perlite and it is very similar to sand in 78% of its makeup. I bought a few bags and tested it. The results are good. A 30 minute mix time. I put in 50/50 sand/perlite. If you get the water right it is lovely to work with. Light and creamy. NOT 1 CRACK on the wall. I did water the wall well after but it is looking good so far. It does shift a bit when using a straight edge but just reflect. On a 1m section of the wall I over wet and over worked and still no cracking and no problems. I wish I had discovered it earlier. I will be putting a 2/5/1 mix together for the ceiling onto lath to increase insulation and reduce weight on the ceiling. I did a small patch on the ceiling with leftover wall stuff and had some cracking but I did mistreat that section badly. It was too dry going up and I over wet it then. And there is a big draft in that room so I should have wet it more often. I would suggest using NHL 3.5 on the scratch coat and 2 on the float if going this route. And wet every couple of hours for the first few days followed by a reduced wetting for the following week. I will only use this mix on the external facing walls and regular mix on the internal facing walls. Will skim with putty after a few months after I have the new windows, sills and other wood in.

Give me a shout if you have any questions. Anyone in the south of Ireland who wants to see it in action I am happy to show you.
 
I’ve just read your thread ( the most interesting and relavent to me I’ve ever read) notes on perlite lime render/plaster insulation. I’m a stone mason doing a full time renovation project top to bottom on my old welsh families house in Porthmadog,North Wales. The House is 200yrs old by the harbour close to high tide level and built on rock with 2’ thick walls of rubble slate and lime mortar with a hollow breathing core or cavity to the walls and on 4 floors which hasn’t been touched for 100 yrs (except for lead paint and vinyl wallpaper -now all stripped) Internal render and plaster is all original lime -work. For renovation where necessary I’ve been using l*m*-g***n ‘Ultra’ in one or two rooms on external walls to get some breathing insulation on with great success, though its a bit pricey and whilst mixing the stuff (very light in weight) I’ve been trying to work out how to make my own and i reckon you’re mix is the way forward for me. I have a fair bit of lime experience but i reckon I could well learn some more from you.Would you be able to give me a bit of further advice? Best regards Alan
 
I’ve just read your thread ( the most interesting and relavent to me I’ve ever read) notes on perlite lime render/plaster insulation. I’m a stone mason doing a full time renovation project top to bottom on my old welsh families house in Porthmadog,North Wales. The House is 200yrs old by the harbour close to high tide level and built on rock with 2’ thick walls of rubble slate and lime mortar with a hollow breathing core or cavity to the walls and on 4 floors which hasn’t been touched for 100 yrs (except for lead paint and vinyl wallpaper -now all stripped) Internal render and plaster is all original lime -work. For renovation where necessary I’ve been using l*m*-g***n ‘Ultra’ in one or two rooms on external walls to get some breathing insulation on with great success, though its a bit pricey and whilst mixing the stuff (very light in weight) I’ve been trying to work out how to make my own and i reckon you’re mix is the way forward for me. I have a fair bit of lime experience but i reckon I could well learn some more from you.Would you be able to give me a bit of further advice? Best regards Alan
Hi, new member , @Emmet BARRY s not been on here for a few years , @jamesthefirst and @Lastlaff still here others may help @JessThePlasterer
 
Just and idea I'll put out for thoughts, no personal experience so this may be bollxx but..
the usual recommendations are to cover with wet hessian to reduce drying out. On sloping walls & ceilings you'd need a frame to hold it up and hessain would sag
- but for dust protection when taking out fireplaces I use cheap thin roofing battens as a frame and staple decorators plastic sheet to it, all held up with a few extendable plasterboard props - wouldn't that work on ceilings and slopes to reduce dry out?
 
Did a 1m x 1m window bay test panel yesterday using a perlite mix. The mix is :a 6:2:2
10l perlite, 2.5l sand ( 1.5l sharp-5mm down and 1l soft/building sand)
2.5l N.H.L. 3.5 with synthetic hair /fibers in the gauging water.
1 cup of N.H.L.5 and 3 cups of silver (kiln dried .5mm down) sand.
Mix for 4 minutes and get it on the wet side. Go straight onto the the lime rough coat from the previous day. The coat went on 10-50mm in places so with care doesn’t need a leveling coat. Worked a F*****g treat. Sucked in fast and stiffened up within 4/6 hours . Left rough for further work.
 
Did a 1m x 1m window bay test panel yesterday using a perlite mix. The mix is :a 6:2:2
10l perlite, 2.5l sand ( 1.5l sharp-5mm down and 1l soft/building sand)
2.5l N.H.L. 3.5 with synthetic hair /fibers in the gauging water.
1 cup of N.H.L.5 and 3 cups of silver (kiln dried .5mm down) sand.
Mix for 4 minutes and get it on the wet side. Go straight onto the the lime rough coat from the previous day. The coat went on 10-50mm in places so with care doesn’t need a leveling coat. Worked a F*****g treat. Sucked in fast and stiffened up within 4/6 hours . Left rough for further work.
Note. ; I mistake. The mix is 4:2:2. All ingredients the same, but 4 perlite ,not 6.
 
I’ve been following this thread and have reread it over and over again. I’ve had a thousand litres of perlite delivered and for my test coat patch I’ve got 100l of perlite soaking in water overnight. I got this advice from a Spanish building company who said they get the best mix when the perlite has soaked for 24 hours in water, mix is 4 perlite, 1 sand and 2 NHL3.5, 4:1:2
 
Update: I don’t soak the perlite. Straight out of the bag.very dusty be sure to wear mask and goggles.
4: 2: 2 1/2 base coat , 4 perlite. 2 sand being 1 part sharp (5mm down) and 1building (soft) sand. 2 1/2 ( two and a half) N.H.L. 3.5. Fibres in the gauging water. Can go on up to 40mm depending on conditions and substrate/preparation. Mineral primer can massively help suction control.
Finish coat needs to be weaker. Sand wants to be fine and sharp such as kiln dried (used for block paving) sand. Also known as ‘silver’ sand.
 
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