Hi everyone,
I have been spamming the forum with questions lately, but have been doing so with good reason. We are currently in the process of deciding on the contractor to finish the construction of our house, and have been pouring over the prices they have offered for the work. The listed prices are unfortunately a tad higher than what we can currently afford, so we are trying to decide where we can cut the bill by postponing work, or by attempting to do the work ourselves instead.
One of those things we hope to do ourselves is putting in the flooring, and I had posted about it already
here. It turned into a really interesting thread, but also one that made me realise I need to lower my expectations of what level of fancyness I can achieve by myself with my limited skills. Which is why I once again want to get your insights on another possible project to see if it is doable doin git ourselves, or if we are underestimating the difficulty of the task at hand.
Is it realistic to apply our own clay plaster for the internal walls? we are not aiming for absolute perfection here, but we also don’t want the plaster to crack/ crumble/ make us feel like we’re living in a hut, rather then a modern home. We hope to be able to achieve something like the picture attached below, but have no idea how realistic that aspiration is.
We are starting from bare brick walls. You can see some pictures of the internal walls attached below.
I’m guessing we would need to apply a base clay layer first then more rough one, with silt, sand and fibers (probably
flax or hemp). Could this be attached to the wetted brick walls directly, or would I need something to toughen/ strengthen the attachment. I’ve seen application of mats of reeds to the walls onto which the first clay layer is attached. I’ve also seen it attached straight to the brick, but with a reinforced mesh inside the clay plaster to prevent too much cracking. Maybe two or three applications of the base layer would be necessary? Then on top of that we would want a finishing layer of clay (without the fibrous material visible). This would just be a thin layer for the final appearance. We have no experience with plastering. I have experience with pottery but that is probably not very relevant. I am fairly handy and precise though, and generally a fast learner.
I’d love to hear anyone who has experience or insights with the matter! Please let me know if it is a good idea to do the plastering ourselves to save money on the contractor bill. Or would we end up more expensively if we do it ourselves (because we might need more material, would have to buy lots of tools we don’t have yet/ might fail to do so entirely)? Any help would be welcome. We have to decide soon on the contractor, so speedy advice would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!