Showing posts with label gypsum plaster. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gypsum plaster. Show all posts

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Day 103: Interior plastering and ceiling texture

On Friday Joshua, Trevor and I completed interior gypsum wall plastering. It is great to have all of the APEX blocks finally covered. Here is a pic of the sliding glass patio door on the bedroom south wall.

Marty applied and knocked down ceiling texture while Trevor, Raphael and I shuffled scaffolding around. Between the rain this week and the water evaporating from the plaster, the house is humid like Florida. Below is a pick of Marty up top with Trevor and Raphael below. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Green comment for today:
When selecting finishes, especially those inside the home, consider the simplest materials with the least amount of additives. This will result in the best indoor air quality. For example, my interior wall finish is 99% gypsum plaster (plaster of Paris).

I chose to avoid premix or ready mix materials because they contain vinyl compounds which act as binders. Once applied, the Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) portion of the binder will evaporate into your home atmosphere potentially affecting respiration in folks with chemical sensitivities. It is true that the VOC concentration will reduce dramatically over time, but it is best to not allow the material in the home if it is not needed.

To determine what is in a product, look at the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS). This can be confusing when a manufacturer decides to include a series of products on one MSDS. You sometimes see the words "may contain one or more of the following" in the Composition/Ingredients section of the MSDS. In this case, you need to call technical support to see if the particular product you are interested contains any offending ingredients.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Day 102: South wall interior plastering

The power was back on Thursday. We applied gypsum plaster to all surfaces of the south wall except in the bedroom. Here is a pic of the south wall in the family room and loft.

Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Day 100: Interior plastering

On Monday we applied gypsum plaster to the interior north wall. It is nice to see the cold looking APEX blocks covered with a uniform finish. Here is a pic of the great room portion of the wall taken from the loft.

The guys from Independent Energy Systems were back again today to install another rack for the photovoltaic array. Thanks for reading. I appreciate your comments.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Day 99: Interior plastering

On Friday we applied gypsum plaster to the interior west wall. Here is a pick of Marty, Raphael, Joshua and Ben in action.

Here is a pic of Cindy in the dining room on Saturday after the wall has partially dried.

Here is a closeup pic of the kitchen window bullnose. This detail gives the house a nice old-world feel. Thanks for reading. I enjoy reading your comments.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Day 93: Ubiquitous plaster preparation and other tasks

I’m running late tonight after a very busy day. Here is a list of the things that happened Thursday.
  • Had a successful interior gypsum plaster test in the closet
  • Indirect water heater was delivered
  • Shower floor was leveled
  • Hung the entry door and 2 interior doors
  • Finished applying masking tape and plastic sheet to all exterior windows and sliding patio doors
  • Rinsed the exterior of the east and north walls in preparation for plastering Friday
Following is a pic of the entry door. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to leave a comment.