Building with Lime: A Practical Introduction / Edition 2

by Stafford Holmes, Michael Wingate

Overview

The most common raw material for making lime is limestone, which is one of the world’s most abundant minerals, widely available in many countries. Lime has many other uses, but this book is specifically about its use in building and construction, for which it has a proven track record through several millennia. Despite this long and successful history, in recent times it has been largely neglected whilst ordinary Portland cement has dominated the market. Building with Lime seeks to rectify this situation. The book is a revised, updated and improved edition of the very successful one of the same title, by the same authors, published by the same organization in 1997. This book is intended as a starting point for those considering lime as a building material, and as a general reference to the broad range of uses for lime in construction. It shows how to make the best use of different types of lime, whether extracted locally or transported from further afield. The book provides information that will assist manufacturers, policy-makers, investors, suppliers, and the builders and owners or users of the buildings themselves to understand the value of lime.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781853395475
Publisher:	Practical Action Publishing
Publication date:	11/28/2002
Edition description:	Revised Edition
Pages:	309
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.79(d)

About the Author

Stafford Holmes is a United Kingdom based professional architect not only with great enthusiasm for lime but also with much knowledge and experience. He has made inputs into projects in many different countries and has been involved with various groups promoting the use of lime.

Table of Contents

	Acknowledgements	vii
	Dedication	viii
	Foreword	ix
1	An approach to using lime	1
1.1	Lime: a versatile binder	1
1.2	Characteristics of limes	2
1.3	Air limes, hydraulic limes, and those in between	4
1.4	What limes do in buildings	4
1.5	Specifying building limes	6
2	What lime is and how it is prepared	8
2.1	Introduction	8
2.2	Preparation	9
2.3	Hydraulic limes	12
2.4	Pozzolanic additives	14
2.5	Magnesian limes	14
3	Tools and equipment	16
3.1	Tools for lime	16
3.2	Plant and equipment	17
3.3	Setting-out tools	23
3.4	Plasterers' tools	28
3.5	Masons' tools and additional equipment	42
4	Limewashes	49
4.1	Uses and qualities	49
4.2	Preparation of a basic limewash	50
4.3	Additives to the basic limewash	53
4.4	Applying limewash	56
4.5	Performance standards and trial mixes	58
5	Lime mortars	60
5.1	Definition of mortar	60
5.2	Performance	60
5.3	Basic materials for mortar	63
5.4	Additives	65
5.5	Mortar preparation	67
5.6	Mortar from non-hydraulic (Class A) quicklime	70
5.7	Mortar from hydraulic (Class C) quicklime	71
5.8	Mix proportions	72
5.9	Application of mortar	72
5.10	Trial mixes	75
6	Plain lime plastering for interiors	77
6.1	Introduction	77
6.2	Tools	77
6.3	Backgrounds	77
6.4	Materials for lime plastering	83
6.5	Plain lime plaster application	88
6.6	Texture and finishes	98
6.7	Ceilings	99
6.8	Gauging with gypsum or plaster of Paris	101
7	External renders and thrown finishes	103
7.1	Introduction	103
7.2	Tools	105
7.3	Backgrounds	106
7.4	Materials	106
7.5	External lime render, mixes and applications	110
7.6	Thrown finishes	112
7.7	Traditional Indian renders	117
7.8	Lime gauging, daub and earth finishes	120
7.9	Gauging with Portland cement	121
7.10	Identification of faults	122
8	Decorative plasterwork	127
8.1	Introduction	127
8.2	Run mouldings	127
8.3	Cast moulds	134
8.4	Pargeting	138
8.5	Modelling stucco in situ	140
8.6	Depeter	143
8.7	Carved and diapered plaster	144
8.8	Sgraffito	146
8.9	Italian stuccos	148
9	Stabilization and other mixes incorporating lime	152
9.1	Earth stabilization	152
9.2	Daub construction	154
9.3	Pise de terre or rammed earth	156
9.4	Lime-stabilized earth bricks and blocks	157
9.5	Lime and cow dung rendering and pargeting	163
9.6	Renders and slurries for soil structures	164
9.7	Roof finishes	166
9.8	Tar and lime coating	167
9.9	Calcium silicate bricks and components	168
10	Substructure: floors, roads and lime concrete	171
10.1	Floors and paving	171
10.2	Roads	178
10.3	Lime concrete	182
10.4	Hydraulic mortar and concrete specifications	186
10.5	Lime concrete canal lining in India	189
10.6	Water mortars for making lime concretes	190
11	Limestone recognition, testing and standards	193
11.1	Field investigation	193
11.2	Geological origin of rocks	194
11.3	Limestone recognition	195
11.4	Field tests for lime	203
11.5	Field tests for sand, pozzolans and mortars	216
11.6	Field tests for soil stabilization	223
11.7	Standard test methods	227
11.8	National standards	237
12	Maintenance guidelines	240
12.1	Introduction	240
12.2	Structural movement	240
12.3	Roof coverings	241
12.4	Rainwater goods above ground	241
12.5	Drainage below ground	242
12.6	Sanitary fittings	242
12.7	Maintaining wall finishes	243
12.8	Maintaining ceilings and decorative plasterwork	246
12.9	Metalwork	249
12.10	Floors	249
12.11	Roads and paths	250
12.12	Vegetation	250
12.13	Summary	251
	References and bibliography	252
	Glossary	259
	Appendices	280
1	Proposed classification of building limes by hydraulicity	280
2	Pozzolans: natural and artificial	282
3	Sieve gauge and mesh size conversion table	285
4	Select list of national standards	286
5	Minerals associated with common limestone chemicals	290
6	Chemical analysis of hydraulic limes and natural cements	292
7	Effects of the addition of pure limes to natural hydraulic limes	293
8	Suitability of soils for the addition of lime	294
9	Recommended quantities of gypsum for gauging internal lime plaster	295
10	Comparative crushing strengths of mortars and associated building materials	296
11	Properties of bricks and blocks	297
12	Comparative compressive strengths of traditional British lime mortars with those given in some European standards	299
13	Conversion tables	300
	Index	301