McHenry clay plaster – 2011

We were hired to do American Clay plaster on a lovely home in La Mesa, San Diego, that had been renovated.  We installed clay plaster through the main living area of the original house and on the walls of the new addition.

The addition has Perform walls, which are blocks made of cement and polystyrene.  They are made from 85% recycled materials and have a fairly high insulation value.  This is the first time we have worked with them and it presents an interesting challenge.  The surface is very rough and uneven.  To even it out and make it possible to use the same veneer plaster as on the drywall walls, we applied a thick base coat of our homemade clay plaster.  The mix is very similar to what we would use as a second coat on a straw bale wall.

The original house, built in the 40’s, was stick-framed but made to look like an adobe (“fauxdobe”).  It has lovely, wavy, organic plaster that we matched with our new plaster.