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Naturally Healthy Homes specializing in high-performance straw bale building and natural building

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Straw Bale Article Published

Here is the article about straw bale building that I wrote for Home Power Magazine. Once the viewer loads, click the full-screen icon (the four-cornered box) and zoom in to read. Enjoy! – Rebecca

Created using FlowPaper Flipbook Maker ↗

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From shaggy, fuzzy straw bales to smooth, white li

From shaggy, fuzzy straw bales to smooth, white lime plaster

There are so many colors in the dramatic stone hea

There are so many colors in the dramatic stone hearth under the sauna wood stove. I can’t quite decide which black/gray/green lime plaster looks best. Opinion?

Sauna ceiling: 60 year old redwood originally used

Sauna ceiling: 60 year old redwood originally used as roof decking milled down to make a beautiful new ceiling for the wood-fired, straw-insulated sauna. All that’s left to do is plaster the walls and install the stove, hopefully in time for the first cool, rainy Saturday.

Lime plaster for a charming powder bathroom. What

Lime plaster for a charming powder bathroom. What to call this color? Is it mauve or pink or tan or? The closest paint color match is called “Dead Salmon”, but that’s not appealing.

Pretty pink polished lime plaster for a girls’ b

Pretty pink polished lime plaster for a girls’ bedroom

Serene green/gray lime plaster with subtle movemen

Serene green/gray lime plaster with subtle movement for this lovely bathroom remodel

Carved lime plaster fireplace surround

Carved lime plaster fireplace surround

And now for something completely different: stacki

And now for something completely different: stacking straw bales. These images look out of place on our page these days but this is where we came from. Straw bale building led us to learn about plaster. Every few years, we do a straw bale job and it reconnects us with our roots. We can get good quality wheat bales locally that are very dry (the moisture meter doesn’t read below 14.5%) and easy to work with. And now we get to plaster them!

Ah, summer time! Finally screened in the porch on

Ah, summer time! Finally screened in the porch on the straw-clay, earth plaster, and tadelakt shower building that we built ten years ago. Taking a semi-outdoor shower at the end of a hot day and sitting on the porch with a beer and my honey is my favorite way to relax.

Mmmmm mossy green lime plaster wall

Mmmmm mossy green lime plaster wall

The biggest #tadelaktshower we've done so far is l

The biggest #tadelaktshower we've done so far is looking pretty. The soft lines of the pebble floor are a nice counterpoint to the sharp lines of the plaster. As always, I can't wait to see it with the fixtures and glass installed.

Sleek, minimal, illuminated #tadelakt shower

Sleek, minimal, illuminated #tadelakt shower

Starting to get silky smooth and shiny in the big

Starting to get silky smooth and shiny in the big shower. Even the ceiling (ouch, btw)

It was a joy to install craft plaster in this spac

It was a joy to install craft plaster in this spacious, beautifully designed bathroom.

Interesting challenge matching new lime plaster to

Interesting challenge matching new lime plaster to 10-year-old gypsum plaster on the interior of a straw bale home.

The client remodeled the kitchen and needed the dining room wall to match the other walls, which were plastered in a different style than we're used to. After some trial and error, we found a good color match. Then we experimented with our technique: adding dry joints and chatter then burnishing with an old non-stainless trowel.

The second pic shows the existing plaster on the left and the new plaster on the right.

This might be my favorite shower that we've "tadel

This might be my favorite shower that we've "tadelakt-ed" recently. The client wanted lots of movement and a range of tones and colors - white, cream, gray - to echo the variation in the floor tile. Having the window in the shower requires serious waterproofing but you can't beat the natural light.

Saturday studio session serves up several striped

Saturday studio session serves up several striped samples, from subtle to surreal

What do we mean by “craft plaster”? Craft plas

What do we mean by “craft plaster”? Craft plaster is like craft beer.

The craft beer movement uses more traditional brewing methods, emphasizing quality over quantity. Small, independently owned breweries know the traditions and compete based on unique flavors made with high-quality ingredients.

We mix our plasters in custom batches for each project. We know what's in our plasters and why it's there. Our plasters are made with pure ingredients: lime, clay, sand, mineral pigment, and a touch of cellulose. We know our craft and we customize the installation process to get the desired results.

In a time when the term “plaster” has become almost meaningless because of products that claim to be plaster but are more similar to synthetic paint, all of the terms lose meaning. What is Venetian plaster today? What is Marmorino or Tadelakt? They are ancient techniques based on knowledge of the craft and the materials. They shouldn’t be something that comes from the paint store and smells like acrylic, but, sadly, that is what most installers are now using. Synthetic products are faster and more foolproof than traditional materials and methods, but the end product is an approximation of the original.

We are proud to offer unique, high-quality, bespoke finishes installed by artisans who know the traditions and techniques. It’s not the most inexpensive option. It’s not the fastest option. It’s the craft option.

A four-coat polished lime plaster to create moveme

A four-coat polished lime plaster to create movement and subtle drama. Although the plaster appears textured, the surface is smooth and silky to the touch.

A little animation of our recent fireplace remodel

A little animation of our recent fireplace remodel

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Builders specializing in high-performance natural homes with a focus on carbon-smart green building practices, straw bale building, energy efficiency, natural finishes, clay & lime plaster, and sustainable materials for new & existing homes in San Diego County, CA, General Contractors License #B1053512, a Benefit Corporation
email: info@simpleconstruct.net or call: (619) 342-6709

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