Mixing lime render

[ChedderAndChive]

I will soon be finishing the walls around my fireplace were im going to have a wood burner installed. After reading advice on this forum I have decided to use a lime render to do this, but I have never worked with lime before.

So my first question is how do I mix the render (ratios etc) and secondly how thick can it go on or how many layers should I apply to get a reasonable finish for paint.

TIA

 

[Possel]

You should probably use 3:1 or 3.5:1. You can buy this ready mixed which costs a little bit more but takes the variable out of a small job. Look for the Mike Wye website - they offer free advice if you buy stuff! There are other suppliers...

You would apply two coats of mortar (both about 0.5") before adding the finer lime plaster - again, there are details on their website.

 

[ChedderAndChive]

Thanks for the link, lots of good info there just what I needed.

 

[peaps]

Thanks for the link, lots of good info there just what I needed.

Just remember that you need to use a weaker mix, strong mixes crack. 3.1 is too strong for what you are doing imo

 

[cotswoldbuilders]

Another supplier is Trad-Lime.

 

[maka2k3]

this is similar to what i might do, could you tile straight onto the lime or does it have to be painted with a special paint? also i see that you only put it on quite thin, is there anything you can put in the fire place opening first to box the wall off slightly, i want to close the sides of my fireplace up about 3inches either side


also where can i find out what your ratios are 4:2:1 for example

what comes first, sand, cement, lime?