Recommended Resources on Natural Plaster

Plaster | Paint | Breathable Wall Systems | Other

For those of you who want more information about natural building, green building, or other sustainable topics, fortunately, there is wealth of sources out there. Here are the ones that I have deemed important and relative to what you have found here at Living Walls.

 

If you know of a resource that we should know about, let us know! We are constantly on the search for newer and better information. Also, if you can't find something that you're looking for, let us know that too. Feedback is always welcome.

Plaster:

• American Clay
  This is the popular clay plaster that is being installed all across the country. They have done a great deal to bring natural building and plastering into houses today. A high quality clay plaster that is one of our most popular products.
• Eco-Haus; formerly Environmental Building Supplies
  The source for American Clay plaster and St. Astier hydraulic lime plaster. They can tell you pretty much anything you may want to know about these two wonderful products. They also offer many other green building products. Insulation, flooring, rugs, linoleum, wood fired stoves, and more!
• The Natural Plaster Book
  by Cedar Rose Guelberth and Dan Chiras
  An excellent introduction for the DIY'ers out there that want to learn the art of making and applying your own earthen plasters the traditional way. Two reknowned plasterers that have been plastering for decades as part of the natural building movement. This book also describes recipes for making textured, clay-based paint called alis
  

 

Paint:

• Green Planet Paints
  A fairly recent newcomer to the market, this paint is a non-toxic, environmentally friendly alternative to latex. With beautiful naturally pigmented colors, these walls just stand out and make you stand in awe. They use a soy based resin as a binder, but have no propylene glycols, so it's a bit different to apply. Check out the well organized website for more details.
• Yolo Paints
  These two women make a great latex paint. Probably the best on the market in my opinion. A low VOC latex made with natural pigments, not synthetic heavy metal compounds. The only drawback is the limited color selection, but all of their colors work well together. They also make an exterior paint as well.
• The Natural Paint Book
  by Lynn Edwards and Julia Lawless
  A great book geared to the Martha Stewart crowd. Pretty pictures, lots of recipes and a great primer to the basics of making paint. All with the ethos of the sustainability movement.

 

Breathable wall systems:

• Dachverband-Lehm
  There's not a lot out there, at least in English. This is an earthbuilding association in Germany that is leading the way in terms of establishing standards, developing research and providing education for officials and tradesmen. Check out their great website.

 

Other forms of natural building:

• Art of Natural Building
  Edited by Joe Kennedy
  A survey of natural building techniques, nothing in depth but a good first taste of the wide variety of possibilities.
  
• Cob Cottage Company
  Ianto Evans is the granddaddy of cob. He is the one responsible for the large presence of cob in the PNW. Check out his website and consider taking a course.
• Hand Sculpted House
  by Ianto Evans, Linda Smiley and Michael G. Smith
  An excellent first book for the philosophy and howto of cob.
• Flying Hammer Productions
  Popular in California and Colorado, strawbale homes are one of the easiest paths for home construction using natural building methods. Super insulative,beautiful plastered walls, deep window wells, all make for an extremely soothing and sustainable home. Lydia Doleman has bee building and teaching strawbale for a decade now. If you're thinking about building a straw bale building, talk to her.
• Earthen Floors
  Earthen floors a a warm, sensuous alternative to concrete or tile. Less expensive than many of traditional flooring, they can be customized to fit your aesthetic. They can be radiant, too.
• Earthen Ovens
  The art of Kiko and Hannah Denzer is in the ovens they make and the bread that comes out of them. Nothing is better than fresh hot bread coming out of a wood fired oven. Check out his site for classes in how to make them, or his book.
• Bread Builders - Masonry bread ovens
  by Daniel Wing and Alan Scott. This is the book that I used to build my first masonry bread oven. The owner fires it up once a week to cook his all of his food. And his monthly summer socials are the hit of the neighborhood. Food never tastes so good as when it comes out of one of these ovens.
• The Rebuilding Center - The local Portland reuse store.
  50% of our landfills consist of construction debris. Anything we can do to reuse these materials will be better than building with new ones. Besides, it's usually cheaper, has a history associated with it, and makes you feel good.