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Modern plaster mixes seemed superior until I worked on a century-old building.
Original lime plaster outlasts any contemporary product in historic settings.
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drewd763h ago
On the 1920s library renovation in Chicago, we used a modern polymer-modified plaster that adhered perfectly to the old lath. That stuff cured in half the time of traditional lime plaster and didn't require constant misting. Lime plaster might be authentic, but it's incredibly fussy and prone to cracking if the building settles even a little. Modern mixes have additives that allow for flexibility and moisture management, which is crucial in older structures with damp issues. I've seen lime fail in less than a decade on retrofitted walls where modern plaster holds up. The nostalgia for old materials often overlooks how far formulation science has come.
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