Acrylic Vs Lime Plaster Products, which are better?
Protek offers a full selection high and medium sheen as well as Coarse Plasters, that are known for offering softness by defusing the light. Today we can decide between the use of newer acrylic products for quicker and more consistent application or traditional lime-based ones. This depends on the application, skill level available, and design style being sought.
Please Note: Acrylic products are easier to apply and more versatile.
The primary reason Acrylic Plasters were created was due to northern climates having 4 seasons. Freezing temperatures are common and lime-based plasters cannot recover after the temperature separates water and plaster.
This is an inherent defect with lime plaster products, once frozen it breaks down and cannot come back. Protek Acrylic Plaster products remain stable after unfreezing.
PROTEK Acrylic Plasters have been formulated to mimic the different traditional Italian Marmorino plaster groups, coarse to extra fine.
Over the years Marmorino Plasters, Lucido, Classic & Carrara, formed their own design groups and these became artisan trades, which can be traced back to Roman times.
Marmorino Classic & Lucido Plasters
Creates a mirror-like finish with vibrant colours on walls and ceilings. This trade mark feature, name high sheen and mirror finish, denotes the trait of Venetian Plasters.
Protek Acrylic Venetian Mineral Plaster
Used for both smooth & dimensional textures, from the finest high gloss finish, to leather, or metal textures, pearlescent & iridescent finishes, embossed and relief stencils, antiqued plaster, weathered stone, and more.
Marmorino Carrara (Medium & Coarse)
A simulated limestone but a lighter in weight alternative veneer that diffuses the light, with a hard honed stone effect, subtle striations and reflective crystalline specks.
Carolina Sandstone
The medium size grain can be finished to a stone effect resembling a weathered limestone.
- Combine with Stonewash Pigments creating soft natural toning.
- Cracking effects can also be achieved.
Intonachino
Highly breathable with a natural anti-mold surface, which has strong adhesion to the background, for interior and exterior use. Comes in 4 grain sizes, that can produce varied effects and can mimic antique plaster.
Texturstone
Cement & concrete finishes with minimum stress on drywall. NO reinforcement needed. The grain is a medium size and the final coating is washable and self-sealing.
MicroToppings
MircoToppings that can be applied directly over existing materials on floors & walls. Often selected for bathroom or kitchen areas where water is present, like shower cabins and food preparation areas.
Acrylic MircoToppings produce seamless work from floor to walls and waterproof when coated with an appropriate sealer.
PROTEK offer a number of Cement-Based MircoToppings that include self-levelling cement. Thin veneer coatings can be applied as required, as well as a full range of floor sealers.
High Polished Mirror Plasters
Applicators can apply multicoating projects without the fear of delamination. Acrylic Venetian Plaster makes the job foolproof.
Marmorino Classic & Lucido Grassello Lime Plaster
This is the top of the line Venetian Plaster where a sophisticated wall or ceiling plaster is required with a high sheen. The skill level to create a surface with these comes under the heading expert. All Italian decorative lime plasters are formulated the same, lime putty, marble flour or calcium carbonate, other additives including, a PVA binder at about 3% by weight. The coverage of these two plasters is approximately the same getting 200 sq. ft. from a 5 kg gallon. The walls must be a level 5 plaster finish, as defects will show up on the finished plaster surface.
PROTEK Venetian Acrylic Mineral Plaster
This polished plaster creates intense colours without fear of fading or premature aging and fading. We can use waterproof waxes without solvents, or it can be coated with metallic waxes and pigment washes.
- Its ability to recreate concrete in an urban environment is unsurpassed.
- For the applicator multicoating without fear of delamination makes the job foolproof.
- Has an antifreeze additive.
PROTEK Venetian Acrylic Mineral Plaster is a modern plaster product delivering a high-quality seamless solution that can be reproduced by many applicators, and easier than traditional Lime Plaster.
Medium Grain Acrylic & Lime Plasters
Medium grain plasters provide for all types of flat stone design styles and gives them a natural look and feel. The surface is washable and can have a honed stone. Other effects includes cracks & stencilled on elements.
Carolina Sandstone
This is an essential product in your tool-kit replacing Marmorino Carrara on interior installations with more versatility with an easier & faster application.
Cracking produces popular Tuscan plaster walls, making it an indispensable plaster for the design look of very old walls.
Very thick layers are possible with no cracking. A special plaster additive and short nylon fibers must be placed into the mix before applying.
Stunning effects can be obtained by stencilling. Here a fossil and an old piece of pipe in a recess make great sandstone applications.
Carolina Sandstone Benefits & Uses
The formula is based on our ever-popular acrylic venetian plaster and like our Italian counterparts, you add something and it becomes a modified design look. In our case we did not want to add marble so instead we added space age ceramics.
These little spheres are great to add dimension and texture similar to Italian Marmorino Carrara.
Why would you use Carolina Sandstone instead of Marmorino Carrara Lime Plaster?
- Tints to deep colours with universal pigment, hard to do with lime products.
- No soupy plaster due to the strong acrylic mechanical bonding primer.
- Ceramic spheres (part of the Carolina formulation) allow for cracks that will not delaminate.
- Coloring the surface with our collection of natural earth pigments give an organic feel to wall textures. By simply diluting in water and sponging over the surface brings the wall to life. Of course, you cannot do this on Marmorino Carrara. It would muddy up and dissolve.
Many applicators use a hairdryer to make those cracks even bigger. Another way to get a lot of cracks is to use under the plaster Aquaglass our Plaster Cracking Medium.
The ideal solution for all flat stone so it keeps a natural look and feel is Protek’s famous Zero Gloss Varnish, totally invisible leaving the finish colour uncharged, yet washable. If a waxy hone look is required, you can apply our flat wax which when abraded (polished with a trowel) to give a honed stone effect.
Marmorino Carrara Lime Plaster Designs
Technique
After applying a blocker (wax that allows re-coating) coloured glazing can be used to accentuate the varied layering.
Application
Very useful when aging or adding another layer of colour on a textured finish. See these images for examples.
The image above is a double-layered texture with a coloured wash and wax.
Create an old plaster wall resembling marble that has aged in a multi colour way.
NOTE: The colours remain separated and are NOT blending together on the surface.
As a basic building block, Lime-Based Carrara is the plaster of choice because it makes a fine undercoat for any other plaster, bonding well to most surfaces and illuminating small defects. It is also available in powder form for the professional who needs greater control over the consistency of the mix.
It has a coverage of around 100 to 200 sq. ft. per pail 24kg depending on if it is a one coat or two coat applications. When sealing this plaster, we recommend two options Cream Wax for a sheen and Zero Gloss for a totally flat look. We do have other options but those are the most popular.
Other options include additives such as Salt & Pepper Sand, Terra Cotta Powder, Mother of Pearl, Glass Flake and Pearlescent Micas.
Intonachino Lime Plaster
This is a traditional Italian lime-based plaster for both interiors and exteriors to mimic antique plaster. This stucco is uniformly rough with slight variations in colour intensity. It comes in Extra Fine, Fine, Medium, and Coarse Textures that can produce varied effects. This is also used to simulate a smooth or rough concrete surface on walls. Intonachino Lime Plaster is slaked lime (35%) marble powder aggregate with variable particle size, water and additives (Less than 2% total in wet volume).
There are four grades available for Intonachino
Application of Intonachino Plaster
- Prime the substrate with Sharktooth Primer and allow 6 hours to dry.
- Apply the first coat of plaster with a metal trowel being careful to apply evenly over the entire surface. Let it dry completely for 24 hours.
- Apply the second coat, being careful to proceed seamlessly: apply over the entire surface with a trowel, followed by a damp sponge. Trowel to make the surface uniform. It may be best to perform this step twice.
- Once immediately after application of the Intonachino using the sponge float.
- Then again after a few minutes. Finish off with the stainless-steel trowel.
Necessary Tools for Application: Hawk, Large Plastering Trowel, Sponge Float
| Theoretical Yield: | |
|---|---|
| EXTRA FINE with marble grains from 0.0 to 0.5mm | X-fine: 125 - 175 sq. ft. per 24kg; |
| FINE with marble grains from 0.0 to 0.7mm | Fine: 100 - 150 sq. ft. per 24 kg; |
| MEDIUM with marble grains from 0.0 to 0.9mm | Medium- 75 - 125 sq. ft. per 24 kg; |
| COARSE with marble grains from 0.0 to 1.1mm | Coarse - 50 - 100 sq. ft. per 24kg |
Texturstone Acrylic Plaster Equivalent to Intonachino
Texturstone is a blend of select silica aggregates and mineral additives that produces a stone-hard coating that can replicate stone, brick, tile, and slate.
Texturstone is a water-based acrylic modified coating designed for use over existing surfaces, both interior and exterior. This essential product replaces Intonachino on interior installations while adding versatility through external applications. It is easier and faster to apply than Intonachino Plaster.
Once sealed, Texturstone is virtually water-impermeable, allowing it to be used in many areas. Texturstone is available in standard or white and can be coloured with universal pigment.
We carry all 3 types of plasters, in both Acrylic & Lime Versions
Lime is the traditional formula used for the past millennia to create veneers on walls that last hundreds of years particularly in Italy. Lime mortars go back to Roman times, and are recognized for its self-healing properties and durability in zones prevalent to structural movement such as Italy. They were also used to advantage in St. Petersburg where its cold climate offers other challenges.
Acrylic plasters have now become very common in our market in many diverse forms. Imported plaster that has the word synthetic applied to it, and generally uses a vinyl binder. We utilize an acrylic resin here in North America.
Protek is a proponent of traditional plastering. Our idea when manufacturing Acrylic Plasters was to be as close to a lime-based plaster as possible in aesthetic quality but easier in the application process.
Overall Plastering Tips
Some plasters come in powders in a bag, just needing water to be added. The more popular option is in premixed paste, which is a little more expensive, and is much more practical for custom matching colours, as well as a great time saver.
The waxes are available in both paste and liquid form, which in general is burnished with trowels or polished with electric buffers using lambswool bonnets. We also sell varnishes adapted for plasters in mat and satin. Some sealers are suitable for wet conditions such as showers or floors.
We are often asked for plasters that stand up to exterior harsh conditions, these plasters are among our newer offerings, please do not hesitate to ask our specialist technicians about application call 416-252-0051 or toll-free at 800-773-5233.
Powder plaster versions are better outside, after mixing these products they are used in the same way as the pastes. Remember to cover mixed product with water to prevent oxidation occurring. This will keep up to 3 days, before reuse pour off the water and stir.
Use a Co Me Bianko trowel for fine decorative plastering because it leaves no grey marks that other trowels do.
PROTEK Acrylic Plaster Products
PROTEK Decorative Lime Plaster Products
