Conservar Património, no. 8 , 2008, pp. 49-57

Application and properties of pure lime façades - case study

Violeta Bokan Bosiljkov
Assistant Professor, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
vbokan@fgg.uni-lj.si

Vlatko Bosiljkov
Assistant Professor, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
vbosiljk@fgg.uni-lj.si

Roko Žarnić
Associate Professor, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
rzarnic@fgg.uni-lj.si

Abstract

The paper presents experiences obtained during application and testing of different pure lime façades that could be successfully used in restoration of historical buildings in Slovenia. The lime façade consists of a rendering layer (rough mortar), a finishing layer (fine mortar) and a protective layer of lime wash. For the design of the mortars different industrially and traditionally produced limes were chosen, based on the results of preliminary studies of the authors and experiences of a small enterprise (SE) involved in the study. The façade layers were applied to the most problematic northern wall of the historic chapel made from rubble masonry. The chapel belongs to the castle Crnelo, built at the end of the 17th century in the village Turnše, not far from Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The façade layers were made by skilled workers of SE, with about one year time difference between application of rendering and finishing layers, and with a protective layer of coloured lime wash applied to one to three day old finishing layers. On the rendering layers, visual inspection, water absorption tests and determination of carbonation depth were carried out before subsequent finishing layers were applied. The same on-site tests were carried out also on finished façade layers. So far, parallel to the on-site tests, compressive and water absorption tests on prisms prepared from rough mortars were carried out in laboratory.

Keywords

Pure lime façade; workmanship; water absorption; carbonation depth.

Language

English