18 Sep 2026 · Materials
Why we still specify lime plaster
It is slower to apply and harder to find good plasterers for. We use it on almost every project anyway. Here’s why.
Lime plaster breathes. A wall finished in lime lets moisture move through it instead of trapping it behind a skin of acrylic paint, which is why the old houses we refurbish rarely have damp problems until someone “modernises” them.
It also ages well. Cement render cracks in straight lines and looks broken; lime moves with the building, takes on a patina, and can be patched years later without the repair standing out.
The trade-off is time. A three-coat lime finish needs days between coats and a plasterer who knows the material. We plan for it from the first programme, not at the end.
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Taller Ocre
Taller Ocre, architecture and interiors since 2014.
Photography: Pexels contributors