Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
'In some districts common ceilings are finished with a thin coat of neat lime
putty; but unless the putty is made from grey limestone, or is of a hydraulic
nature, the work is more or less weak, and in most cases practically useless'.
Jeff Orton continues:
In mentioning hydraulic grey limestone Millar is mainly emphasising its strength
compared to the chalk lime and not necessarily advocating it to be used neat.
A limewash is one of the rare times that lime putty can be used on its own, with
considerable success, but it has to be very diluted with water, until it is no more
than the consistency of milk.
He concludes:
The problem is both one of misunderstanding craft terminology and that those
writing on aspects of the building crafts did not always explain every detail, they
took it for granted the reader had an inkling of knowledge on the subject, unlike
some of today's readers. From approximately the middle of the nineteenth cen-
tury, Portland cement made such huge strides forward, particularly in the civil
engineering side, that specifications were changing very quickly, and today peo-
ple read into the evidence, both written and in practice, and form opinions
without enough research.
Setting the Gauged Work - Ashlar, Arched, and Carved
Walker (1885, 63) describes laying or 'setting' once the rubbers have been
soaked - but not saturated - to remove their excessive porosity:
…the joint is taken up by absorption by holding the bed of the brick in contact
with the putty, which must have the proper consistency and be kept in a small
putty-box made with a level top, so that the setter can rest or steady his arm upon
it while 'dipping' his brick. Before putting the brick in place, the putty is scraped
off the middle of the 'bed' that it may set or joint more evenly. The joint should
not be touched after the brick is 'bedded' but should be left full like a small bead.
Stone lime should be used for setting, as chalk lime is not fit for outdoor work.
To dip a brick properly, the bed of the brick, starting from the back edge to
avoid staining the face, would be 'floated' onto the flattened surface of the
mortar and levelled out so that a full joint was picked up (Fig. 134). The rub-
bing brick would then be dextrously lifted and turned towards the bricklayer,
to keep the face clean and allow any dripping to occur at the rear where it is
of no aesthetic consequence, and the joint quickly trowelled full and flat up to
the lead arris. Where cross-joints were being applied as well as the bed joints,
then the cross-joints would be dipped first, then the bed, and both quickly
