Tag: Hand trowled plaster

The last few months, I’ve been working on a Tuscan lime plaster interior in a beautiful custom home tucked away in Burnaby.

 

I’ve gotta say, the architecture blows me away. It’s my first plaster project in the area, and the home definitely ranks in the top 5 fave homes I’ve worked on. With curved walls, dominant archways, stunning distressed-wood doors, what didn’t I love?

I was brought in to install a 4,000 square-foot Venetian Plaster effect. I’m nearing the 70% completion mark. Things will move along really quickly in the next few weeks, though.

 

Here’s a breakdown of what’s going on.

 

The materials of choice this time are Stucco Italiano and Intonachino lime plaster.

I choose to seal my Venetian plaster projects with penetrating sealer. This helps to repel moisture and oil. If you’re getting a great finish, shouldn’t it be protected for you to enjoy for decades? Yeah, I think so too.

 

Once the sealer dries, I’ll go over it with golden heavy-bodied glaze tinted to a light raw umber.

 

If I don’t do this overglazing step, the Tuscan plaster style looks too new and fresh — like the photo on the top left shows.

While I believe in sealing all my plaster, it’s really necessary if glazing Tuscan lime plaster. Why? It’s thirsty like you wouldn’t believe. If it’s not sealed before glazing, a catastrophe can happen. The raw umber glaze would stain the surface beyond repair — blotchy and horrible. The wall would need redoing from start to finish, and who wants that? I’ll get it right the first time.

 

This is also where being super-prepared before getting started means everything. If that glaze hits an unsealed wall next to the project, it could be a domino effect of colour catastrophes, so care always needs to be taken.

 

Check out these snapshots of some of last week’s great work. Catch you next time.

Over the past week, I had the opportunity to work on the new Bosa building in White Rock, BC, with one of my favourite designers — a big fan of my style of Venetian Plaster. She’s always pushing me to try new things and stretch my creativity, so it’s a great working experience to be around her.


When meeting a new client and designer, the most important part of the meeting is being able to absorb their ideas and use that as inspiration for creating a unique design that’ll reflect the best of everything they want.


I think I pulled that off, and it’s even reflected in the materials we used.


For this project, I used Carrara Marmorino. It’s different because of its small granules, which allows it to polish to a beautiful satin finish. For added durability and a beautiful finish, I sealed the surface with natural beeswax.

In this renovation, the homeowner knew exactly what he wanted: A great living space with a lot of detail.

I’m not kidding, he left no corner out. Now that’s my kind of attention to detail!

I was commissioned to turn this doorway from “BLAH!” to “WOW!”

To do that, I chose to use Intonachino. I kicked it off with tinting the materials to a light orange/tan, using three colours to mix it from scratch: Raw Sienna, Red Oxide and Raw Umber (but the links are not the actual brands of the materials I use to tint my plaster; just great information pages for you to check out).

After, the finish was left to sit and cure for a few days before I returned to apply the all-important penetrating sealant before doing a beautiful raw umber glaze.

What do you think about this kind of finish?


This past week I was working on a Metallic Bronze & Copper Distressed Ceiling in a lovely home in Morgan Creek.  I was very excited, as it has been a while since I’ve done a plaster ceiling finish in this style I’d say almost 3 years to be exact and I truly enjoy this type of decorative finish.  A break down of the work involved begins with applying a black base  metallic plaster made by Golden after that is left to dry over night. I then return to apply the bronze plaster also made from materials made by Golden.  Once the texture is created and the designer likes what she see’s the final step is “waxing”.  Now for this step I like to us an old school material called Bri-Wax. I don’t mind sharing the information as its a easily available in most cities. One thing I will tell you is this stuff has a nasty and strong odor.  One more step to go adding copper mica flakes to the wax, this involves melting the the materials in order to make that possible, I advise using caution if you choose to attempt this your self as this portion requires a high degree of safety.

In recent weeks, I’ve been lucky enough to be working in a lovely Greco-Roman home in Burnaby, BC.


It’s an awesome home, clearly designed for entertaining guests.


Well, when I first got out to the jobsite, the drywall wasn’t even installed. I’m a visual guy, but, for me, it’s difficult to get a sense of a home with all those studs and joists running up and down and everywhere. But, after awhile, I figured the home out, and I’m glad the project’s moving along.


We’re into the process now. Here, I was commissioned to install a distressed lime plaster finish, using something called Intonachino (in-tone-a-kino).


It kind of looks like it has a slight tint of yellow, but when paired up with the floor, it presents as a sand-beige. When I finish the project off, I’ll glaze the plaster with raw umber, adding a little character and an old, aged sense to the walls.

CLICK IMAGES TO ZOOM


One of my favourite things to do on the job is when I get to take something old and outdated and reinvent it all new and awesome.


In October, I got to do exactly that to a 50-year-old sandstone fireplace.


Not only did I lower the height of the fireplace by a whole eight inches, but I also created baffles for the Heatilator’s vents.


The plaster I thought best for this job was Tadelakt, but I got tricky and added Mother-of-Pearl to make the finish a one-of-a-kind fireplace.


I hope you enjoy checking out the pictures.


The Fireplace Before

We have had an amazing summer at Decorative Painting & Plastering Concepts and the fall is just beginning!!!! First off I must thank my clients for challenging me on their projects and giving me the opportunity to work with them. We spent a lot of time this spring marketing and teaching our clients about the benefits of Green and low V.O.C. materials not only has it been better for us and the environment but the advancements that companies like Benjamin Moore & Stucco Italiano have made make it possible for me as an applicator to provide the best quality materials and customer service knowing that they will hold up for years to come.

This is a photo of one of our recent full interior paint project in downtown Vancouver, it also included a custom metallic paint finish in the master bedroom and a custom Tadelakt pillar to match their existing Solus Stone Fireplace.

For this project the main goal was to repair the ceilings. There had been some major cracks cutting through in a straight line for sometime in this home after a major renovation. Now I know most people dread the thought of having to work above their head especially doing a Lime plaster finish. For me though its just another day at the office. I love ceilings, they have a feeling of a challenge like hiking a mountain or running in a marathon. You see when you start any venetian plaster finish their is no stopping you must complete the task. So if I am distressing a 300 square foot ceiling I have to complete it in that day. The beauty of this project was the creativity, I was able to come up with ideas like the rosettes, which added a great deal of architectural detail. I hope you enjoy the video.

Cheer’s

Darrell Morrison

If you would like to see the video in High Definition click this link
http://www.youtube.com/user/MorrisonDarrell

Welcome to my news letter. Inside you will find detailed information of my recent projects and favorite finishes. You can view it here

The features in this issue include

1. “Uniquely Daring” a subtle carrara marmorino feature wall

2. “Inspirational Thoughts” for you or your clients design ideas

3. Featured project “Diplomatic Immunity Clothing Inc. On South Granville, A classic white venetian plaster with a twist.

4. “The Grand Entrance” a full interior paint project in Tsawwassen including lots of wood finishing and wood graining a lost art.

Leave a comment and let me know what you think??

Walls made of water is what many people say this finish looks like, with its high and low polished area’s it adds a great deal of depth and character to any room. While this finish looks like it has a great deal of texture it is quite smooth. The project involved 2 bathrooms with a walk threw shower (1st one i have ever seen) the ceiling was completed in the same finish to complete the ambient atmosphere. I used Lime based Carrara Marmorino an organic green plaster that consists of crushed marble.


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