Cal y Barro

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK

They carry out all sorts of traditional finishings made of lime, gypsums, clays and whichever combination among them. It is worth highlighting that they manufacture their own mortars, with a selection of the best raw materials: binders, aggregates, pigments etc., depending on the kind of work they have been commissioned with, on the major or lesser exposure to weather conditions, and on the visual effect they aim to achieve. They even have their own hydrated lime which has been left at ease for up to ten years. 

Regarding the techniques and tools, the works they carry out are all done so using both traditional materials and tools as well as traditional techniques, since the material itself obliges to execute the works in that way. An example of this is the use of penknives for sgraffito, the use of specific carving tools – labras– for the imitation of stone or the use of wooden trowels for the finishings and the packing of the binding mortar. In those cases where it is a new construction, some of the processes are updated, largely because of the timings and also due to the higher demands in terms of the performance of the materials made by the clients, who usually don’t understand their nature. Despite this, they work to avoid the lack of setting of the renderings, prepared mixtures and basis of the stuccos and they face the increasingly widespread use of protection treatments with very little or no breathability at all, since, as a consequence of these common practices, it is very frequent that certain issues arise, such as problems regarding the carbonation or the hardening of the renders, patches and deteriorations as a result of lack of transpiration, etc.