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Hi my name is Joseph im not sure if this is the right email or ask questions or not but I stumbled on your website while searching for answers. Im from ohio and trying to learn the trick to smooth coat with keenes and lime. Recently our plaster retired so i have had a hard time finding a replacement. Im great with drywall work on level 5 finishes all the time but have always wanted to learn to plaster. I Recently did a job with kal kote basecoat and tried using keenes with lime mix for smooth coat. But no matter what I seem to do I get blisters under the finish or it dries and cracks out. I was able to use the kalkote smooth with no issues. I would just like to expand my knowledge in this area. I have tried lime sand and keenes with no issues then tried to topcoat with just keenes and lime and same issues. Am I trying to work it to soon, too much pressure? I have mixed is several ways. Using double hydrated finishing lime. But can never get to the burnished type of finish with it. Any tips and tricks would be appreciated and if this is not the right place to ask questions or this is stated on the web site I apologize. Thank you!

This is the place. Never put water on blisters. Don't continue to trowel. It will make the blisters worse. Just let the blisters set up and come back and trowel them out after the mortar sets. Keene's sets slow, even quick trowel keenes. If the bag is marked If you have regular set Keene's , not quick set, you want to let it set overnight. With color work with Keene's, we get cool burnishing and troweling after letting Keene's set overnight. Remember, with Keene's, you use little lime. The formula for Keene's is 100 lb's Keenes cement and NO MORE than 100 lb.s lime, and 100 lb.s Keene's and NO LESS than 50 lb.s lime. We use a bag and a half of lime, (50 lb. bags) to 2 50 lb. bags of Keenes. Adding fine silica sand can add some great burnishing. Also, Keene's will scratch easily for about 5 days. After 5 days it is incredibly hard. You won't find a harder finish than Keene's cement Thanks so much for visiting my site !

Thanks Reggie for the suggestions. I have several sample boards i have been practicing on so I will give them a try. I have never heard of slow or fast setting keene's. I have just been using keene's cement in the redtop bag mixed about 50/50 with snowdrift finish lime. We only have one local supplier for plastering materials in my area in ohio so limited on what they carry but also very fortunate they are only 20 min.s from me. They have people from out of state that come to pick up plaster materials. It seems in my area that its a dying art that I would like to learn and continue. Thank you again! Its been so hard to find any information on it. Even the suppliers sales men only know what they sell and no ideal how to use it.

I have a cool job with Keene's cement coming up that will make nice pictures. Keene's should be gauged heavier than gauging plaster, over 50 % We mix Keene's in a garbage can with a drill. If the mix tightens up, you can retemper Keene's There are two types of Keene's : Quick trowel says quick trowel on the bag. Regular Keene's can be troweled the next day. Your blisters will come right out if you let your wall set up overnight. I am glad you are trying to keep the tradition alive. They used a lot of Keene's when I was in Southern California 34 years ago, mainly for textured and color finishes. Thanks so much for visiting my site. Send any question you want

I will definitely keep up on checking your website. Any tips and tricks on smooth and sand swirl finish with keenes. That is what is most popular in my area. I attached a picture of the keenes i use and have found locally. I usually do drywall finishes and prefer level 5 finish skim everything. I do have some carpal tunnel though and did find plaster is easier on that then level 5 with all the sanding so definitely want to keep learning and trying. Thanks again its really hard to find any actually helpful information on plastering this way and I very much appreciate it. Hope all goes well with your jobs coming up.

For textures, and color finishes, add white silica sand to Keene's cement. Our formula is to mix in a garbage can with a drill, 2 50 lb. bags Keene's, one and a half bags of lime, and 100 lb.s white silica sand, crushed quartz or marble dust. The sand adds a nice light texture for a smooth troweled wall, and the abrasiveness of the sand helps "burning", or troweled color effects.

I need to look for a container other than a garbage can. The drill scrapes the ribs and knocks pieces of plastic into the mix. Usually, we have to pick these out of the wall one by one. They make mixing containers for flooring like Ardex which should work better.

A sand float finish with Keene's is easy. You don't need a rubber float like for stucco. A car wash type sponge works great. You want to make sure you wear a rubber glove. Rolling up the bottom of the glove helps keep the Keene's and lime from running down your arm.

Remember that Keene's and lime is highly caustic. Years ago, I had nasty burns on my arms and hands from working with Keene's. You want to grease your hands and arms with vaseline at night, and keep running water nearby to wash your eyes out in case of emergency.

Here's a link to what I wrote about Keene's cement before....