Sour-dough render, anyone?

Mud to photographer in 3, 2, 1 ...

This is Render Recipe 2.  A thick clay slurry mixed with chaff, but the secret ingredient is a scoop-full of water that's been mixed with compost and strained, as a "starter", because I want this render to ferment, like sour-dough bread.  I've left it for a week to bubble.

The idea is to try to duplicate the magic of adding cow poo to one's render mix, without the bother of dealing with actual cows and the people who own them.

I really should just go meet the people who own the nearby dairy, but I want to do rendering when I'm there on my own on a bike, and it's just too hard to carry freshly squeezed cow poo by bike.

Mmmmmm

The mix is a bit wetter than I'd usually use for render, but I figured the clay will thicken up over the week, because it usually does - though I'm not sure what impact fermenting will have - maybe that will release liquid? The render also has a higher clay-to-chaff ratio than I'd usually use, so I expect it to crack as it dries.  But if it is workable and has good weather resistance, I don't mind a bit of cracking in the first coat.

I'm a bit worried about the smell.  I've always been very careful never to leave organic matter mixed in wet clay, because it will go off and become foul.  It's a bit weird doing it on purpose.

TJ's verandah is all but finished.  Cool, eh?  It looks like it's always been there.  All it needs is a down-pipe on the guttering and a tank.

Verandah on west wall

That photo also shows some form-work for the top bit of west wall we did last weekend.

TJ has put up the fascia-less guttering on the east wall.  Once the down-pipe goes in I'll be able to start the rock and mud work.

So, I'm off tomorrow by bike to face the stinky render mix.  Wish me luck.