Day 451: Lime screed complete

The rest of the lime screed was completed today.

Day 444 - Screed aftercare

The weather was very hot and sunny yesterday (33 degrees).  To prevent the screed from drying out too fast we will hose the slab down for about 3 days.

Day 443 - Laying the lime screed part 1

The first bay of screed is complete after about 1/2 day.

A piece of timber is used to form a temporary edge to screed up to, where there will be a movement joint in the screed.

The scaffold pole removed and screed being filled in.

The screed progressing...

Leveling out the piles...

The mix is laid very dry.

Loading up with the screed - mixed by the big green limecrete machine!

Scaffold poles are set level with the top of the finished screed, these will be used as a level.

The Limecrete Company are back today to start laying the lime screed.  First step is wetting down the limecrete slab.

The Limecrete Company kindly bought us some samples of their polished lime screeds today to have a look at.  The aggregates vary and include some recycled materials and by-products of other industries, which together with the sand, produce very different effects.

Day 63 - Limecrete slab revealed

The limecrete slab revealed!  Looking good - no cracks at all.

All trimmed.

We removed the geotextile membrane coving the slab, ahead of the next phase of masonry on Tuesday.  We also cut back the excess geotextile around the slab.

Day 53 - Watering the slab

As the temperature is over 15 degrees, we need to take care that the slab does not dry out too fast.  We have kept it covered with the geotextile membrane, which we wet down a minimum of 3 times a day.  The geotextile retains the moisture, and helps to keep the slab cool.  Being white, it also helps reflect some of the sunlight.  We will do this for about 1 week - 10 days.

Day 52 - Limecrete slab (part 2)

Limecrete slab from start to finish.

The last barrow being tipped!  Done by midday again!

Around pipes, where it was not possible to get the hand tamp, floats were used to level the slab.

...then levelled by dragging the hand tamp from side to side.  The limecrete was not tamped as you would with a concrete slab.  With a concrete slab this would bring the water to the surface, however with limecrete the reverse happens and it would bring the lightweight aggregate to the surface.  Tamping would also make the slab too dense which would inhibit its breathability.