About traditional mortar (lime mortar – European stucco, in Canada and USA)

Traditional mortar (lime mortar) has become one of today's most fashionable wall finishes.

Traditional mortar (lime mortar) is a building material used since before Roman times. The most used traditional construction method in the Mediterranean area, mortar, a mixture of lime and sand, has been used for centuries for wall finishing. Renaissance artists were the first to use this durable wall finishing material for wall decoration - they used coloured mortars not only to protect the wall, but also to make it more beautiful. This is how the traditional mural art technique called Sgraffito appeared. There are numerous Sgraffito murals in Europe, especially in the Mediterranean area and in Central Europe.

Sgraffito means coloured layers of lime mortar carved (scraped through) based on a prepared design.

Modern mortar (sand, lime, and white cement) is even more resistant and it is usually called, in Canada and USA, European Stucco or Real stucco. Other terms used for traditional mortar are: lime stucco, old stucco, traditional stucco, and conventional stucco.

Stucco as Art specializes in quality wall decorations in coloured lime mortar for residential and commercial architectures, for both the exterior and the interior: decorative mortar finishes, decorative mortar art panels, and mortar based mural art (including trompe l'oeil).

Lime mortars (traditional mortar) consist only of natural ingredients (sand, lime, white cement and pigments). We at Stucco as Art prepare the material right from ingredients; we even create the colors we need from a handful of basic-color pigments. By not using pre-prepared or pre-packaged material, we retain absolute control over the quality of the material we use, as well as complete freedom in terms of colors and textures.

In our mortar technique, there are no limitations to the number of strata, the way they are laid out, their texture or mixture of textures, the colors or shades, or to the design possibilities. We can use lime mortar as a decorative wall finish, in unexpected and exquisite colors and textures (but always in a controlled and repeatable way), and we can use lime mortar to create art - from decorative panels to large-scale mural art.

Traditional mortar (lime mortar) is like a natural skin for the wall, which can "breathe" through it: because it is porous and not waterproof, even if it absorbs moisture, lime mortar dries easily, without damage to the structure. Because of its ingredients, traditional mortar is fire retardant. And best of all, traditional mortar is abrasion-resistant and very difficult to damage.

Traditional mortar (lime mortar / can be applied on virtually any surface: cement, brick, drywall, plywood, wood, etc.

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