Grouts for renders on adobe walls

Abstract eng:
In the centre and south of Portugal construction of buildings with earth was frequent until the mid-20th Century. Rammed earth was the most common type of construction in the south, but the execution of buildings with adobe bricks was practiced throughout a vast area in the centre of the country, extending from the region of Aveiro southwards to Figueira da Foz. Due to the lack of stone and other construction materials, adobe was used in various kinds of buildings, from traditional rural houses to ornate buildings in the city centres with an Art Noveau style. Degradation has affected many of these buildings and this is especially evident in terms of the renders as they are the exposed external element and extremely prone to the action of water. Intervention in these buildings may be undertaken with a focus on conservation of the existent legacy, encompassing the preservation of renders, whenever possible. For this purpose, and taking into account the composition of renders and substrates, grouts were designed for use in situations of buildings built with adobe. Air lime (CL90) and natural hydraulic lime (NHL3,5) were used as binders and local clay and metakaolin were used as additives. Various admixtures were also tested. Testing procedures encompassed the analysis of shrinkage and cracking and the determination of mechanical and physical properties. A set of air lime and hydraulic lime grouts with metakaolin, clay and/or other additives, which performed best in previous tests, was tried on adobe walls with render detachment and evaluated in terms of application efficiency. This work enabled the evaluation of the effect of clays and metakaolin in grouts. Results also revealed some possibilities of grout design for renders on adobe walls.

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