Back To Base Round Two

So my hip was sore so I thought that it would be better to work on the base rather than the chimney today. For the record, I'm still not sure if this was the best idea given how I felt that night and the next morning. So I began by mixing up some plaster mix. I used the same 2 buckets of sifted sand and 1 and 1/2 buckets of sifted clay earth. I did make the mix a little thin so it would be easier to spread and smooth out. About the consistency of soft icing I would say.

You'll notice that I added more grout to the counter. I noticed that when I had scraped the excess grout off last there were some holes and unevenness to it. So I added the grout and let it sit while I started working on the second layer plaster on the base. You'll also notice that I didn't start right at the corner. I did this because I needed to build up the corners and it gave me a ledge to tie into for the corners. My plan was to go all the way around the base then work on the corners. 

I took a break after I finished this section to clean up the grout. I then used some slip again to smooth out the grout. I also wanted let you know that if you're using glazed tiles you can just let the slip dry an buff it off with a dry rag and a damp sponge. 

Also if you look at the above picture you'll notice that I worked the plaster much smoother than we did on the first layer. I didn't get out all the bumps and dips but, that's part of the traditional stucco / plastered look.

You can see that I worked the plaster all the way around but, there are gaps on the corners. I had to build up the corners to much to be able to fill them in. I let the plaster set overnight and I'll finish the corners tomorrow.

I had to apply the plaster from the bottom up then from the top down. After that I did try and work the plaster in different directions so I didn't have all these vertical lines. I think it helped the texture look more authentic to the adobe style.