Ceiling tiles containing cement have a lot of disadvantages. Reynchemie is one of the few suppliers which therefore produces whitewash without cement. Discover in this article all about the use of cement-free whitewash.

What is balding?

Liming is a centuries-old technique whereby a lime mortar is applied to the wall with a block brush. The lime mortar, in an off-white colour or mass-coloured pigmentation, retains the structure of the masonry but protects the substrate from weathering and is perfectly vapour permeable.

Clay gives a house, outbuilding, garden wall, etc. a very nice decorative finish and is also very durable. a very beautiful decorative finish and is also very durable.

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For new buildings as well as restoration and renovation

Clay painting is a perfect technique for giving your existing home or building a completely new look. It is especially popular for restoration works, valuable monuments such as country estates, rustic projects and exclusive villas, but is also entirely appropriate for modern, sleek buildings.

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Benefits of kalei for your wall

By finishing a facade with lime mortar, it will be well protected and resistant to all kinds of weather conditions such as rain, wind, snow and hail.

Baldies can smooth away uneven or damaged stones in the façade, while perfectly preserving the façade structure.

A kaleidoscopic façade is also an aesthetic success. Thanks to calazes, you can create a characteristic, charming façade with an authentic, rural touch.

The natural clay can be finished with lime, siloxane or silicate paint, whereby many colours are possible.

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The many advantages of lime-based kalei

The use of natural hydraulic lime NHL 3.5 in our RC Lime offers a number of important technical advantages:

The main advantage is vapour permeability: the lime in kalei provides excellent "breathing" capacity, allowing moisture and salts to migrate easily through the wall to the outside without further problems. Since the underlying moisture migrates and evaporates easily, mosses will never be able to get a foothold. Lime also provides a moss-killing effect.

In addition, cement-free whitewash has a self-healing character and retains a certain elasticity, thus avoiding shrinkage cracks.

Since lime, unlike cement, does not repel water immediately, the typical cloud effect is achieved in rainy weather due to the difference in colour between the dry and wet sections of the wall.

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The disadvantages of cement-based kalei

Many caleis systems are made on the basis of aerated lime or NHL 2 lime to which cement is added to achieve sufficient curing.

Such cement-bound kalei systems are absolutely inadvisable on old masonry; they are less durable and the risk of cracking and salt efflorescence is high. The cement makes the kalei less vapour permeable, which disrupts the building's water balance.

In concrete terms, the use of cement in kalei results in reduced vapour permeability, a higher risk of shrinkage cracks, no elasticity, sensitivity to salts and no moss-killing or self-healing properties.

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Applying kaleidoscope or "kaleien".

Clay may only be applied to an open, sound, dust-free and unpainted mineral substrate. Loose or old plaster or paint layers must be removed. For this purpose RC Decap 1 is recommended. Organic and atmospheric contamination can easily be removed with a product such as our universal green cleaner. RC OS 2.

Moisture problems, such as rising damp and seeping damp, must be solved first and in good time. Rising damp should be treated with RC Drygel 80.

RC Lime must always be applied to a moist substrate. We always recommend 2 layers of 2 to 3 mm each. In layers that are applied too thickly, cracks may appear; however, these can be smoothed over with the second layer. Lime can be applied manually, strip by strip, with a block brush, or mechanically with a worm pump. When applying mechanically, a final finish must be made with a moist block brush in order to obtain the desired stripe effect. More detailed instructions for use of RC Kalei can be found on our technical data sheet.

About 30 m² of kalei can be applied by hand per day. By using a worm pump, up to 150 m² of kalei can be applied per day.

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Colours

Besides the natural colour (off-white),RC Calei by Reynchemie is also available in 29 other colours. Please consult our colour chart. As a standard, pigment is supplied separately and is added to the mixing pot when making the kaleimortel.

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Finishing options

Afterwards, it is also perfectly possible to apply a protection. The bare wall can be treated with a hydrophobic cream(RC Hydrocream 4), hydrofuge(RC 805 ECO) or an impregnating agent/anti-graffiti(RC 809 AG). Post-treatment with these products can further protect your façade without reducing its vapour permeability.

An additional finishing layer can be painted with siloxane paint(RC Siloxcoat), lime paint(RC Calco) or silicate paint(RC Silica Paint). The combination of RC Kalei with finishing coat RC Siloxcoat is a very popular system and also has further advantages such as dirt-repellent properties, which prevent sprouting as much as possible.

Finally, it is recommended to treat a skirting board at the bottom (~1m) with RC Siloxcoat or RC Roofacryl. These paints offer optimal protection against splashing water.