Tadelakt from Morocco, is a water resistant lime plaster, originally thought to be used as a waterproofing material for earthen cisterns for the hygienic storage of drinking water. It appears as the traditional coating on the palaces, hammers, (Turkish baths), and bathrooms of the riads, (traditional Moroccan house with an interior garden).

Its traditional application includes being polished with a river stone and treated with a soft olive oil soap to acquire its final appearance and water resistance. It has a luxurious, soft aspect with slight undulations due to the work of polishing with the river stone.

Now a days tadelakt is applied to any room in the house but the waterproof finish is practically suited to decorate bathrooms, shower cubicles, wet/steam rooms, counter tops etc. It is also used in other areas which would not require waterproof finish such as walls, columns, and more.

Here at DJJ, we use Kreidezeit tadelakt, which is made from a traditional Moroccan formula. It is supplied as a white powder which is mixed with natural earth pigments to achieve the required choice of colour, (a choice of over 50 colours are available). Being a natural lime plaster it will not discolour and is mould resistant.

Application Technique.

As with marble plastering, prior to work all areas must be flat and true, damp free without any bumps, cracks, dips and holes.

Then a base coat is applied and allowed to dry out to improve bonding to the prepared surface.

Next the first coat of tadelakt is applied a covering of approx 2mm thick. This, like normal plaster is allowed to dry slightly before the top coat is laid on. The top coat is applied with a smaller fine trowel and worked to achieve the desired effect. And again left to dry.

In wet room areas, such as bath, shower cubicles, steam rooms etc, a soft olive oil soap is applied to the plaster with a soft brush and lightly troweled over. After a short setting time the surface is polished and rubbed in, using a small river stone, this can take several applications to insure the soap has penetrated the plaster, chemically this process creates an insoluble lime-soap by the reaction of the polishing soap with the lime in the surface. Alternatively a black Moroccan soap can be used which will give a slightly darker sheen. In other rooms a Carnauba wax emulsion is used and applied thinly with a soft cloth and polished after drying in the same fashion.