We plaster our walls: Valuing a heritage technology

"Spanish-American girl with handful of adobe plaster, Chamisal, New Mexico."
Russell Lee (Library of Congress)

(Santa Fe New Mexican) ... Inside walls are plastered not too differently than the outside, on which modern plaster pros (this used to be done by women pros called enjarradoras) apply successive scratch, brown, and finish coats. “You need to build it out in multiple layers, getting to a more and more refined finish as you go,” Giorgetti said. “The actual mix gets more refined as well. If you’re using a traditional earthen plaster, maybe that first coat is with straw straight out of the bale, long strands of straw; then for the subsequent layers you’re running it through a screen to break it down into fine fibers. Continued