Venetian Plaster & Tadelakt
Polished Plaster in a Dining Room and Entry
Two rooms in hand-applied lime plaster, sampled on site over four days because the finish reads completely differently under Portland's light.
- Location
- Beaumont, Portland, OR
- Duration
- 2 weeks on site · 2026
- Service
- Venetian Plaster & Tadelakt
Scope of work
- Substrate levelling and priming
- Sample boards left in the rooms for four days
- Marmorino in the dining room
- Burnished venetian plaster in the entry
- Sealing appropriate to each room's use
The brief
The owners had seen polished plaster in a hotel in Lisbon and wanted it in two rooms. They were, sensibly, nervous about committing to something they had only seen under Mediterranean sun.
What we found
The dining room walls had a light orange-peel texture under three coats of paint. Polished plaster is applied thin, so anything underneath telegraphs through it — that texture had to come off entirely before we could start.
The entry had been patched at some point with a compound that took primer differently to the surrounding wall, which would have shown as a suction difference in the finish.
What we did
Preparation took longer than the plaster. Both rooms were levelled, primed, and brought to consistent suction before any lime went on.
We made four sample boards and left them in the rooms across a weekend. The colour they chose on day one was not the colour they chose on day four, which is exactly why we do this.
Dining room in marmorino with a soft sheen; entry burnished harder, since it takes more contact.
The result
Walls that change through the day rather than sitting flat. Two weeks on site, most of it preparation, and no way to have got here with paint.
More work
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Tell us what you're planning
We'll walk the site, look at what's actually there, and give you a fixed written price. No pressure, and no charge for the visit.
Oregon CCB #000000 · Washington L&I NWCRAFT000AA · Bonded & insured