The road to Villafranco di Verona part 1

I titled this post The road to Villafrano di Verona as a take off on Eric Clampton's CD Road to Escondido. I live in Escondido, Ca.

Italian Plasterworks took over the California School of Italian Plasters almost 3 years ago. As we went through 3 months of training to become Safra trainers under Doyle Self almost 5 years ago, it was very exciting to see this come into fruition. It's really been a wonderful experience for me. I am not a faux finisher per say, nor am I a painting contractor. I only apply hand troweled finishes. Since I exclusively focus on Venetian Plasters (I am keeping the nomenclature simple in this one) I am comfortable billing myself as THE SELF APPOINTED QUEEN OF VENETIAN PLASTER WEST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. There is another queen on the east side of the Mississippi, Deb Campbell of Wallartistry. Our two schools California School of Italian Plasters and Midwest School of Italian Plasters are the only two places in the US and Canada in which to take the 5 day instensive Safra certification course.

So on Monday, the 10th of May, Deb and I are headed to the Safra factory in Villafranco di Verona to discuss best practices not only for being Safra instructors but resellers as well.

Given that this is a very important trip professionally, this last week I've been very concerned with shoes of course. Oh and the outfits that go along with them. This recession has not been kind to most fine wall finish businesses, Italian Plasterworks is no exception. Back in the day I was getting at least one call for our services everyday, going on probably 4 sales calls a week and closing one job per week. We were constantly busy. Then one day I awoke and my sales pipeline went "poof" as in disappeared before my eyes. Basically one out of every 4 jobs lined up cancelled. I received one call for plaster inquiry per week instead of 10. Southern California seemed to be hit first so it took me a few weeks to connect the news of the mortgage crisis to the slow down in the business. Usually, in an economic downturn, stocks of home improvement stores like Lowes Home Depot go up. It was when those stock started dropping, I knew that Italian Plasterworks was in for a long haul. That was 2007.

Now its almost summer of 2010 I am still here and have added instruction to my repertoire of services. I've grown to like teaching the 5 day Safra Class more than I like applying plaster. Instructor training with the president of Safra will allow me to be even a better teacher. I will also bring home the latest in design and color trends for my Italian Plasterworks clients.

But where does my mind wander to in the few days leading up to the trip? Shoes. I haven't been to Italy in ages. I want to make the most of the trip, that being have fun in cute shoes. Honing the ancient techniques of Venetian plaster in high heels might be a first in the industry.

If that stupid volcano doens't interrupt my trip, I promise part two will have more meat in it as far as the plaster industry goes. Right now though I am breaking in my new high heels and practicing walking on pave stones in them.

Slip and Slide on the new EPA ruling.

On April 22nd 2010 a new EPA law is going into effect requiring contractors and trade workers to be EPA certified and follow specific work practices for lead containment for all who work on housing and child occupied buildings. We are mainly talking about remodelers, plumbers and painters. Although this doesn't effect Italian Plasterworks directly, the indirect effects will quickly trickle down to everyone in the struggling construction industry.

"A bad economy is not a good excuse to poison children"

- Rebecca Morley, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing

I agree that lead dust can cause the following:

1. Brain Damage
2. Central Nervous System Damage
3. Decreased Attention Span
4. Impaired Hearing Loss
5. Reading and Learning Disabilities
6. Reduced IQ Scores
7. Mental Retardation
8. Seizures, Convulsions and Coma
9. Death from over exposure

Maybe I am old fashioned, but I think its best to keep children away from demolition projects period as there are other hazards (solvents,tool, sharp things) that are just as potentially dangerous.

Yes, the lead situation is something to address but there are many ways to skin a cat. I don't think the EPA did a good job in taking the whole tamale into account when this law was drawn up.

Contractors I've spoken to project costs are going to increase as much as 25%. The National Association of Home Builders believes that on an estimate more than $5000 you are looking at $500 to $1,500 increased in costs. On the other hand, the EPA suggests that it will only be $35. $35 won't cover the new space suit and booties let alone the other materials, including possible lab tests, massive amounts of plastic and extra labor hours required. How many projects will be wiped off the table in this 3rd year of struggle due to this increase? Some, I am sure.

Only 14,000 have taken the one day EPA certification course of 236,000 that need to. Are we going to squeeze in these 212,000 in a week or are the 14,000 trained getting all of the work? Are homeowners going to give the work to those not following the guidlines, leaving those who follow the law at another competitive disadvantage? The fine for not complying can exceed more than $37,000 per day.

Most contractors who have taken the one day course complain that the procedures are not even feasible. For one,the system of collecting dust doesn't work. Secondly, workers have to wear plastic booties and stand on top of plastic sheeting causing a "slip and Slide" effect. "Make sure you keep those plastic booties on while you climb that 20 foot ladder its the law now."

Given that the new safety procedures at this point seem unsafe, I think we could have come up with a better system to keep children away from lead dust during renovations. Perhaps a law could require that contractors must give two quotes, the EPA lead quote and the non-EPA quote. Let the consumer decide the how best to handle the risk.

Bull nose and other metal hazards

High end residential work, whether it be new construction or a remodelis my favorite type of project. Italian Plasterworks was fortunate to win the bid for a massive remodel in Ranch Santa Fe, Ca. The builder is 4X4 Construction and they are an absolute pleasure to work for. I couldn't ask for a better environment or better people. I highly recommend them to any of my San Diego friends and clients.

Being part of the "fine finish" phase, Venetian plaster application often "last in". Therefore I get to see how the last two years of design work, resulting in millions of dollars spent, all come together in fruition. I can like it or not. I can wish I had the same $30,000 stove or not. I can debate in my own mind whether I would choose the same elevator or not even have one at all. I was never able to do this in the software business--all conference rooms and central computing centers all look alike after the second one.

Thousands of square feet of high polished lime plaster is all heading toward the last room left to be done, the master bath from hell. What makes this the master bath from hell is the amount of bull nose in a single room. There is a ton of bull nose in this particular house but the master bath puts it over the edge. I counted nine bull nose trimmed doorways not to mention beams, corners and windows, oh yes and crown moulding to boot.

When we first started the project, I had this idea of doing a youtube video of mastering bull nose instruction for high polished lime plasters. There are a lot of ways to skin a cat, and wrapping Venetian plaster around rounded corners is no exception. Each Italian Plasterworks applicator has his own idea as how best to tackle this, so I bagged the youtube idea as all you would see was a bunch of squabbling and extremely slow production.

We have gotten the process down to where it feels like silk. But, its a very slow detailed process that isn't making the master bath from hell look any easier. I am wondering if I have the fortitude to make it through this bathroom. Pain staking slow detail work doesn't come naturally to me. I am more of a visionary that likes to lunch.

My Holiday Wish

My wish for 2010 is that every architect and designer have the epitome that no wall or ceiling shall go with out a fine wall finish and that they see an abundance of new projects in which to tackle. We then will be too busy and we will have to bring on new apprectices, thus creating new jobs.

May the Italian plaster companies, Safra, Firmolux, Atova, and Firenze have to ship over more containers than planned.

May the doemstic lime plaster companies like Totem and Vasari command the interior finishes for LEED projects.

May the young companies like Tobias Stucco, Vella Plasters, Variance and American Clay far exceed thier business plan projections.

May the Italian Plaster schools like California School of Italian Plasters and Midwest School of Italian Plasters have waiting lists.


Any finally may our clients truly enjoy the luxurious effect of the fine wall finishes they will hire us to create and apply in their homes and businesses.

What is in a name?

Oh the joys of naming your small business. At that time I decided to focus my business on one niche in the decorative finish world (fine plaster finishes {aka Venetian/Italian plaster)the word "green" was just a color and you could only get lime plaster from a distributor who imported if from Italy.

When it came to naming the business, I figured I could go two routes. One, I could use something with my name in it, i.e. Ayn Riggs Studio or Ayn Riggs Wall Finishes. I chose not to go that route for 2 reasons. One is that it might imply that I am a fine artist (which I am not). Secondly, I was afraid I might only appeal to Libertarians (being named after Ayn Rand has its issues). Thus, I chose to go the more industrial route and within minutes the URL www.italianplasterworks.com was registered.

I needed something to differentiate us from the heavy duty lath and plaster cousin, so I thought Italian would do the trick. I have been battling with the word Italian from the beginning.

"I would love a fine finish but our house is French Country."
"My house is contemporary."
"I am Italian but my husband is German."
"My house is Cape Cod."

I've even caught myself getting defensive in the Italian Plasterworks showroom.,"Does wearing a pair of Italian loafers make you a Donatella Versace wanna be? No, it just means you like things of high quality."

I wondered if some of my com padres dealt with similar angst. So, I asked Robin of Verona Walls what he has encountered. His business was first named Classical Plastering. He received too many calls inquiring for drywall work that he changed it to Verona Walls. Its worked out for him much better, although somebody did ask him if he was familiar with Tuscan Style.


John Redmon, a decorative painter in Tucson, has been focusing on fine plasters and is in the process of changing his business name from Southwest Painting and Design to Classical Italian Plastering. I wonder if he is ready for, "My house is Italian but its ultra urban."?

Deb Cambell of Wallartistry in Ohio and Partic Webb of Real Finishes in Florida have really hit the nail on the head with their company names. Perhaps I should go URL shopping again.

What's lime got to do with it?

The purpose of this post is to create a glossary to clear up confusion with some of the buzz words we hear around plaster and lime.

LIMESTONE: is sedimentary rock made up of the mineral calcite in its crystallized form known as calcium carbonate (CACO3). Its found all over the world, not just in Italy.

MARBLE: some limestone has gone through a metamorphosis (recrystallization) and became marble. Pure marble is only made of CACO3 and is white. The beautiful colors that are found in marble are from other minerals (i.e. iron oxide, clay) that were on the limestone when it metamorphosed into marble.

LIME PLASTER: is made through a process of cooking chunks of limestone until it disintegrates into a powder which is called calcium oxide. When water is mixed with calcium oxide it becomes calcium hydroxide also known as slacked lime. Slacked lime can come in powder form or when more water is added it becomes a paste. The paste form is what we call lime plaster.

PLASTER: In general, plaster can be made of gypsum, portalnd cement, lime or combinations there of. Plaster is also called stucco with usually has cement in it.

100% Lime Plaster: Means it is only made up of CACO3. Since marble is also CACO3, marble dust of various size can be mixed in with the paste and still be considered a 100% lime plaster. Lime plaster has been used for 1000's of years all over the world as an exterior or interior finish. When lime plaster is drying on a wall its called carbonating. During this process CO2 is being drawn into the plaster to help turn it back onto stone.

VENETIAN PLASTER: Is a misnomer in the United States causing much confusion for home owners, builders, architects and designers. We see this everyday at Italian Plasterworks. Back in the day, when the grand villas were being built along the canals in Venice, it was popular to use large marble slabs as your wall finish. The villas could not support the weight of the slabs so craftsmen created very fine plasters to emulate the look of a marble slab. The craft of marbleizing was born. Venetian plaster can be more considered a technique but still people haves different ideas as to what that outcome should look like.

ITALIAN PLASTER: Italians have been making lime plasters for hundreds of years. Plasters are used as much as paint in Italy. Due to delicate restoration work done in Italy, Italians have purity laws regarding the ingredients of their plasters thus are considered to make the best plasters in the world. Safra, Firenze and Firmolux are a few of the companies that export their plasters to the US. In the US, you and I could throw paint, lime, and gypsum in a bucket and market it as Venetian Plaster. Some North American companies are entering the market with high quality lime plasters such as Totem Coatings and Vasari.

VENEZIANO: is a term associated with a high polished plaster. Venezianos are made by most plaster malefactors and are very popular. Most Venezianos are not 100% lime as 100% lime plasters are hard to apply with little or no training. So most Venezianos are acrylic based to meet the needs of the contractors. Veneziano Photo

MARMORINO: Means little marble in Italian. Typically, a marmorino plaster does not have the high gloss sheen of a Veneziano but more of a semi-gloss appearance. Marmorino Photo

Benefits of 100% lime plaster: Lime plaster has been "green" since its conception because its just limestone. Even the process of making plaster from limestone is green. Because lime is caustic it resists mold, mildew and bacterias from growing on its surface. Its flexible enough that it doesn't have the cracking problems that plasters and stucco created with cement have. It draws CO2 form the air when its drying and is breathable. Some plasters are labeled "lime based". This can be anywhere from 10% to 99%. A plaster with only 10% is not going to have the same benefits as a 100% plaster.

Drawback of 100% Lime Plaster: The skill of correctly applying lime plaster takes training and practice. Both the California School of Italian Plasters and the Midwest School of Italian Plasters offer a week long program.

FAUX FINISH: Faux just means fake in French. Before fine finish plasters were readily available, artists used paints and glazes to emulate the look of a real plaster. So a wall with a plaster finish isn't a faux finish, its a real finish. But to confuse things, artists use real plasters in such a way to create an old world look which would be a faux old wall.