We had a client who is hypersensitive to VOCs (in progress)
Updated: Aug 31
This project dates back to March 2025. We had a client who called in and started talking about her condition and that she was suffering from mold issues, but she could not use all that anti-mold paint, etc., due to VOCs and whatnot. So she is kind of stuck in a situation where only the traditional material with zero VOC will work. She had been searching for someone who could do natural lime for years until she called us. I can tell you that she got super excited when I started to talk about soaps and tadelakt, etc.
Anyway, I did ask her if it was just about the mold, about staying in another place then? And she started talking about how even high-end hotels will make her go crazy due to the residual VOCs present.
Fast forward to 10 March 2025, where i paid a visit to her house.
The house doesn't look like a house. Like, come on, I have never seen a house with the door gaps and windows sealed with duct tape and the false ceiling removed. Suddenly, it doesn't feel like a business but a responsibility. With the lime that we have, I'm pretty sure we can make a meaningful impact on her life. Mind you, there are no applicators for true limewashes or true lime plasters in Singapore at that time, and still now.
Fast forward to Aug 2025,
we started phase 1 of the project, which was just to do the living room walls and ceiling + toilet ceiling.
Remember, no acrylics were to be used, nor any thing with the slightest bit of VOC.
We started removing the peeling milk paint and patching things with putty (another zero VOC product), and then we got to the limewash itself. There was a lot of R&D done in our office before we got a working version of a VOC-free one. The truth is, if it weren't for this client, we wouldn't have bothered making one. I mean, it's so much more convenient to just use a ready-made one. But they all have some form of VOC, and it wouldn't work for her. And we can't lie about it either; she will know. Her body will react to it.
Patching and basecoat
We did like 3 basecoats to serve as an absorbent base for the subsequent limewash topcoats.
Topcoat
Here is how it looks just after the topcoat. It will look very patchy but we know that with lime, 80% of the colour will be lost as it dries.
The next video will show you how it looks like once everything dried up nicely.
Fast Forward to July 2026
Time flies and its ready for phase 2, which is the remaining 2 bedroom walls,ceiling and floors, and also 2 feature walls in green.
Here comes the real challenge: to do a lime screed floor. The client had removed her existing parquet because it was rotting, and she didn't want to put tiles or parquet again because of the VOCs involved during installation. I mean, we are used to doing walls and ceilings but never a floor. A floor means no room for mistakes, and it has to be strong enough. And the floor for her, in lime, will age and stain in the future. A lime floor is porous and breathable, and it will take months or years to reach its maximum hardness from the carbonation process. It is completely different from cement, which cures fast and has high hardness.
Lets get to work.
We made a very simple lime mortar using 1 part NHL5 to 4 parts sand. We misted the cement on the floor, and then applied about 20-40mm of lime screed on it. We level with the use of an aluminium screeding bar. As this was the levelling coat, we had to use big sands.
The next step would be similar to this, but using medium to fine sands. Also the next step would have 3 layers involved, 2 coats of lime screed with medium sized sands and then to close it with the same limewash that was used for the walls, to impart the color.
Now thats a floor that is unique! In our current modern day,you cant find this kind of floors anymore.
Now lets wait for the client to return and I will update on her. We believe that the whole works done would have a positive impact on her general living and her health conditions.
-To be continued-
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