Brita Lavada – An eco-efficient decorative mortar from Madeira Island

Brita lavada (washed gravel, in direct translation) is a decorative coating technology with a mortar based on cement, local Madeira basalt gravel and black pigment, currently used for masonry rendering on 20th-21st century Madeiran built heritage simulating stone masonry or cladding. Comparison of Brita Lavada and other cement based coating mortars was made regarding physical behaviour. The Brita Lavada shows high mechanical strength, acceptable water absorption and good water vapour permeability, what can justify its good durability on site and continuous application. The previous justify the interest on preserving the technology and is an example of optimised used of a local material, in the case a very hard basalt, with no possibility to be used for stonework, as a specific resource for a traditional, durable, eco-efficient decorative coating

Influence of different types of solvent on the effectiveness of nanolime treatments on highly porous mortar substrates

Historic calcareous structures suffer from weathering processes that result in the loss of some of their original properties. Nanolime products represent an attractive choice for the consolidation of these substrates containing calcite due to their high chemical compatibility with the original structure. The effectiveness of nanolime products has been widely proven for superficial consolidation treatments (e.g. plasters and wall-paintings). However, its consolidation mechanism in highly porous substrates (e.g. limestones or lime mortars) still needs to be fully understood. The aim of this paper is to study the influence of different types of solvent on the effectiveness of nanolime treatments on highly porous lime-mortars. The consolidation effectiveness is investigated by evaluating changes on superficial cohesion, porosity, drilling resistance, water absorption by capillarity, drying rate and aesthetic properties. Results showed that nanolime dispersed in a mixture of isopropanol (50%) and water (50%) yielded slightly better consolidation properties in terms of reduction in porosity, increase in strength and penetration within coarse lime-mortars than nanolime dispersed in other solvents