Lime ash is commonly used in flooring.
When redoing or constructing flooring, people have many different types of surfaces to use, from tile and carpeting to linoleum. Lime ash is a little known material used to create floors. Builders used lime ash for flooring for more than 600 years because of its durability and resistance to settling and thermal expansion.
Creation
Lime ash is a mixture of lime waste from a kiln and wood ash or gypsum, creating an early form of building materials similar to concrete. When dried, it creates a hardened and resilient compound that is still used today in some buildings. It is popular because of its relatively low cost and strength.
History
People used lime in building for more than 4,000 years, but lime ash first became popular around the 15th century in Europe and was regularly used until the 19th century. While it lost its popularity with the creation of modern building materials, builders still use it occasionally due to its unique properties.
Benefits
Lime ash's primary benefit is its flexibility under stress. While other building materials easily crack while settling or due to temperature changes, lime ash withstands these common problems. The benefits vary depending on the concentrations of lime and gypsum or wood ash. Some floors are made with high concentrations of lime, while others only have 25-percent lime concentration.
Lime Ash Disadvantages
Lime ash floors require regular maintenance and upkeep or else they may deteriorate. If cracks occur, they should be fixed quickly to keep them from spreading. While builders don't commonly use lime ash, there are similar building materials that can match the look and feel of a traditional lime ash floor. Many lime ash floors created more than a century ago are still used today and lime ash is still necessary to maintain these historic buildings.
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