Pastellone Floor

Natural Marmorino for floors

Pastellone plaster retains the aesthetics of the traditional Venetian Marmorino for floors while adding the durability that modern-day living demands.

Pastellone floor is suitable for use in areas where you want natural building materials and simple lines. In fact, this floor plaster is ideal for a minimalist environment because of its smooth, continuous surface.

Additionally to floors, Pastellone plaster can also be applied to furniture and vertical walls.

Interiors

Pastellone, Marmorino for seamless floors, can only be used indoors. Click to know more about the uses, application and protection of Pastellone.

Ecofriendly

Pastellone is natural lime-based and a 100% natural version is available, excluding all chemicals. Click to read more about our eco-friendly products.

Sandy color Pastellone in a living-room floor

Discover Pastellone Plaster

Overview

Pastellone plaster: an antique recipe

The recipe for our Marmorino for floors follows that of the original “Pastellone Veneziano”. Pastellone was, in fact, the application of Classic Venetian Marmorino onto floors. Examples can be found in Venice and throughout the Veneto Region. Starting with this antique tradition, we have combined an application technique with new materials to achieve an excellent compromise. Moreover, our Pastellone plaster is made harder by using Hydraulic Lime and acrylic binders. This solution retains the aesthetics of antique Marmorino while adding the durability that modern-day living demands.

Our Pastellone comes in two base versions: Grey and White. Both can be colored in any color.

Look

Pastellone floor has a smooth, lightly polished finish. The final effect depends on the application technique and on the protective treatment. Linseed oil gives it the most natural appearance. A polyurethane varnish can give the surface a harder, more durable satin or glossy finish which is more difficult to scratch; however, the presence of varnish may look unnatural to the trained eye.

Uses

Pastellone floor is suitable for use in areas where you want natural materials and simple lines. It’s ideal for a minimalist environment because of its smooth, uninterrupted continuity. This natural Marmorino for floors is suitable for any area: bathrooms, kitchens, stairs, hallways, or bedrooms. It can also be applied inside showers, in saunas, to worktops and furniture. Care must be taken to avoid damage as for any other floors made of wood, tile, or soft stone. It has a naturally non-slip surface, but special anti-slip treatments are possible. Cleaning is extremely easy.

Color Pastellone naturally with Terre

Pastellone can be colored in two ways, that can also be combined. The first technique is to use common color pigments. The second technique is the most ancient. Fine and soft stone grains of different colors and sizes (Terre, soils) are mixed with the material to convey a natural tone to the finish. Contrarily to pigments, the thicker Terre grains reflect the light in multiple directions, donating to the finish a tridimensional feel and a major depth.

Use decorative additives for special effects

Several types of additives can be mixed with the Pastellone material to create special finishes. The most used are the Salt & Pepper additive (Quartz sands) and the Terracotta additive (cocciopesto). Tiny dots will stud the final finish increasing its decorative contribution.

Biological

A 100% natural version of Pastellone plaster is also available. This Biological Version maintains the ease of application and esthetical beauty of the original while excluding all chemicals in favor of vegetable starches and cellulose, milk derivatives, and, for the powder version, pozzolanic agents.
Furthermore, our Pastellone floor contributes to the achievement of a Green Leed Certificate, as it is made with recycled material for 29% of its weight.

Technical

Packaging

Pastellone (both the Normal and Ecologic versions) comes in powder form, in buckets of 16 kg.

Yield

16 kg (1 bucket) = 10,5 m²

Color

We supply Pastellone plaster in two color versions: Natural Cement Gray, suitable for darker colors; and White, recommended for lighter colors. Both can be tinted to any color using dyes that are compatible with lime.

Composition

Pastellone plaster comes in two granulometry sizes: Medium and Fine.

The material with coarser grains (the “Medium”) is applied in the first and second coats and the one with finer particles is applied in the third coat. However, some people prefer to apply the “Medium” Pastellone in the first coat only and the “Fine” in the second and the third coats.

Pastellone plaster is composed of finely filtered natural hydraulic lime, grains of marble (special powdered marble granules sifted and selected according to granule size of 0,0 to 0,8 mm = 0.0 – 0.030 inch) for the first coat and, 0,0 to 0,5 mm. (0,0 to 0.17 inches) for the second and last coat. Additives can also be added to obtain a Pastellone floor with special effects (no more than 0,6 % total in volume).

Substrate and uses

The ideal substrate for the Pastellone floor is a plaster made of sand and cement. However, following some precautions, it can be applied to any surface, such as concrete or existing ceramic tiles or marble flooring. It can be applied to plasters over a flooring heating system. Pastellone floor is not recommended in public areas or places where there is a lot of traffic. It is a finish with a surface hardness that can be compared to that of natural hardwood floors. It is therefore indicated for use in private areas which won’t be subject to heavy use.

Application of Pastellone floor

Note: These instructions refer to the application on an ideal substrate: a plaster made of cement and sand.

A water-based primer, like our “Normal Primer”, is applied with a roller on a substrate free of dirt and grease.

If you have pre-colored material already in your warehouse, use this for all three coats. Instead, if you have white material, use this for the first coat in order to simplify preparation, and to save on time and pigments.

Remember that Marmorino for floors/Pastellone, comes in two sizes: Medium for the first coat and Fine for the second and third coats.

Mix the material (medium Size) with water to make the mixture dense enough to be applied easily with a metal trowel ( about 4,8 liter for 16 kg tub of Medium Pastellone and a little more for the Fine size). Spread the first coat of Pastellone plaster evenly over the entire surface, finishing, obviously, at the doorway. You will need approximately 630 gr of material per 1 square meter. Let the first coat dry until the next day.

If you have colored material already in your warehouse, it will be much simpler to apply the second and third coats. If you have to add color to the material there are three possibilities:

Color the material with powder colorants before adding the water. You have to figure out how much colorant to add to each container first which involves a long process to establish how much colorant is needed to obtain the color you want.
Color the white material after you have mixed it with water. You still have to do color tests beforehand to be sure of the exact weight of liquid colorant you will use. You can prepare toners ready to be mixed or get them from Stucco Italiano.
Tint all the water that will be used in the tinting process, but be careful to shake it before use since the heavier pigments deposit on the bottom.
Solutions 2 and 3 are more practical. In all the cases, the colorant must be one that is resistant to the alkaline in the cement.

Mix up enough Pastellone material for the second coat (0,7 kg. of powder per square meter) and, using a metal trowel, start applying it. Have a clear plan of how you are going to apply it in 40-50 cm strips. Always begin from the farthest point from the door. Be careful to apply it uniformly and smoothly.

After you finish applying the second coat of Pastellone plaster, you’ll have time to prepare the material for the third coat. Remember to use Pastellone Fine for this coat. Note that the third coat can be applied with the same material of the second coat, if you have used Pastellone fine for it. It is difficult to say how long you should wait before applying the third coat, because it depends on the air temperature and humidity. In general, the right moment to start the application of the thirs coat of Pastellone floor is when you can comfortably step on the second coat. This could be after 25 minutes or up to an hour from the end of the application of the second coat. It is recommended to go barefoot or wear socks that won’t leave their imprint on the material.

Apply the third coat of Pastellone plaster with the metal trowel as you would apply a normal Marmorino for walls, but without pressing too much. In fact, you will have to polish it anyway the following day with sandpaper. But if you want to obtain a smoother finish at this stage, you can complete the whole floor and then, when you can step on it, come back using a spray bottle with water and, working in small areas, spray the water on the surface and make it smooth using both a metal trowel and a plastic trowel. The metal trowel, on very light colors, can leave dark marks like it does when you scrape metal over cement. Because of this, you can use the plastic trowel to smooth out the marks. You will notice that on a floor, you don’t need to finish it as smooth and polished as you would on a wall. Besides it’s not possible to return to polish it after 10 or 15 minutes, as you do on a wall.

BE CAREFUL NOT TO LEAVE DROPS OR EXCESS OF WATER ON THE FLOOR OR THEY WILL MAKE LIGHTER MARKS!

The day after the Pastellone floor can be sanded with a sanding machine. The sanding must be done the day after the application before the coating becomes too hard to be sanded. This treatment is done to make the surface smoother and to increase the stroke movements. A P80 or P100 paper can be used. The sandpaper cannot scratch the Pastellone floor surface since this is very hard. It just polishes it.

NOTE: the easiest and fastes way to make a Pastellone floor requires the use of a sanding machine with disks of metallic mesh. Apply the last coat without pressing too much, just having the care to make the floor quite even. Then, the day after, sand all the surface with a sanding machine with a P100 metallic mesh. Sanding with the metallic mesh disk helps to make the surface smooth also if the last coat was not very uniform. This way of application reduces the time of work and gives a more even Pastellone floor finish.

If you want to have more stroke and chiaroscuro movements, you can apply one or more layers of a colored solution: prepare our primer diluted 1:15 with water. Tint it in the needed tone and, after making a proper test, apply this solution all over the floor using sponges, or better normal cloths. In this way, where you leave more tinted solution you get darker “shadows of color”. Please, be careful to make tests before tinting the floor. Note also that usually, one single layer of tinted solution is not enough. To get a harmonious effect on your Pastellone floor, you have to apply two or more layers of tinted primer.

Create an environment with the right humidity because the slower the material dries, the stronger it becomes. The Pastellone floor shouldn’t be walked on for several hours and in any case, it should be protected until you apply the final protection. Without the final protection, the Pastellone floor can be easily stained.

For further Floor Tricks of the trade, please see the technical datasheet.

How to apply Pastellone over existing Ceramic Tiles

1. Your ceramic tiles floor must be cleaned very well, and all the possible silicon scraps must be removed. It should be dust and grease-free. It is not necessary to sand the tiles.
2. If the ceramic tiles were not placed with care, and some of them are more in relief than others, you should sand out all the evident relief. In other words, the surface should be even.
3. Apply a fibrous plaster with extreme adhesion capacity, and that doesn’t shrink when it dries off (such as our GLP Gap Levelling Plaster), inside the gaps between the tiles, in order to level out the surface.
4. When it is dry, apply a hand of GLP all over the surface, and let it dry completely (it normally takes 3 to 6 hours). It must be completely dry.
5. Apply Pastellone normally.

If the ceramic tiles floor presents cracks, you should apply a mesh over the floor, as described in this article (see II. How to fix cracks in a tiled floor).

Final protection treatment for Pastellone floor

After 2-4 days from the application (the longer, the better), you can apply the final treatment, which can be done in two different ways:

With the application of a single or dual component polyurethane varnish for which we can give you application instructions. This is usually applied with a roller. It could be preceded by a waterproofing and stabilizing treatment, a pre-sealer made with our Primer Normal diluted 1:14 with pure water, and applied in two coats. This treatment makes the application of the varnish easier and reduces the absorbency of the floor. After that, you can apply two coats of Floor Wax, choosing your favorite finish: Matt, Satine or Glossy.
With our Vegetable Oils Blend. Pour it on the Pastellone floor and spread it with a soft, absorbent cloth. This has to be done two more times, allowing each coat to dry for at least 12 hours. Note that to use Vegetable Oils Blend your floor has to be very dry since the presence of water could cause modification of the oil, which shows as white marks on the floor.

For further Floor Tricks of the trade, please see the technical datasheet.

Suggestions

If you are working on a new concrete substrate, be sure that it is at least a month old and that it is completely dry before applying Pastellone plaster. It’s possible for cracks to appear in new concrete screeds the first 2-3 weeks after laying the concrete.
During the application, the Marmorino for floors can be directly poured from the bucket onto the floor and then spread with a trowel.
During the application of Pastellone plaster, it is useful to have a light source close to and parallel to the floor. Be careful, however, that this doesn’t dry out the material too much before applying the third coat.
Marmorino for floors can also be used to cover concrete bathtubs and shower walls. Naturally, they would have to be treated with good waterproofing or with our P.U. varnish.
Before the final treatment of the Pastellone floor, small imperfections can be removed using sandpaper.
Keep in mind, when preparing the color, that the Pastellone surface darkens considerably after applying the oil, an effect that we call “wet look”.
Your customer should know that dropping heavy objects on the Pastellone floor can cause small dents, exactly as it happens with wood flooring.
It is possible to do touch-ups when necessary. To do this, we advise keeping some of the powdered colored material in a well-sealed container. Use a container that is just big enough so the material is exposed to little air. Doing this should allow you to keep the material ready to use for many years.
If the substrate is cracked, before application you must make sure that the cracks are due to the curing process of the screed, and not settlement movements. If the latter is the case, your customer should be advised that they will be responsible for any reappearance of cracks. If you wish, the application of a mesh fixed to the substrate using the Marmorino for Floors gives a great result against cracks. Read our post on how to fix structural cracks to learn how to do this.
If you have to apply Pastellone plaster in two adjacent rooms, it is advisable to create a natural joint at the doorway level. You can’t, in fact, work in 2 or 3 rooms at a time without having breaks. One way to deal with this is to put a strip of metal (aluminum, steel, or brass) fixed with epoxy resin, into the concrete substrate, which will act as a divider. This strip of metal should rise above the surface of the concrete 1.5 – 2 mm. (the eventual thickness of your Marmorino for floors coating, so that just the top of the strip will remain visible).

Related Accessories

Unlimited additives and effects

Pastellone plaster – traditional

It is thanks to the elaborate workmanship that in Traditional Marmorino for Floors the play of dark and light tones is very visible and gives depth.

Pastellone naturally colored with Terre

Pastellone Plaster – Salt & Pepper Sand

Hundreds of black dots per sq. meter contribute to the movement and decorative beauty of this finish. See the Salt & Pepper Sand additive.

Pastellone – Terracotta granules

The traditional insert for the Venetian Marmorino for floors is terracotta granules. these were originally produced by recycling roof tiles. See the Terracotta powder additive.