Jeeeezzzzz.... Quit over-thinking this, and just go to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy the damn bucket and lid already. It'll be tight enough to keep your plaster from going bad. Worked for me over a period of several years.
:
I didn't catch your location, nut if you live in an area that gets snow, you should be able to find CaCl2 pretty cheap, it's often sold as a deicer for driveways & sidewalks.
I have to agree with the other poster who said that no dessicant is necessary, though. I keep small quantities of mortar mix, sakrete, etc. in old, cleaned 5 gal paint or drywall buckets, and haven't seen any go bad for periods of at least a couple-few years. If your just talking about a small box or bag of patching plaster or plaster of paris, you could also just put it in a heavy-duty zip lock bag.
3D 3D in old 5 gal paint containe:Dan_Musicant writes: : :> The pool supply places say they don't carry it ... : :That's odd. It is a necessary ingredient to protect any plaster pool :surface from soft-water etching. Maybe the pool supply places are in the :replastering business, too. : :Another source is concrete suppliers, where it is used as an accelerant. : :I would also ask at an Agway feed store type place. : :Or just the 42 oz DampRid refill at Home Depot. I called HD, but they couldn't find it. Orchard Supply tells me they have calcium chloride in 26 oz. packages for $3.99. I think I may get a couple of those. Cheaper and faster than eBay.
rice is pretty hygroscopic.
On Wed, 30 Aug 2006 14:20:04 -0400, Keith Williams wrote:
:In article , : snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net says... : : : :> Thanks for the post. I cut open the bags last week and put the plasters :> in plastic bags, fairly thick ones mostly. But I got the idea shortly :> thereafter to use some plastic buckets I have. These aren't 5 gallon :> buckets but food service buckets I got from a fast food place. They gave :> them to me free. They had 10 lb. potato salad in them and I got them :> with the tops. I have 13 of them now, and can get an unlimited supply in :> the future for free (I made an arrangement with another source. : :Nice. I buy them at the BORG. Free is better. ;-) : :> I presume they will be air tight, but I think your admonisions are :> advisable - dessicant and testing. I would never have thought of the :> dessicant, and I wouldn't have done the testing without your suggestion. :> However, like you say, it's really important that I not invest time and :> materials into repairs that turn out to be crap. : :Not to mention the work to tear out crap. : :> Great ideas with the old pill bottles. I have a bunch of them, been :> saving them for some good use, and this is sure one. Thanks again. : :It is a good idea. I may have a little grout and thinset to do :this with. : :> PS: Anyone know where I can get calcium chloride in quantity :> economically? Thanks! : :The better sidewalk/driveway ice melter is calcium chloride (read :the container, NaCl isn't a desicant). You should be able to find :it for $12is for a 50lb bag at the BORG or a bit more at a hardware :store. It's also available (for a lot more $$) at grocery stores :in the winter (too soon now :-( ).
What is the BORG? I'm in Berkeley, CA. A Google search on BORG doesn't seem to come up with anything. Is it like Lowe's and Home Depot? Thanks.
We are the Borg. You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.
But what if we don't want to be assimilated?
That is irrelevant. You are irrelevant. You will be assimilated.
:On Thu, 07 Sep 2006 19:56:36 GMT, Dan_Musicant :wrote: : :>On Wed, 06 Sep 2006 20:13:20 -0500, Richard J Kinch :>wrote: :>
:>:Dan_Musicant writes: :>: :>:> The pool supply places say they don't carry it ... :>: :>:That's odd. It is a necessary ingredient to protect any plaster pool :>:surface from soft-water etching. Maybe the pool supply places are in the :>:replastering business, too. :>: :>:Another source is concrete suppliers, where it is used as an accelerant. :>: :>:I would also ask at an Agway feed store type place. :>: :>:Or just the 42 oz DampRid refill at Home Depot. :>I called HD, but they couldn't find it. Orchard Supply tells me they :>have calcium chloride in 26 oz. packages for $3.99. I think I may get a :>couple of those. Cheaper and faster than eBay. : :rice is pretty hygroscopic.
Yes, I always have some in my salt shakers. Would it make a decent dessicant?
While you're farting around looking for a dessicant which you don't even need, your plaster is sitting in its bag in your garage absorbing moisture from the air and getting ruined. I told you a week ago what you needed to preserve it. Buy the damn bucket and lid, and be done with it.
Big Orange Retail Giant = Home Depot
a guess.
:In article , Dan_Musicant wrote: : :>: :>:rice is pretty hygroscopic. :>
:>Yes, I always have some in my salt shakers. Would it make a decent :>dessicant? :>
:While you're farting around looking for a dessicant which you don't even need, :your plaster is sitting in its bag in your garage absorbing moisture from the :air and getting ruined. I told you a week ago what you needed to preserve it. :Buy the damn bucket and lid, and be done with it.
Actually, I already had the dessicant as of about 4 days ago. However, I hadn't seen the sun for several days and didn't want to repackage the plaster in cool, moist conditions and decided to wait for the sun to return, which it did yesterday afternoon. I started this thread with no idea of using a dessicant, only solid plastic containers. However, I thought it best to ask about the whys and wherefores on the subject stated in the subject of this thread.
I only got the idea to include dessicant on recommendation from obviously knowledgable posters in this thread. I already had the plastic containers I intended to use. They may or may not be as air tight as the $8 plastic 5 gallon containers I could buy at Home Depot or similar, but they will undoubtedly be more convenient to use. They are approximately
1 gallon containers.I'm glad I included dessicant (CaCl2), and have an idea that I did the right thing.
Not that I haven't been guilty of "farting around" on some jobs.
I also decided not to keep the plaster in my garage after all. I have the 1 gallon plastic containers (12 of them for the 100 lb. of plaster) stored in the house, under a stairwell. There will be MUCH less moisture to deal with there, at least until the garage is renovated.
Dan
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