Cocciopesto Deumidificante MGN

Humidity Regulating Lime Plaster for Cellars

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Cocciopesto Deumidificante MGN - Description

What is Cocciopesto?

In ancient Rome, a particular type of mortar called "cocciopesto", a mix of lime and brick dust or crushed terracotta fragments (coccio = pottery fragments; pesto = crushed) was widely used as:

A plaster to protect wall structures from moisture. It has been the plaster of choice for high-humidity environments such as Roman baths, basements and cellars.
A flooring material, both as a floor base and floor finish, due to their excellent longevity and moisture-regulating properties.
A finishing plaster to create impermeable linings for cisterns, wells and aqueducts (ancient water pipes), or today for bathroom or shower room walls.

Cocciopesto plasters are special lime plasters because they are:

Extremely breathable
Resist moisture and humidity
A warm material with high thermal mass, naturally preventing condensation even in high-humidity environments
Outstanding hygro-thermal regulators, creating a pleasant, healthy, low-humidity indoor environment

Cocciopesto plasters, given the wide accessibility of their prime materials and their wide range of application, spread rapidly to every corner of the Roman empire, and they are still widely used today.

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COCCIOPESTO DEUMIDIFICANTE MGN is part of a lime plastering system for damp walls and basements, and it’s composed of two products:

RINZAFFO MGN: Roman lime base coat developed in the 1980s in Venice to the problem of rising damp, penetrating damp and salts. This is a breathable salt resistant lime base coat, which protects subsequent plaster coats from the destructive effect of liquid moisture and salts.
COCCIOPESTO DEUMIDIFICANTE MGN, a lime main coat, a mix of lime, cocciopesto and volcanic pozzolans. Thanks to the added pozzolans this plaster coat becomes salt resistant (to sulphates, chlorides and nitrates), lasting significantly longer in a damp environment than normal plaster coats.

This plastering system provides a robust, long-term, heritage-friendly solution to:

High-intensity rising damp
Severe penetrating damp
Heavy salt crystallization problems

and as such, it can be used with excellent results

In any coastal or marine environment
For the restoration and renovation of historic buildings
For farm and barn conversions.

It is a highly breathable plastering system, allowing the excess humidity to evaporate, without allowing the water-soluble salts to reach the surface. The performance of the plastering system has been proven by over 40 years of experience and thousands of interventions on building sites throughout Venice.

There is another variation of this plastering system with no cocciopesto, using the RISANAMUR B80 MGN lime plaster as the main plastering coat, with the same proven results.

Key Features

Here are some key features of this product.

Breathable

Being a lime plaster, it's naturally vapour permeable or breathable.

Resistant to High Humidity

This lime plaster can tolerate high levels of msoiture and humidity.

No Cement. No Chemicals

This plaster does not contain chemicals or cement - it only contains natural materials.

Extremely Long Lasting

Due to its microporous structure it blocks the movement of salts, being impervious to salts crystallization, crumbling and breakdown.

Suitable for Listed buildings

This plaster is suitable for historic or listed buildings and heritage renovations.

Excellent Humidity Regulator

Can effectively buffer humidity variations, maintaining low internal humidity, preventing condensation.

For Cellars, Basements

Can resist high humidity, suitable for cellars, basements.

Composition

Natural air lime: highest purity lime containing min 90% CaO, classified as CL90S according to EN-459-1 standard

Ground terracotta (cocciopesto): brick powder from traditional porous bricks, wood fired at low temperatures around 600°C

Natural pozzolans: volcanic sands and ashes of exclusively natural origin, certified according to EN 197-1 standard

Natural hydraulic lime NHL 3.5, certified according to EN-459-1 standard

Natural plasticisers: of food / plant origin to improve workability

Specifications

Granulation (mm)

0-3

Vapour diffusion resistance (μ)

Declared thermal conductivity - λ (D)

0.46

Water absorption

10.5

Adhesion (N / mm²)

0.1

Compressive strength (N / mm²)

CS II

Bulk density (kg / m³)

1364

Bag weight (kg)

Water intake (litre / bag)

Consumption (kg / m² / cm)

Application temperature (°C)

5-30

Fire rating

Chloride content (%)

None

Harmful substances

None

Colour

Light Brown

Recommended thickness (mm)

Certifications

UNI EN 998-1:2016 – Certified Restoration Plaster for Internal/External Use (R)

UNI EN 998-1:2016 – Certified General Purpose Plaster for Internal / External Use (GP)

Minimum Environmental Criteria (CAM) Declaration: a “green purchase” environmental declaration, indicating that this product satisfies the environmental requirements of the Italian Government, representing the best ecological solution for a project when taking into account the entire life cycle of a product from manufacturing to disposal.

Free of Harmful Substances including formaldehyde

CE Marking: this product complies with all relevant European Union regulations, meeting all performance requirements required by the CE marking.

Completed Projects

Here are some of our projects using this plaster:

coreconservation banners basement banner4195

Crypt Waterproofing Project

Roman Lime Waterproofing System

Commercial

cocciopesto-deumificante-banner3-core-conservation

Cellar Waterproofing and Renovation

Listed Manor House Cellar

Residential

Commercial Basement Waterproofing

High Street Bank

Commercial

Solutions

This material can be used in the following applications or solutions:

Waterproofing Basements, Cellars

The Roman Lime Waterproofing System

Solving Rainwater Splashback

A Building-Friendly Approach

Waterproofing Old Walls

Stopping Liquid Moisture

Farm and Barn Conversions

Doing It Right - Avoiding Costly Mistakes

Replastering Flooded Walls

Flood Renovation with Lime

Photo Galleries

Here are some photos demonstrating this solution. Click on any image to open the photo gallery.

The Crypt Waterproofing Project

Waterproofing the service area of an old crypt with traditional Roman lime waterproofing and Cocciopesto plasters. On some parts of the room the MGN Lime-Pozzolanic Tanking Slurry System has also been applied to reinforce the waterproofing in critical areas.

15th Century Listed Manor House Cellar

The cellar of this 15th listed century manor house cellar has been waterproofed and renovated with Roman lime plasters in a sympathetic way.

Project - High Street Bank Basement Waterproofing

Long-term ongoing gutter leaks and lack of maintenance have ruined several walls of this building. Being a Victorian building, the waterproofing of the basement has been resolved with breathable lime-based materials.

Videos

Here are some videos related to this solution. Please unmute the videos when playing them.

Roman Lime Basement Waterproofing – Some Examples

Solutions

The Crypt Waterproofing Project

Solutions

Waterproofing Roman wells with traditional Cocciopesto plaster

Technology

Similar Products

Here are some other similar products of the same category (e.g. other main coats or finishes). Depending on your application, you could use these as alternative products.

RisanaSmart

Fast Lime Replastering System

Base

Main

Calcina Bianca

Traditional White Lime Plaster

Main

Sanacolor 2000

White / Coloured Decorative Lime Render for External Use

Main

Cocciopesto

Traditional Brick Coloured Lime Plaster

Main

Risanamur B80

Main Lime Coat for Basements

Main

ArgiLolla

Lime Plaster with Clay & Rice Husk Bio-plaster

Main

Product Combinations

Although all MGN plasters can be used on their own, in many applications they perform best when certain materials are applied together as a plastering system complementing and reinforcing each other.

Here are some other plasters which are recommended to be used with this one.

Rinzaffo

Roman Waterproofing Lime Base Coat

Base

Waterproofing

Cocciopesto Deumidificante

Humidity Regulating Lime Plaster for Cellars

Main

Intonachino Arenino

Coloured Lime Finish (24 colours)

Finishing

Application

Here are some key technical points about how to apply this material correctly:

Main

Clean the masonry: the plaster must be applied on a cleaned and uniformly wet substrate. All crumbling and loose parts must be removed by brushing so the masonry is free of dust, salts and oils. If possible, also wash the walls with a pressure washer; this will clean and wet the walls in one go. Close larger holes with lime mortar and pieces of bricks.

Mixing: mix the material with clean tap water only without adding anything else (no other material or additive), until a homogenous, creamy-consistency mix is obtained.

Application: apply the plaster in 10 mm coats.

Additional coats can be applied in further 10 mm increments. Use an embedded fibreglass mesh for extra reinforcement over the recommended thickness.

Finish options: main lime coats can be optionally left without finishing. To have a finished surface any MGN finish can be applied: Calcina Fine MGN (white lime finish), Intonachino Arenino MGN (coloured lime finish) or Marmorino MGN (Venetian Marmorino finish).

Application conditions: ambient and wall temperatures must be between +5 to +30°C during application. Surfaces should be protected from rain and humidity until they have completely dried (approx. 3 – 10 days depending on weather conditions).