Respira Clear Coat

A vapour open clear coat for a wall you want to keep raw

Keep it raw

Sometimes you want to keep it raw. Hemp based products have their own unique texture and tone.

Respira Clear Coat is a natural clear finish made from mineral silicates. There is no render and no paint: two coats, then a third a few days later.

Completely vapour open

The wall keeps breathing exactly as it did before. That is the whole point: nothing is sealed up.

You can de-dust it

Dust will still land on a raw wall. The clear coat closes the surface down so you can take it off again.

Rustic, and still real

The same idea as the natural clear coats used on terracotta, slate and exposed brick: keep the material visible, lose the drawbacks.

No VOCs

A natural clear coat, with nothing to off gas into the room.

How a clear coat works on a raw wall

You roll it on, so it is easy to get on the wall. You do not need to be a painter to do it. It soaks in rather than sitting on top, so there is no film to see and nothing to peel. The surface tightens and the wall stays open to vapour. It is the same approach the French use to stabilise old walls, the ones carrying faded advertising and painted signwriting, and on heritage walls generally: hold the surface so it does not decay or erode, without taking away any of its character.

The finish

what you see on the wall

Internal

Respira Clear Coat

A natural, vapour open clear coat for a wall you keep raw. It closes the surface so the wall can be dusted off, while the wall keeps breathing. Interior.

The build

Two coats straight onto raw RespiraBlock or RespiraDrywall, then a third coat a few days later. No render, no paint, no base coat.

The detail

the figures, and where they come from

By the numbers

Vapour open

the wall keeps breathing

2 coats, then 1

the third a few days later

Matt to low sheen

depending on the surface

Interior

raw block or board

The finish is clear and the sheen follows the surface it goes onto, so a porous raw block reads matt. The wall looks like itself.

Source: the manufacturer's technical data sheet.

Questions

the ones specifiers ask first

Does it stop the wall breathing?

No. It is completely vapour open, which is the reason we use it rather than a conventional sealer. The wall behaves as it did before.

Will it stop the wall dusting?

Dust will still land on a raw wall. What the clear coat does is close the surface down so you can de-dust it, which you cannot really do on bare block.

What does it look like?

It dries clear. The sheen runs from matt to low sheen depending on how porous the wall is, so a raw block stays matt. The wall looks like itself.

Inside or outside?

Inside only.

Is this a new idea?

No. It is what the French use to stabilise old walls that carry faded advertising and painted signwriting, and what heritage work uses generally: stop the surface decaying or eroding without losing any of its character.

Is it waterproof?

No, and it is not meant to be. It will not bridge or fill a crack and it is not a waterproofing membrane.

Talk to us about Respira Clear Coat

We host people for a coffee at our spec house in Melbourne’s CBD.

Interior, on raw RespiraBlock or RespiraDrywall.

Visit our spec house in Melbourne

Order a sample card