BASIC MATERIAL: NEERU

GENERAL INFORMATION:
Neeru is a local material used traditionally for plastering of wall surfaces. It is a
mixture of lime, water, and sand. It is prepared in-situ and is used in the form of a thick
paste to coat walls and protect them from the weather elements.

SCOPE:
The neeru paste is used where smooth surface is to be provided. E.g. Plastering

DESCRIPTION:
Neeru contains of the following materials:

1. Lime: Class C lime (i.e. pure fat lime) as mentioned is I.S. 712-1956 shall be used.
It shall comply with specification No. A1 in all respects.
2. Water: It shall conform to specification no. A5.
3. Sand: It shall conform to specification no. A6. All sand shall pass through I.S.
sieve No. 60 (0.599 mm).

PREPARATION:
Lime shall be slaked and mixed with sufficient water to form a thick paste; it shall
be reduced to a fine paste by grinding. It shall then be passed through a fine sieve (3
mm) to remove all the un slaked particles and foreign matter and allowed to mellow
under water for at least 10 days in large slaking tanks. The surplus water on the top shall
be allowed to run off. The slaked lime paste thus formed shall be used to prepare neeru.
The neeru shall be prepared by mixing together 4 parts of this lime paste and 1 part of
fine sieved sand by volume. Jute fibers finely chopped shall be added to the above
mortar at the rate of 4 kg of jute fibers to every cubic meter of lime-sand mixture. The
mixture shall then be ground properly to a fine paste between two stones of a mill. The
neeru thus prepared can be used for wall plastering.

PRECAUTIONS:
The neeru paste should be kept moist until use. Only that much amount of paste
is prepared which would be consumed within 15 days.

MEASUREMENT:
It is measured by volume. The actual unit used is cubic meter.