The use of brick–lime plasters and their relevance to climatic conditions of historic bath buildings

Brick–lime mortars and plasters have been widely used as water-proof materials in aqueducts, bridges and cisterns since early Hellenistic time. In this study, the characteristics of brick–lime plasters used in some Ottoman bath buildings were investigated in order to understand their relevance as plasters in hot and humid environmental conditions of the baths. For this purpose, basic physical properties, raw material compositions, mineralogical, microstructural and hydraulic properties of brick–lime plasters of some historic bath buildings in İzmir (Turkey) were determined by XRD, SEM-EDX, AFM and chemical analyses. The results indicated that their survival without loosing their strength and adhesion in hot and humid conditions of the baths was explained by their hydraulic characters due to the consciously use of porous and pozzolanic crushed bricks as aggregate in the manufacturing of plasters.