Finished to perfection

13 Jul 2026

With a history that pre-dates the ancient Egyptians, plastering is one of humanity’s oldest artisanal crafts; and one that continues to be in demand today.

This property, in Auckland’s rural south, features an interior where just about every internal surface is finished in ROCKCOTE Velvetina Lime plaster from Resene Construction Systems in Resene White Pointer.

“There's a small amount of cedar shiplap in there, but essentially 90% of the finish is hand-applied Velvetina Lime plaster,” says Grant Moloney of Moloney Plasterers.

“The sheer scale of the project made this one of the more demanding jobs we’ve undertaken. There's some detailing around the windows that added to the level of intricacy, but generally, I would say it was the scale of it that proved most challenging.

Grant says the cathedral ceiling in the main living area alone is around 80m2.

“That was probably one of the most impressive parts of the whole job, that big stiking ceiling going all the way through the living area, it’s definitely the standout feature in the house. We were lucky we could do one side at a time thanks to the raked nature of the ceiling.

“Most of the time there was probably around three of us onsite on any given day. When we were doing some of those bigger areas, there would have been four or five of us in there. It’s funny though, when you’re working on a project that is quite intricate for whatever reason, you actually don't want too many people working on it.

The plaster finish imparts a soft, natural look that highlights the home’s architectural features, such as the expansive hallways and deep window recesses, while also being hard wearing and durable.

“The ROCKCOTE Velvetina Lime plaster is a really nice product to use. It's definitely not an ‘every day’ product, not just stock standard plastering, so it's been quite nice to do something a little bit different, something that’s a bit more intricate; it's art. So that's been a cool aspect of this job.”

Grant and his team also completed the exterior using Resene X-200 weathertight membrane coating, also in Resene White Pointer.

“We like to use the X-200 system on pretty much all of our plaster exteriors. We find it to be a really good product. And it lasts. We've got projects out there that are over ten years old, and they still don't look like they need to be repainted.

“Generally, they talk in terms of performance durability of around eight-to-ten years, but we’re finding in some cases it's outdoing that, so you know that it's good to use and that it continues to looks good. I think it's one of the better Resene systems, it’s even available in CoolColours, so those real dark colours we can use as well.

“Over the years, we've used different products, but the X-200, in my opinion, is the best exterior coating system that we've used.”

Resene X-200 weathertight membrane coating, in Resene White Pointer, was used on the exterior of the home.

Grant and his team are currently working on a masonry exterior for a Mediterranean-style home for which he will create an undulating finish similar to the interior of the featured home, but on the outside. Based in Pukekohe, Moloney Plasterers works across the greater Auckland area down to Hamilton.

Published: 13 Jul 2026