Tadelakt in Marrakech

Tadelakt is a traditional Moroccan finish made from slaked lime and mineral pigments. It goes on in thin coats, is compressed with a steel trowel, burnished with a river stone and finally fed with black soap (savon noir, an olive-oil soap). The soap reacts with the lime and forms a dense film on the surface that sharply limits how much water can get in. The result is a continuous, jointless covering that feels soft to the hand and is gently clouded in tone, never perfectly uniform.

That is why tadelakt has long been used in Moroccan hammams and wet rooms. It follows curves, niches, built-in benches and moulded basins: where tiles would need cuts and grout lines, tadelakt simply flows from one surface to the next. In a riad or a villa it gives bathrooms a unity that few materials can match.

To place tadelakt alongside zellige and decorative plasterwork, our guide to tadelakt, zellige and staff compares the three finishes and what each is best at.

Tadelakt is a patient craft: each coat has to reach the right state before the next goes on, and the polishing happens at the exact moment the plaster is ready. It is the plasterer’s hand, far more than the product, that decides the quality of the result.

We do not quote a drying time without seeing the substrate, the season and the exposure: it varies enormously between a closed hammam and a sunny terrace. The programme is set out in the quote.

Tadelakt is tinted through the mass with mineral pigments. You will find off-whites, sands, ochres, earth tones, pinks and soft greens, right through to deeper shades. One simple rule: judge a sample over a large area and in the light of the room itself. The same colour looks warmer in the morning and paler under overhead light.

• Light shades show the nuances of the polishing best and brighten a windowless bathroom.
• Strong shades add depth, but also show limescale and water marks more.
• In a hammam, earth and sand tones age beautifully with the steam.
• For a basin or worktop, the colour is matched to the wall to keep the sense of continuity.

Everyday care

Tadelakt is cleaned with a soft cloth, water and a mild natural soap. Avoid paint strippers, abrasive sponges and acidic or chlorine-based cleaners, which attack the soap film. A shower finished in tadelakt is refreshed from time to time with a fresh application of black soap by hand: a simple gesture that we show you at handover. A scratch or a mark can be repaired locally, without redoing the whole wall.

A tadelakt job is above all a coordination job. The plumbing has to be installed and tested before the plaster goes on, the electrician must leave provision for sockets and lights, the joiner for frames, and neighbouring painting or tiling must not mark the surface. At Phenix a single site manager organises the sequence and reports to you with photos every week, on WhatsApp.

If you are not in Marrakech, the visit can take place on site or by video call. You approve colours on a sample, the bathroom plans and the fixed, itemised quote, delivered within 48 hours of the visit. The statutory guarantees that apply to the works and the manufacturers’ guarantees are set out in your quote and handed over at completion, together with the technical data sheets.

What is included and what is not

• Included in the quote: substrate preparation, plaster, pigments, polishing, soap sealing, protection of neighbouring areas, end-of-works cleaning.
• To allow for depending on the project: demolition, masonry forms (benches, basins, niches), shower waterproofing, plumbing, electrics, ventilation.
• Outside the scope unless agreed in writing: extra work decided during the project. No variation is started without your written agreement.

To fit tadelakt into a wider renovation, see our pages on decoration and finishes, villa renovation and the budget for a riad renovation. We work in particular in Gueliz, in the Palmeraie and along the roads of the outskirts.