Project Zomboid B42 Quicklime: Plaster Walls Without Guesswork

 Project Zomboid B42 Quicklime
Quicklime → Bucket of Plaster → plastered walls (Build 42).

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Plaster Mix Planner
Uses the article’s recipe: 10,000 mL water + (quicklime OR plaster powder) → Mix Bucket of Plaster.

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              Advanced (4 quicklime/batch)
            
              
              Primitive (2 quicklime/batch)
            

            
            Using plaster powder instead of quicklime
          
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# Project Zomboid B42 Quicklime: Make Plaster Buckets Fast for Real Base Finishes

Quicklime in **project zomboid b42 quicklime** isn’t a mystery ingredient for chemistry nerds—it’s basically your on-ramp to **Bucket of Plaster**. In Build 42, you mix **10,000 mL of water** with **Quicklime** (or a **Bag of Plaster Powder**) to craft “Mix Bucket of Plaster,” and then you use that bucket to plaster walls for a clean finish. Jump to [Quick-Start](#quick-start) if you just want the checklist and the common “why won’t it work” fixes.

Before we get our hands dirty: Build 42 is Unstable. Saves/mods can break between updates, and the devs explicitly tell you to expect disruption—especially around MP branches. Treat any plastering workflow like you treat a new weapon meta: test it in a throwaway save first.

| At-a-Glance | What to remember |
| --- | --- |
| Quicklime’s job | Ingredient for Bucket of Plaster craft chain |
| The big number | Water must be **10,000 mL (10 L)** in the bucket |
| Plaster’s job | Decoration (plaster → paint), not extra defense |
| B42 plastering pain | Needs the right wall tier + tool; early B42 reports say it was buggy |

## Quick-Start

1. ![icon:update](/static/images/pz-icons/AlarmClock.png) **Confirm your branch/version.** Build 42 lives on Steam’s betas, and there are multiple unstable-ish branches floating around (e.g., legacy 42.12 vs 42.13/42.13.1). Back up before you hop.
2. ![icon:water](/static/images/pz-icons/WaterBottle_Full.png) **Get a bucket and fill it to 10 L / 10,000 mL.** Buckets hold 10 L. Don’t eyeball it; check the number.
3. ![icon:quicklime](/static/images/pz-icons/Quicklime.png) **Make quicklime (reliable route):** burn limestone in a kiln.
   - ![icon:kiln](/static/images/pz-icons/ClayBrick_Fired.png) Primitive Kiln batch: 2 limestone + start fire + log + charcoal → **2 quicklime**
   - ![icon:kiln](/static/images/pz-icons/ClayBrick_Fired.png) Advanced Kiln batch: 4 limestone + start fire + log + charcoal → **4 quicklime**
4. ![icon:mix](/static/images/pz-icons/Quicklime.png) **Craft “Mix Bucket of Plaster.”** Inputs: 10,000 mL water + 1 quicklime (or 1 bag of plaster powder).
5. ![icon:trowel](/static/images/pz-icons/MasonTrowel.png) **Plaster the wall.** The wiki describes plastering as applying to Level 3 walls at Carpentry 4; players report needing top-tier walls and a plastering trowel in B42’s system.
6. ![icon:mods off](/static/images/pz-icons/UI_Cross.png) **If anything fails:** skip to [Troubleshooting](#troubleshooting) and start with water (full + clean) and mods (off).

```text
Recipe card (B42):
- 10,000 mL Water (in a bucket)
- PLUS one of:
  - Quicklime x1
  - Bag of Plaster Powder x1
= "Mix Bucket of Plaster" (bucket type/output can vary by container)
```


## What Quicklime Actually Does in B42 (and what it doesn’t)

Quicklime is categorized as a material item, but the important bit is simple: **it’s a required ingredient for making buckets of plaster** (unless you’re using plaster powder instead).

Plaster itself is **decorative**—it lets you plaster and then paint, but it doesn’t make walls tougher. The wiki even calls out that plastering/painting is for decoration and doesn’t add protection.

That means quicklime is a “base vibe” resource, not a “survive the first week” resource. Still: in the long runs where your safehouse becomes a home, plaster is one of those tiny morale wins that keeps you logging in. (Don’t pretend you haven’t built a chair corner just because it looks right.)

## Make Quicklime: Limestone → Kiln → Quicklime

The cleanest mental model is: **quicklime is a kiln product**. You’re turning raw limestone into a building material.

### Kiln batch table (so you can plan your grind)

| Kiln | Inputs (per batch) | Output | Notes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Primitive Kiln | limestone(tag) x2 + startfire(tag) x1 + log(tag) x1 + charcoal(tag) x1 | quicklime x2 | Great early, low throughput |
| Advanced Kiln | limestone(tag) x4 + startfire(tag) x1 + log(tag) x1 + charcoal(tag) x1 | quicklime x4 | Same fuel cost, better yield |

### Practical tips (the stuff you wish the crafting UI told you)

- ![icon:water](/static/images/pz-icons/WaterBottle_Full.png) **Build near water.** Every plaster bucket wants 10,000 mL. You’ll spend more time hauling water than hauling limestone if you set up wrong.
- ![icon:batch](/static/images/pz-icons/AlarmClock.png) **Batch it.** One Advanced Kiln run yields 4 quicklime—enough for four plaster mixes if you have four full buckets ready.
- ![icon:fire](/static/images/pz-icons/Campfire.png) **Keep your “fire-start” stack ready.** The recipe explicitly wants a startfire-tag source each batch, so don’t show up with a kiln and no ignition.


## Mix a Bucket of Plaster (the 10,000 mL gotcha)

The recipe is blunt: **Water x 10,000 mL + (Quicklime x1 OR Plaster Powder x1) → Mix Bucket of Plaster.**

The bucket itself is a 10 L container, which is why this number is so exact.

### The “why won’t it craft?” checklist

If you have everything but the craft won’t fire, you’re not crazy—B42 crafting has had some finicky bucket-recipe behavior reported by players. Start here:

- ![icon:bucket](/static/images/pz-icons/WaterBottle_Full.png) **Is the bucket truly full?** Some players suspect rounding/“it says 10L but it isn’t” issues, and even tiny dips (auto-sips) can break it.
- ![icon:clean water](/static/images/pz-icons/WaterBottle_Full.png) **Is the water clean?** Players report tainted water may not register for certain bucket recipes; boiling or using clean sink water is a common suggested fix.
- ![icon:refill](/static/images/pz-icons/Wrench.png) **Refill method matters (sometimes).** One report says emptying to an actual empty-bucket item and refilling from a sink worked when liquid-transfer/barrel filling didn’t.
- ![icon:mods](/static/images/pz-icons/UI_Cross.png) **Mod conflicts are real.** If you’re mixing B41-era “painting/wallpaper” stuff into B42, you can absolutely break the workflow.

## Plaster Walls in B42 (and what “Level 3” means in human words)

The wiki frames plaster as something you can apply to **Level 3 walls** (at **Carpentry 4**), and it even gives you a rough consumption clue: a bucket can plaster up to four Level 3 walls.

B42 complicates this in practice because the workflow moved into the revamped crafting/building UI, and early B42 threads show people confused even with buckets + trowels in hand.

### What players are actually doing

- ![icon:walls](/static/images/pz-icons/WoodenDoor3_Carpentry.png) **Wall tier matters.** B42 players commonly say you need “top tier walls” / advanced walls before plastering makes sense.
- ![icon:tool](/static/images/pz-icons/MasonTrowel.png) **Tool matters.** Multiple B42 posts mention a “plastering trowel” specifically, and one player explicitly says paintbrush isn’t the plaster tool anymore in B42.
- ![icon:patches](/static/images/pz-icons/AlarmClock.png) **Early B42 was rough; later B42 seems better.** Mid-2025 chatter suggests plastering “was bugged when build 42 first came out” but works now for some players.


## Optional: a “no RNG” plaster route (mods/tools)

If your whole frustration is “I don’t want to rely on world spawns,” there are mods explicitly targeting that pain. The standout example: **[B42] Craft Plaster**, which adds an alternate lime-crafting chain (crushed limestone + mortar & pestle → lime; then lime + water container → bucket of plaster).

This is less “lore pure” and more “I want my base to look finished this decade,” which—honestly—valid.

## MP / Servers: pin your branch before you build your dream house

Build 42’s branch situation matters because recipes/UI behavior can change, and MP branches have explicit compatibility warnings.

- Build 42 is Unstable and save-breaking updates are expected.
- 42.13 introduced MP to Unstable, and 42.13.1 is a hotfix with MP save incompatibility notes.

If you host, here’s the vanilla SteamCMD beta flag you’ll see referenced for unstable installs:

```text
app_update 380870 -beta unstable validate
```


## Troubleshooting

| Symptom | Likely cause | Fastest fix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| “Mix Bucket of Plaster” won’t appear | Bucket not actually 10,000 mL / rounding | Empty and refill carefully; avoid auto-sips |
| Same, even when it reads 10,000 mL | Water-source quirks | Try emptying to true empty-bucket item and filling at a sink |
| Bucket recipes refuse in general (plaster/concrete/etc.) | Early B42 bug reports | Try a newer B42 patch; consider workaround mod; report bug |
| Clay cement works, plaster doesn’t | Tainted water not accepted | Use clean water or boil first |
| You have bucket of plaster + carpentry, but “plaster wall” option never shows | Wrong wall tier / tool mismatch | Try top-tier walls and a plastering trowel |
| It worked once, then stopped | Mod conflict | Disable mods (especially B41 carryovers) and retest |
| Plastering seems impossible in early B42 threads | It may have been bugged then | Re-test on current Unstable; mid-2025 reports say it works |
| Door frames won’t plaster consistently | Known finicky targets | Reposition furniture, try different angles; frames are “difficult” |

The vibe here is classic Zomboid: half carpentry, half superstition. You’re not just rebuilding civilization—you’re wrestling a beta UI that sometimes treats “10 liters” like a philosophical concept.

Action Steps Recap: Make quicklime in a kiln, fill a bucket to exactly 10,000 mL, craft Bucket of Plaster, plaster top-tier walls with the trowel, and troubleshoot water/mods first.

## Patch-History (Collapsible)
<details>
<summary>Patch History</summary>

| Date | Change Note | Impact on early-game priorities |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 2024-12-17 | Build 42 released to the Unstable branch; unstable is explicitly WIP and B41 saves/mods aren’t compatible. | Early-game: keep a “sandbox test save” and don’t commit your main run to new crafting chains until you like the patch state. |
| 2024-12-18 | Early B42 plastering confusion shows up in Steam discussions even with buckets/trowels. | Early-game: expect that “cosmetic base finishing” may be delayed by UI/workflow changes. |
| 2025-01-20 | [B42] Craft Plaster mod uploaded (alternate lime→plaster chain). | Early-game: if plaster is RNG-gated, this offers a deterministic route—at the cost of mod risk on Unstable. |
| 2025-01-29 | Players report needing top-tier walls and a plastering trowel; some say plastering wasn’t working then. | Early-game: don’t plan “plastered safehouse” until you’ve confirmed your wall tier + tool in your current build. |
| 2025-03-17 | Reports that tainted water/rounding can prevent bucket-based recipes from registering. | Early-game: prioritize clean-water access if you’re doing any bucket crafting (plaster, cement, etc.). |
| 2025-09-25 | 42.12.0 released on Unstable (SteamDB); quicklime’s item metadata changes are logged on the wiki. | Early-game: recipe discovery/UI may shift; re-check your craft filters after updating. |
| 2025-12-11 | Unstable 42.13 introduces MP on Unstable; dev notes advise disabling mods and warn saves may break. | Early-game: for MP, re-validate plastering/quicklime chains on a mod-free copy before building big. |
| 2025-12-18 | 42.13.1 hotfix released; MP saves from 42.13.0 aren’t compatible. | Early-game: don’t “decorate-first” on a branch you’re about to hotfix; update, confirm stability, then beautify. |

</details>
  
Project Zomboid B42 Quicklime: Plaster Walls Without Guesswork

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