A paint problem

[tobydog]

In my defence I was referring to a thin application of emulsion and it all goes horribly wrong when you have multiple layers and finishes plus lining paper and who knows what.

There is a bit of a difference between the slow long term evaporation of moisture through a wall and it's coverings, and the steam blasting you tried to apply. It all comes down to resistivity, time and distance. All materials have resistivity to vapour movement through it and this is measured by how long it takes to travel a certain distance over a certain period of time. There is an argument that vapour could travel through 10mm of cement quicker than it would through 50mm of hydraulic lime. Whilst the vapour would move quicker through the lime due to its lower resistivity it has further to travel.

With paint, although we are only talking in microns, the resistivity varies by product and therefore, given the same thickness, the vapour (steam) would have got through eventually given enough time. It's all relative.

Clearly there are some products used, for example, in tanking procedures where the resistivity is so high that it's almost incalculable.

 

[Keith Bowman]

I have just come across this paint http://www.naturepaint.com/using.asp#benefits. Apparently sold as an environmentally friendly powder, which you mix with tap water and add to the compost heap if you have left overs, and it's reputed to be fully breathable. Has anyone had any experience of it? And is "beathable" just a subjective description, or is there any scientific definition? And finally......... you can buy it from B&Q

 

[middi]

I have just come across this paint http://www.naturepaint.com/using.asp#benefits. Apparently sold as an environmentally friendly powder, which you mix with tap water and add to the compost heap if you have left overs, and it's reputed to be fully breathable. Has anyone had any experience of it? And is "beathable" just a subjective description, or is there any scientific definition? And finally......... you can buy it from B&Q

What a brilliant idea this " new" paint.

Sod the hosepipe bans, just use this paint in green for an instant lawn ( that will confuse the " spy" helicopters)

Middi

 

[biffvernon]

And is "beathable" just a subjective description, or is there any scientific definition? And finally......... you can buy it from B&Q

That you can buy it at B&Q is the interesting bit!

Yes, there is a scientific definition, but best to use the term vapour permeability rather than breathable. Moisture vapor transmission rate (MVTR), and water vapor transmission rate (WVTR) are also terms used.

Here's a description: http://www.armacell.com/www/armacell/INETFAQ.nsf/ID/34796F0FDC90C495802571AF005021D8?OpenDocument
and here's an old buildings related article: http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/vapour/vapour.htm

 

[Moo]

That looks really interesting. Has anyone tried it?
They don't seem to supply shade cards, so it looks like a trip to B&Q this weekend.

 

[Keith Bowman]

Hmph. It might be on the B&Q website, but it is not in our local B&Q and the staff there couldn't even find it on their computer. I have sent B&Q an email asking where to buy stuff they promote on their website! We shall see (or not as the case may be).
And thank you biffvernon for the information on breathability - a term I shall now stop using.

 

[Moo]

Has anyone else come across this firm? http://www.fabricsandpapers.com/**

I found it quite by chance and spent a most enjoyable half hour browsing through it. And they seem to stock a stone-block wallpaper very similar to the £225 one that Joce provided a link to. I've sent for samples.
So an important part of my decor problem may well be solved.

Hurrah for Google!




**
Number One
Catsland Farm
Woodmancote
Henfield
West Sussex
BN5 9TG

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, I love that website. And their service is superb, I just received my Vues de Paris fabric today that I paid for on Wednesday (online). It came very beautifully packaged on a roll, and all the many, many samples I've had from them have been sent promptly and free of charge.

What's the stone block paper Moo? As I said in the earlier post I've only ever found two - the Cole and Son one in the Foundations collection and the stupidly expensive one. I'd love to use it somewhere.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Yes, I have used fabrics and papers for many years now. Very useful site!!!

 

[Moo]

Joce - here's the link to the ashlar wallpaper: http://www.fabricsandpapers.com/item/view/564-ashlar-wallpaper

I need something on this scale because my front hall has such a high ceiling that the Coles one would look like bricks!

 

[Penners]

Oh, I love that website. And their service is superb

Blimmin' 'eck!! At those prices I should hope so!!

Is your order personally delivered by a white-gloved flunky?

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Moo, I see in this month's edition of the EDP Norfolk Magazine that one of PPUK's well respected Architectural and Survey Partnerships has an office in the Close-- why don't you pop around and seek a bit of bona fide advice re your 'paint problem'--- :wink:

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for the link to the wallpaper Moo. I love it, and will get a sample with a view to using it up to dado height down the stairs and along the passageway. We really need to smarten up that area. It may be that the scale of the Cole and Son is better there though.

Mr P - I also find the prices shocking. I found the manufacturer's email and wrote to ask for a discount on 15 metres of that fabric. Her reply splendidly ignored my request, and gave the worked out cost as identical to what fabrics and papers website would charge.

It appears that people are still spending a lot on decorating and they had no incentive to discount.

 

[Penners]

Mr P - I also find the prices shocking. I found the manufacturer's email and wrote to ask for a discount on 15 metres of that fabric.

Oh, my dear! How ter-r-r-ribly bourgeois!

 

[Keith Bowman]

Surprise I have received a response from B&Q about 'Naturepaint':
Dear Keith, thank you for your email,
Naturepaint is available online, but is only in two stores, Sutton in
Ashfield and New Malden.
Kind Regards
Linda McConnell
B&Q CUSTOMER SERVICE

Looking in more detail at the manufacturer's website (http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/content/marketing/naturepaint/naturepaintinstruction.pdf), it apparently comes from one of the (traditional?) lime or clay companies in Cornwall and is similar to a bound distemper. The advantage is that it is supplied as a powder and you can mix up as much, or as little, as you like and vary the consistency according to need, thickening it with skimmed milk powder.

I do hope someone will try it and report back - we are some way off the decorating stage as yet.

 

[JoceAndChris]

It's a fascinating concept but the colours look a nightmare to me - and the thought of mixing up dozens to find an accepatbale shade leaves me cold! But if you were after a cream it might be OK.

 

[Moo]

It's a fascinating concept but the colours look a nightmare to me - and the thought of mixing up dozens to find an accepatbale shade leaves me cold! But if you were after a cream it might be OK.

Me, too!

But when you say "if you were after a cream it might be OK" you make it all sound sooo simple!

 

[JoceAndChris]

Sounds of hollow laughter.

I tried around 10 before I got a good one to go with that dining room earth red colour.

 

[Moo]

I've been trying to match the blue in one of the bedrooms, the green in our downstairs-front room, and get the right colour for the walls in our 'traffic areas'.
In total, so far, I've spent just over £40 on sample pots.

 

[Penners]

I've spent just over £40 on sample pots.

Just a word of advice, Moo: it's much cheaper to buy one big pot of paint, rather than lots of small ones

Magnolia is nice.