Brick restoration

[DaveBlair855]

Another plea for advice and direction....

Our cottage is timber framed with brick and masonry infill panels on the ground floor. As far as I know these are single skinned. The exterior of the premises is in reasonably good nick, but my question concerns the interior.

The previous occupant was an elderly chap who had some trade connections and a prediliction for ignoring LBC. So far this has not caused us huge issues as the majority of the work (some would call it "interference") was undertaken before the building was listed. However...

At some stage in the past, he has decided to paint the interior brickwork with plain white emulsion paint, direct over the brick and mortar itself. To add insult to injury, the interior beams have been painted with black silk emulsion! There must be at least 8 - 10 coats of the stuff on the brickwork alone. God knows how many on the beams...

Even to our admittedly limited experience of older properties, this cannot be good for the fabric of the building, surely? The question is this- does anyone have any idea or advice about how best to remove the paint from the beams and walls? We are thinking along the lines of a lime render over the brickwork once cleaned, repointed with lime and exposed, but would welcome the forum's thoughts on the feasibility of this. Does anyone have advice re the insulation aspects of this approach, or would the naked brick be better? Also, what are the risks in sanding the beams in situ to try to restore them?

All ideas and advice welcome, guys and girls!

 

[Cloudscape]

It's about now that someone will recommend that you contact Strippers of Sudbury:

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/I_want_to_remove.htm

 

[DaveBlair855]

It's about now that someone will recommend that you contact Strippers of Sudbury:

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/I_want_to_remove.htm

Thanks Cloudscape- unfortunately, I'm currently at work and the firewall has blocked that link, presumably confusing it for a very different kind of stripper....

Are they UK wide or area specific?

 

[Penners]

They only have the one premises, but they'll send their products to you anywhere.

You might want to order a test pot first, to make sure that you're happy with the results. If, after reading their "I want to remove..." page, you're still unsure about which of their products to use, give them a call.

 

[DaveBlair855]

Thanks for that Penners, will check out the site once Big Brother is no longer watching me..

Any thoughts on the beams? I have no idea of the long term effects of acrylic based paint on old timber and would be concerned about damage to their fabric if I started arbitarily sanding, even with a very fine grade of sandpaper.

Does anyone have any direction or advice on the best way to restore beams that have been painted this way?

 

[Penners]

Assuming the beams are hardwood, Klingstrip is way the best stuff, in my experience. Don't sand or, worse still, sandblast them. There are very few people who can do this successfully, without leaving the beams looking like artificial driftwood.

 

[middi]

Bad luck I am afraid, hard work and patience if you want to restore . This is when some owners just give it another coat of the same and live with it untill they find the motivation to get stuck in.

Some never do.
Good luck

 

[Flyfisher]

Any thoughts on the beams? I have no idea of the long term effects of acrylic based paint on old timber and would be concerned about damage to their fabric if I started arbitarily sanding, even with a very fine grade of sandpaper.

Can paint - old or new-fangled formulations - cause any damage to old beams?

 

[Nemesis]

There is a possibilty that removal of the paint can cause more damage, but that will depend on how it's done and how smooth the beams are in the first place.

It's a long nasty job, if you can't face it and you don't want them black you could paint them white. Beams were in the past frequently limewashed.

 

[Penners]

Can paint - old or new-fangled formulations - cause any damage to old beams?

I doubt that conventional paint of whatever age would damage the beams of itself. However, I suppose it could be argued that any damp in the beams could be prevented from drying by an impermeable layer of paint, and hence damage to the wood could occur.

 

[Flyfisher]

Yes, pretty much what I thought. Most of the exposed ceiling beams in the C18 part of our house have been painted black and, from the look of them, this was probably because they were nothing special in the first place. Conversely, the exposed, and grander, beams in the older parts of the house remain unpainted (thankfully) although all the attic room timbers are limewashed.

Given all the other things on my 'to-do list' our painted beams will remain painted for the forseeable future.

 

[middi]

Limewashed beams was the best solution to keep the wood in good condition, be it fom a breatheable point of view or a deterrant to keep boring insect away.

( boring insects hate lime)

 

[Gervase]

( boring insects hate lime)

Oh dear - does that mean that interesting insects might actually like the stuff? :wink:

 

[middi]

...... :lol: :lol: .....

 

[Penners]

the exposed ceiling beams....were nothing special in the first place.

The trouble is, you're spoiled for choice. "Nothing special" in your house is probably "wow!" in many others!

 

[Dracer]

Hi I used a scraper on mine and sand blasted some of the beams, and NH3 lime morter pointed bricks, hard work but looks fine

 

[Nemesis]

I would not recommend that you sandblast, it's really not good conservation and your beams can end up looking terrible, especially if there has been any insect attack in the past.