Contract trade emulsion. If so which one?

[DJH]

I know of a traditional paint maker who has in pallet loads of a base to which they add colour and shake it up a bit. Should I have said that??

Doug

 

[Keithj]

Our (church) builder says he's happy to paint the inside with whatever we choose - but we don't have long to make up our minds because he's well over 65 and planning on retiring soon.

His advice is firmly for Classidur. It will cost a lot more than limewash for the paint, yes. It will cost a lot less for the labour to put it on. It will last vastly longer before needing repainting (so choose your colours with great care!). It is more resistive to damp stains appearing from underneath.

We've been and looked at the finish in Wickham Market church, and are convinced. Our architect is of the same opinion (and he's not going to be paid commission on the interior painting, because he suggests we don't need an architect to supervise that bit).

 

[AMc]

The ‘Little Green’ Distemper seems to be a bit dearer than the Earthborn Clay paints although there’s not a lot difference in the price. The Little Green website is showing 5Ltrs of their plain white distemper at £56.00. I think Earthborn clay paint is about £47.00 from my local stockist. I suspect there’s a delivery charge to add to the little Green product and if I order through a local stockiest then I’m sure it will be even more expensive so certainly not a cheap option when compared to the ‘contract trade emulsions’. I Suspect also that if the distemper is quite thin then it will probably require a lot more coats than the clay paint, so could work out very expensive in the long run in both paint and labour.I too have the inside of a church to paint.
Which do you think performs better, Casein Distemper or Clay Paint?

I was recommended limewashing, but I was put off by tales of many many coats, dusting and the finish rubbing off on clothes which isn't practical in my house. I've not used clay paint so can't compare sorry.

The distemper coverage was quite good, Little Greene say 15m2 per litre (1 coat). Paint and Paper in Norwich are a LG stockist but the distempers and limewashes are made to order. Standard delivery from LG is free https://www.littlegreene.com/delivery/

I ended up buying 2x5ltr to cover roughly 40m2 of bare or previously painted soft brick. I ended up with about 3.5ltr left. The unsealed, soft Norfolk brick soaked up a lot, much more than the small sections of finished plaster. I had to do the whole wall with a 2" brush which got scrubbed down to the handle and it took a long time. IIRC I used two coats to cover red brick to solid white. It is very thin compared with F&B emulsion, more like skimmed milk than single cream.
It wasn't anything like as cheap as the Travis Perkins Brilliant White Contract Emulsion which I used on the plasterboard ceilings and new pink plaster elsewhere - that allowed the plaster to dry after application and on modern plaster gave an even finish for very little money.

I'm afraid I wouldn't use contract emulsion on my old farm house walls and spent the extra on a more traditional finish that I felt was appropriate to the vinery which had been painted many, many years before.
On the brick it was important to use something durable and the "right" colour. Ironically we used a colour called "slaked lime"
Given the cost of using the wrong material - you ruin the building - versus the expense of using the right material I spent the extra YMMV.

 

[michael]

Thanks for your comments AMc, I do hear what you’re saying and I guess I tend to agree.
Sorry to keep twisting and turning on this subject but I’ve just discussed my problem with my local supplier of lime products i.e. Large wall area of differing finishes (Gypsum, old emulsion, lime plaster) and he has suggested using an Eco Emulsion. I didn’t hear what brand he had to offer but I’m guessing it’s made by Earthborn as they also stock their clay paints. The price seemed reasonably good at about £46.00 plus VAT for 10 liters with a bit of discount thrown in and free delivery. That’s almost half the price of clay paint where £46.00 might just get you 5 liters. Has anybody used an Eco emulsion, What’s the breathability like ?

I immediately started looking up Eco emulsions on the net and found this one which seems pretty good and claims to be highly breathable but the prices are almost double what I’m being offered :-
http://www.lime.org.uk/products/wall-paints/internal-paints/eco-emulsion-natural-paint-ty-mawr-range/

I also did a quick measurement today of the wall area I need to paint, it’s going to be in excess of 160 sqm. The paint my lime supplier is suggesting (probably Earthborn emulsion) has a coverage of 10sqm per litre so the 10 litre tub will cover 100sqm. Allowing for two coats I would be hoping to get away with about three tubs, total cost around £138.00 plus vat. Sounds good to me so long as I’ve got my math’s right.
I would like to hear your opinions on Eco Emulsions though guy’s.

 

[michael]

The Rose of Jericho data sheet for Casein Distemper advises:-
“Casein Distemper can normally be applied to prepared (not sure what that means?) previously emulsion painted surfaces in dry, heated, ventilated domestic environments. It is not recommended that distemper be applied to emulsion and other modern paint types in poorly heated and poorly ventilated churches.
The latter sentence is a good description of the space I have to paint albeit it is well ventilated so I’m definitely leaning in favour of emulsion at this stage but I think I’ve been won over from Contract Trade to Eco emulsion. Perhaps I’ll look at painting over the eco emulsion with casein distemper in a few years time when I get some suitable heating in my chapel.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Interestingly my Painter, trained in the good old fashioned way, has decided to use Glidden paint in our bathroom , he says the mould wont' show through--- hmm, well as many of you know I have a love hate realtionship with this unlisted downsize dating from about 1899, clumsily restored and messed about with in the '80's, so I am going to let him try this paint--we will see! It is the first time I have had a problem bathroom, even in our oldest house in the Holy land there was never so much as a droplet of damp anywhere in the bathrooms. This one however, is a revolting grey, despite the radiators and window open etc. I am not keen on a 'whizzer'in the ceiling as it would have to be vented up through the ceiling and out--piggy bank a bit tight.

 

[Penners]

I have a love hate realtionship with this unlisted downsize dating from about 1899

Wow - that's a long time to own a house! May I say, madam, that you certainly don't look your age! :wink:

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Thanks for the compliment Penners, but my age is showing as I seem to have difficlulty with logical sentence construction--- !