Cornices and colour-schemes

[JoceAndChris]

I may well be wrong, dear Moo. I wouldn't do it without getting some good clear guidance though. I'm sure Nigel will respond to a PM if he doesn't see this.

 

[Nigel Watts]

So yet another S.O.S. to Nigel: how did you mix the pigment into your home-made distemper?

Sorry for the delay in replying. I had a rare day off work yesterday and spent most of it trying to blend in various differents shades of limewash on my facade. It's a long story. The original batch of limewash has lost much of its colour after being stored for a year and the new batch is much yellower than the old one. I made some progress but am still not completely happy with the result. I intend to write up some "dos and don'ts" when all this is finished for the benefit of anyone else foolhardy enough to attempt what I did.

All the pigments I got from AP Fitzpatrick were already ground into a fine powder. When making my own distemper I would dampen the pigments and whiting first to make a thick paste before adding the warm water and size - rather like making a mug of cocoa. I have never tried adding dry pigment to commercially made distemper but I imagine a similar routine might work.

If you have to add a large amount of pigment to get the colour you want you may need to thin the distemper to get the right consistency and you could end up with a distemper which is too weak and powdery. This could perhaps be rectified by adding some more size when you add the pigment.

 

[Moo]

I'd I understand, therefore, that you get an accurate idea of the finished colour by just dampening the pigment/whiting mixture?

 

[Nigel Watts]

Distemper dries much paler that it looks when wet. The only sure way to test the colour is to apply soem and let it dry.

 

[Gervase]

So yet another S.O.S. to Nigel: how did you mix the pigment into your home-made distemper?

Sorry for the delay in replying. I had a rare day off work yesterday and spent most of it trying to blend in various differents shades of limewash on my facade. It's a long story. The original batch of limewash has lost much of its colour after being stored for a year and the new batch is much yellower than the old one. I made some progress but am still not completely happy with the result. I intend to write up some "dos and don'ts" when all this is finished for the benefit of anyone else foolhardy enough to attempt what I did.

All the pigments I got from AP Fitzpatrick were already ground into a fine powder. When making my own distemper I would dampen the pigments and whiting first to make a thick paste before adding the warm water and size - rather like making a mug of cocoa. I have never tried adding dry pigment to commercially made distemper but I imagine a similar routine might work.

If you have to add a large amount of pigment to get the colour you want you may need to thin the distemper to get the right consistency and you could end up with a distemper which is too weak and powdery. This could perhaps be rectified by adding some more size when you add the pigment.

A household blender is a boon when adding pigments to limewash or distemper. I use American-style cup measures (from John Lewis) to measure out the pigment, and then add double the amount of water and blend like crazy. Then add the resulting coloured slurry to a known quantity of limewash or distemper. Not forgetting, of course, the linseed oil in the case of limewash to help it adhere better. But consistency is all.

 

[Penners]

Ah! That explains why your mushroom soup is blue.

 

[clarrabel]

Just been trawling through old forum posts as we are about to start major redecoration/renovation work on our Victorian flat. Could you please tell me how you stripped these cornices back? We've got some lovely cornicing but it is a bit gummed up with years of paint. So far all my research on stripping cornices has led to specialists in the trade (too expensive!), not the product itself. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[plasticpigeon]

I'm jumping in here, but the product to do that kind of thing is peelaway, or some other brand of poultice type stripper. I've heard caustic soda with flour and water can be used but I've not tried that. Peelaway has worked well for me on architrave, mouldings on sash windows where I don't want to go with a hot air gun for fear of breaking the glass, and metal parts such as door knobs etc. Now that nitromoors new formula is so poor at stripping paint, this seems the best product and it id definitely the best for plasterwork.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Peelaway sounds good! I've only ever used Nitromors, which works but is awful stuff.

These people are wonderfully helpful in giving advice by telephone and supplying products.

http://www.stripperspaintremovers.com/

In a larger house, it may be worth keeping pets and children in a completely different part if it's to be a big stripping project. In a flat, please ensure pets and children have somewhere else to stay and you wear a mask, gloves and protective clothing. Summer is the best time for stripping, so the windows may be flung wide. Vacuum all areas affected really well at the end of every working session.

 

[dandrew]

I used Peelaway very successfully on 60 feet of Victorian cornice a few years ago - it goes on with a brush and comes off in big chunks when you use the appropriate backing paper. I tried a similar product called Klingstrip, which did not work as well in my hands.

David

 

[clarrabel]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into the peelaway.

For those mentioning nitromors, a plasterer we know recommended that for stripping all the paintwork. He said you can make your own version, with wallpaper paste and caustic soda. This way you can make it much stronger so it strips the paint right off - down side is that it also strips the skin from your fingers if you're not careful!

 

[Penners]

A liquid/gel like Nitromors is fine if you want to strip something in an environment where its oozing and dripping won't matter. But try stripping, say, balusters or a ceiling cornice in situ and you're going to have a hell of a mess to deal with. Products like Klingstrip and Peelaway have the advantage of being semi-solid, so you're dealing with a much more controllable substance.