Covering Dark Rubble Stone Walls, Respecting the Age of the House , How?

[AndyPaul]

Hello, my first post, probably first of many questions as I am looking to restore my home where practical and possible using period specific techniques, and I do not know so much about that.
So I bought a property, the lintel above the door says 1765, but its clear there are many phases of building. I stripped out the house and removed all the modern plaster and sandblasted the stone carefully to clean it up. So all the construction is 1 metre thick fairly random rubble stone walls with lime mortar. This revealed some previously hidden features and I love the way it shows different phases of the houses life history, hidden arches, old windows, alcoves etc. But, my problem is that the house does not have a lot of window space, and the dark natural stone now makes it VERY dark inside, even during the summer. I am considering (at least for some rooms) covering the stone with something like a lime wash, or thin coat of lime plaster, but only a thin coating that still preserves the contours of the stone underneath, but it will then be white and I hope this will improve the dark interior. My question is if this is a good idea if done correctly? and how it might best be done? I attach a picture to give an idea of the effect I am thinking of. Any advice would be more than welcome.

 

[Lacan07]

Hello and welcome,

Yes, I think your idea is sound. Many people lime plaster the walls but tactically reveal different features, like timbers, soldiers on the trim of a fireplace, etc, and imo this looks particularly nice if your plastering thick (normal thickness) and rounding off the edges for the reveal.

Of course the other thing to think about is your house may not necessarily have originally been intended as a 'bright' house, and indeed off white walls are something of a modern invention. Painting a room in dark shades has recently become quite the fashion in old houses. It shouldn't be employed for very large spaces though. Maybe you could compromise with a combination of white ceilings and bold coloured furniture to provide the contrast against the dark stone? I think darker spaces are more interesting and grown up. I do however also understand why people like to utilise as much light as possible, especially when you're getting old.

 

[a twig]

In our current place we had a fairly hideous looking stone chimney breast that had been left exposed with horrible grey cement pointing, 4 coats of limewash later and it looks great, much cleaner and really lifted the whole room

 

[AndyPaul]

Thank you Lacan07, for the responses, interesting perspective also on considering living with the dark environment. I just came from a really sunny flat, so maybe its just a bit of a shock to me. However, it can be a beautiful sunny day in summer outside, and inside I need to switch the light on to read. However, it does seem to me that less window space and thick stone walls equals more stable inside temperature, cooler in hot weather, warmer in cold weather. There is a top floor room that I intending as a studio room, that needs a lot of light, I think I will try it out there. Its also reassuring [a twig] to know that you tried this on the chimney and it worked, thanks.

I guess what I need to know now is , do I use lime wash, lime plaster, lime mortar, is there any difference between these other than water content? Any recommended products? Whats the best way to apply for a large area?

 

[a twig]

Do limewash first, it’s cheapest and and can be lime plastered over if you decide you want a smoother effect afterwards.

Limewash is just water and putty- no sand. Can be bought in a pre-made tub if that is easier.

Slap it on with a very large brush and cover your carpets etc first!

 

[88v8]

Hello, my first post, probably first of many questions as I am looking to restore my home where practical and possible using period specific techniques, and I do not know so much about that.
So I bought a property, the lintel above the door says 1765, but its clear there are many phases of building...

Hello and welcome.

Quite possibly there was (lime) plaster internally in some rooms or on some walls, but it has perished.

As an alternative to colouring the stone, you might lime plaster one wall in a dark room, and paint it a lighter colour with limewash or clay paint. Choose your room... a 'night room' wants to be cosy = dark, a 'day room' less so.

Lime on coursed rubble, clay paint 'Ballerina.



Here is the room as was, complete with ghastly cement pointing.

 

[LadyArowana]

Welcome to the world of the moneypit! Limewash covers a multitude of sins easily. We had that done in our vaults area which is a mish mash of all sorts of patches and dead insects. Time for another coat of it really but the builders are long gone, which would mean doing it myself and it’s not the most appealing prospect

 

[AndyPaul]

Wow, thanks so much for all your suggestions, I really like all these suggestions and am inspired to use a combination of dark, lime wash and lime plaster. So I am inspired again now!!
Just to the money pit comment, spot on, every time you start one task, it results in two more , it started as an investment, but its now turned into a labor of love and a hobby. Thanks again, these are great ideas. If I ever get finished I will post the pics. Thanks.