Exterior Timber Frame Paint

[malcolm]

Sorry for yet another question - I'm getting ready for scaffolding in April for a re-roof (using the original materials as much as possible). At the same time we'll have the paint chemically stripped from the brickwork to allow re-pointing, and I want to tidy the front up and replace some rotten timber.

The front (west facing) was built in 1910 and has a timber frame with concrete render. This is what it looked like originally:

Since then the render has been painted in magnolia and the timber painted in gloss black. This is how it looked recently:

The timber paint is in poor condition and I'm planning to strip and repaint it. As far as I can tell the timber was always painted black. Would a linseed paint be the best bet or would something more breathable allowing the moisture to escape from the timber frame be a better bet? I'm not sure the current gloss paint has helped prevent rot in the sole plate at the base of every post.

 

[livias]

Linseed paint is very good. I used it on my previous house 12 years ago and the only thing I have done since is to wipe it over with linseed oil after six years when it was starting to look hungry. Quality of finish is all in the prep though. You will hate it by the end but it is worth getting all of the modern paint off

The main defect of linseed oil paint is slow drying time, so realistically you can only use it outdoors in July and August

 

[Penners]

Would a linseed paint be the best bet or would something more breathable allowing the moisture to escape from the timber frame be a better bet?

To the best of my inexpert knowledge, you won't find an oil paint that is more breathable than linseed. The only thing that might improve on it for breathability is limewash, but that comes with lots of downsides, too, not least the fact that you'll have to renew it much more frequently than linseed oil paint.

 

[malcolm]

I'd seen some old timber frames painted matt black and assumed there was a special treatment, but I suppose they would have been painted in tar which would be no good. I'll give linseed oil a shot.

The original concrete render is painted in a waterproof paint. We're planning to strip the brickwork but the stripping company don't want to strip render. Otherwise an approach like the Red House thread with a coloured lime finish might have looked a bit nicer.

 

[Keith Bowman]

I'd seen some old timber frames painted matt black and assumed there was a special treatment, but I suppose they would have been painted in tar which would be no good. I'll give linseed oil a shot.

The original concrete render is painted in a waterproof paint. We're planning to strip the brickwork but the stripping company don't want to strip render. Otherwise an approach like the Red House thread with a coloured lime finish might have looked a bit nicer.

If you simply want it to look a bit nicer, Anglia Lime of Sudbury (the same firm as Sudbury Strippers) (www. anglialime.com) do a lime wash called pozilime which will take over plastic paint like Sandtex and can colour it to whatever you want. It won't be any more breathable than whatever is underneath, but it will look right.

 

[malcolm]

I've stripped the timber frame and what looked like rampant rot turned out mostly to be peeling paint. The frame is elderly pine and will need painting again. I've decided on linseed paint.

For architectural interest the original paint colour (from 1910) was brown not black, and was linseed. The next coat was green, and the next a dark brown before the modern gloss paints. I guess the Edwardian Arts and Crafts ideals rebelled a little against the black and white Victorian philosophy.

Any votes on the colour to refinish? I want to change the render colour from Magnolia to something more white or off-white, probably in the lime wash mentioned above, just because there was so much magnolia inside and out I have become allergic. Would brown on the wood look nice or is it still madly out of fashion?

I feel the black might be a bit heavy as the rest of the house is in earthy colours. Here is a picture of the roof. Below the frame is red brick.

 

[Penners]

Any votes on the colour to refinish?

That's a matter for your personal taste. I suggest using a colour that you like!

For what it's worth, several people on this forum wanted window frames that "recede" have favoured a very traditional colour called Invisible Green. Several companies make it, but the environmentally friendly paint apparently preferred by these forum members is made by Little Greene:

http://www.littlegreene.com/paint/colour/green-paint/invisible-green

 

[Zebra]

I like brown for the wood.
For what it's worth.

 

[malcolm]

I would rather wood colour but my much neglected wood isn't really up to it. I've ordered a sample of burnt umbar in linseed to see how that looks. It seems to be a standard colour so reasonably easy to reproduce. If it is horrid I'll try for a match of some kind.

 

[plasticpigeon]

A question about the original paint colours. Could it be that the base colour is red lead undercoat? Everything in my Edwardian house has a red lead base. Then the next colour might have been the original top coat. I know it doesn't really matter as you should paint it whatever colour you think looks best of course, but I have seen Green wood with unpainted pebble dash and it looks nice. I'm guessing the stripper company don't want to strip the render as it is more easily damaged than brick.

 

[malcolm]

The windows were painted in white lead linseed before the same green coat so I'm guessing the brown beneath the green in the photo was the linseed paint used on the frame originally. I have found red lead on the crittall window frames though.

The paint strippers do have a point. It's a roughcast render where the pebbles were thrown on at the last minute and they would come off long before the layers of modern sticky paint. The pebbles have disappeared where the paint has failed by itself.

The paint stripper knocked on the render and said he thought it sounded hollow. I argued that was because it is lath on a timber frame and that sort of arrangement will sound hollow. An hour later the paint stripper called me back up. To prove his point he had picked out the gum holding the render to the bricks and hammered away a bit more to prove it was not only hollow but also loose. It can be fixed back into the frame and preserved which is good as that bit is mostly earlier than Edwardian.