For moi and others in Kent..advice pls

[Edwardia]

My mid-terrace Edwardian house, like zillions of others in Folkestone, has loads of horsehair lime plaster walls. But also like zillions of others in this mostly Edwardian town of 50,000 people, has replaced wall ties, cavity insulation and part uPVC double glazing. Most of the houses stand on sand without a DPC (ours seems to have an attempt at).

English Heritage advised me to use Farrow and Ball paints. F&B advised Estate Emulsion on walls. Dulux and Crown admitted that I shouldn't use any of their paints on 100+ year old walls. EH advised that I could use Wickes Trade Paint for New Plaster on my walls as undercoat, as although vinyl is formulated to be breatheable. (So far, has worked very well). I have found that I can use vinyl silk emulsion on my lathe n plaster ceilings (I like the way it reflects light) but not on my walls as it blows off in bubbles at the slightest hint of damp.

I've used Johnstone's Jonmat Obliterating Matt Emulsion and found it works well in non-high traffic areas but how do we cope with those ? Edwardians had children and dogs but seemingly managed without cladding and dado rails ??

These houses are not Listed and not in the Conservation Area but make up the bulk of housing in this town. So what advice should I copy for my friends on http://www.folkestoneforums.co.uk please ?

 

[Edwardia]

Ten views and no replies ? Edwardian Folkestone houses not old/posh enough ? There are more people wondering what the heck to do with Edwardian walls than people worrying about the possibility of skeletons in C16th houses.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

You might find http://www.rose-of-jericho.demon.co.uk extremely informative and helpful if you give them a call.Their technical data is very clear.Tell them exactly what surfaces you are trying to cover/or need to remove.

I have always used their products in my period properties with great success; even, with their guidance, overpainting another commercial product. They do a wipeable oil based distemper which has withstood dogs,children, suitcase scuffs etc.The eggshell finish I used in the bathroom for the tongue and groove beside the bath is second to none.

Another good company to talk to is Potmolen Paints. ( sorry, not got web address)

I am beginning to wonder if EH has some kind of 'deal' with F & B. However, that said, they do have some very satisfactory paint finishes which are successful in the right circumstances.

 

[DaveBrigg]

Ten views and no replies ? Edwardian Folkestone houses not old/posh enough ? There are more people wondering what the heck to do with Edwardian walls than people worrying about the possibility of skeletons in C16th houses.

Possibly those who viewed did not know, or were unclear about what your question was, since the first post takes a bit of reading to try to work out what you want. I have used earthborn claypaint for all areas without problems, except where there has been damp which has caused salts to come to the surface, leading to the paint flaking off.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

So what advice should I copy for my friends on http://www.folkestoneforums.co.uk please ?

The web address of this forum? :roll:

I'd echo Dave - Earthborn claypaints are great, if pricey (but no pricier than F&B). My problem with F&B is that although they are reasonably environmentally friendly, they still have VOCs and other "nasties" in their composition. Not a problem with Earthborn as they are zero VOC, which also makes them a dream to work with indoors.

 

[Nemesis]

F and B makes a wide range of paint. That includes traditional soft distemper, casein distemper and limewash.

Farrow & Ball produces some of the most environmentally friendly paints available anywhere in the world. Unlike many other manufacturers, Farrow & Ball continues to use natural ingredients such as Linseed Oil and China Clay and avoids the use of harmful ingredients such as ammonia and formaldehyde. VOC (Volatile Organic Compounds) levels for most Farrow & Ball paints are so close to zero that the leading finishes, including Estate® Emulsion, Modern Emulsion, and Exterior Masonry, are classified as ‘Zero VOC’ when tested to US Environmental Protection Agency standards.

Our environmental effort extends throughout the manufacturing process and has been recognised by the award of ISO14001:2004 certification. At every stage of our work, from raw materials to energy use, waste management and distribution, we do our best to act in an environmentally responsible manner. We continue to resist the industry-wide move to plastic containers, which are hardly ever recycled, and remain faithful to our traditional tin packaging, which has a high recycled content and is easily recyclable.

The Farrow & Ball range of environmentally preferable eco-finishes and eco-primers is denoted by the mark. All Farrow & Ball eco-finishes are low in odour and have ‘low’, ‘minimal’ or (as classified by the US EPA) ‘Zero VOC’ levels and exceed all European environmental legislation standards, including those not scheduled to apply until 2010.

http://www.farrow-ball.com/productadvice/Environment.aspx?language=en-GB

VOC content of casein distemper low, soft minimal, limewash - none.

 

[Edwardia]

I have to say that I believe the vinyl content of F&B's Estate Emulsion must be low or non existent as I have used leftover paint on trellis in the garden and it's still there, faded but not blown or peeling.

Sorry if I was unclear. My basic question is really with DG, DPM, cavity wall insulation front and back and loft insulation under a new roof, how important is it for me to use breatheable paints since my house can't be breathing much ? Does it make it more important ? I can see why people on the forum use distemper on really old houses, but would that have been used in an Edwardian mid terrace ? We stripped back to the plaster and matched to emulsion we found when we liked the colour, best we could, but would distemper bubble under Estate Emulsion... because the emulsion hasn't.

I took the carbon footprint test on http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk and mine was 3.49 tonnes per annum compared to the national average of 10.35 tonnes. So I will happily carry on using F&B oil eggshell and Brewers Albany low odour oil eggshell. I've used water based eggshells from Laura Ashley Home, Craig and Rose and Crown's Period Colours range and they are all horribly runny and difficult to use

 

[Nemesis]

Breathable - well possibly not the accepted sense of a historic building and the requirement for breathable paint. Paint it with whatever you fancy, it won't make a vast amount of difference there. Hope your cavity wall stuff won't spoil any wall ties and cause other problems, and hope sound traditional windows weren't removed to fit DG.

What did you have pumped into the walls, what is the loft insulation made from?

The stuff on that website I'd take with a pinch of salt. It might be OK for modern houses, but not for historic ones.

It does sound as though it could be suffocating, though, which is a different issue, hopefully there is decent ventilation, or you could end up with condensation problems.

There's a good picture here which illustrates why certain types of building need to 'breathe':

http://www.cornishlime.co.uk/html/technical/Decorating%20Old%20Buildings.pdf

 

[Edwardia]

We didn't have the cavity wall insulation put in, I don't believe in it. The bank insisted we had the roof timbers sprayed and the wall ties replaced as a condition of the mortgage. We discovered that there wasn't any loft insulation so my father paid for that to be done. I loathe uPVC windows but the upstairs had been done 6 months before we bought the house. Eventually we will get wooden DG when they give up the ghost. We have 6 fireplaces, 2 with cast iron fireplaces, one we hope to find one for and the others are not totally blocked up. When we do the kitchen and bathroom we will put in extractors of some sort but no condensation in other rooms.