Limewash vs clay paint vs something else

[Jblakes]

Afternoon all,

Finally got both kids bedrooms to a paint where they can be decorated. Been a bloody long process.

Anyways because we have two outside walls in each room, I've woodfibre boarded and lime plastered. I am now looking for the best kind of paint to stick on it?

Can somebody advise.

Kind regards
James

 

[MatthewC]

I'd go for clay paint. IIRC, it is best rolled (brush the edges first) which gives a lovely finish - just don't make it too thin if you want to cover in one coat. I used Earthborn - other types may be available!

 

[Jblakes]

Why go clay over lime paint?

Been reading online and both seem to have adv/dis adv.

Kind regards
James

 

[tobydog]

Thumbs up for Earthborn clay paint. Being the kids bedrooms, you will get lots of scuff, dents, drawings, etc. on the walls and clay paint is likely to be much easier and forgiving to touch up. Lovely finish and can even take some degree of wiping down. Not really the case with lime wash. I've heard that lime wash can leave a slightly powdery finish that gets on clothes.

 

[RBailey]

We've used a bunch of earthborne and its not bad.

Although I also really rate lime wash in certain circumstances (Cupboards, really high damp potential areas etc.) and it has the added bonus of being very very cheap.

 

[Jblakes]

Must be looking the wrong places as the prices I've found are comparable to each other. Just wanted views on what's best, seems clay paint

 

[malcolm]

Limewash you can mix up yourself by diluting lime putty with water. A £15 (in the before times) tub will be enough do do the whole house and colouring tints are available. Don't buy it from people charging the ridiculous clay paint prices.

I'm not sure there is a best. I use limewash outside and clay paint inside. That's only because limewash has poor coverage and you'll need many coats. Outside I think I applied 5 coats. Clay paint has really good coverage so at most you'll need 2 coats. Modern emulsion paints are somewhere between the two for the number of coats but would be a poor choice as they are not very breathable.

I am a big fan of applying lining paper to the wall prior to paint. That's what they used to do so is historically accurate and you will be a hero to the future restorer who can strip the emulsion subsequent owners added on top of your appropriate paint just by stripping the lining paper.

 

[Jblakes]

How do they compare regarding breathability? We had a condensation issue in one bedroom, and so don't want to undue the work done to sort it, by slapping not very breathable paint on it

 

[Jblakes]

Oh and Ive just read the "apply lining paper". Never heard that before. What paper, I didn't think it was breathable?

 

[housewinnie]

Earthborn Claypaint

Earthborn Claypaint is an environmentally friendly paint that is breathable and odour free. Available in a choice of 76 colours or the popular white clay.

www.paint-direct.co.uk

Got some from here was the cheapest at the time..

Also managed to get away with one coat over a dark pink wall...Good stuff

 

[malcolm]

Oh and Ive just read the "apply lining paper". Never heard that before. What paper, I didn't think it was breathable?

Most of my house had lining paper over the lime. Over the years people had painted the walls with emulsion and gloss paints but I could get back to the lime plaster by removing the lining paper. I plan to use lining paper on most of my lime plastered walls before I decorate.

Most lining paper is breathable so long as it is traditional paper based paper. Apply with cold water paste.

 

[Lacan07]

How do they compare regarding breathability? We had a condensation issue in one bedroom, and so don't want to undue the work done to sort it, by slapping not very breathable paint on it

I think in terms of breathability I would say lime wash is definitely better.

There is distemper also to add to your list of breathable finishes.

 

[jamest]

Just thought it might be useful to know that Farrow & Ball estate emulsion (other paints are available) is as breathable as limewash (more breathable than claypaint), but only if you don't use their primer. The primer they recommend has very low vapour permeability. However, you get perfectly acceptable results using just the emulsion - I've used it on new lime plaster and it's perfectly fine (don't really know why they recommend the primer).

 

[Zebra]

Limewash is indeed very cheap. I mix my own as malcolm has described. But it's not very hard-wearing.

 

[TudorCottage]

Little Greene Absolute Matt Emulsion has been my ‘go to’ paint in our cottage.
I can’t fault it, excellent coverage, zero added VOC’s and breathable.
Not the cheapest but what is in the historic building world.

There are deals to be had, had a discount code and managed to pick up 5 litres in loft white for £74.00 delivered a few weeks ago. Normally retails at around £100
Assuming nobody starts banging the walls it should last a good few years, so £s per year isn’t too bad really.

 

[steveb]

I have had big issues with Earthborn clay on a thick external lime / stone wall - mould spots all over the external walls - like a circular blotchy pattern everywhere. This isn't black condensation mould that wipes off although we do get a bit of that where there is no airflow.

No issues in internal walls but I need to replace it as something isn't right.

 

[Jblakes]

Oh, it's for thick external lime /stones walls. Anybody else had this issue?

Id rather not come across it, as its the kids rooms

 

[Drayton]

I've had just a few blotches like that on one external wall (2ft sandstone rubble, all now lime mortared and rendered etc). That wall has some unresolved damp problems. It's the 'clay white' and I had put it on quite thickly (cosmetic repairs before visitors!). No problems with other exterior walls/other colours so far. Nor indeed with any of the internal walls.

I can't work the dates out for the paint purchase and when I might last have put some on there, in case the age of the paint on applicaton is an issue.

 

[a twig]

My local church got bored of the annual limewashing, and use this a few years ago:

Keim - Optil Interior Silicate Paint

Eco paint, eco friendly natural paint & decorating suppliers. Sustainable building materials, lime products & natural insulation. Earthborn, Farrow & Ball, Osmo, Auro.

www.celticsustainables.co.uk

Looks great, really durable and also highly breathable

There's a previous thread on here with a similar discussion, I used earthborn clay paint on thick solid stone and lime walls in my daughter's bedroom, no issues for the 3 or 4 years she was in there. Only thing is that colour consistency between batches isn't always great, so buy your "topping up / emergency cover up" tin(s) at the same time as you buy the paint for the initial coats.

 

[skybloo1]

Oh and Ive just read the "apply lining paper". Never heard that before. What paper, I didn't think it was breathable?

If you do put up lining paper make sure the paste is also breathable. Needs to be an old fashioned starch based one. Most modern pastes are full of plastic. This is the one that I used and the manufacturer assured me it was breathable. Bought via eBay and seems to have worked for me.