Modern Emulsion, Limewash, Distemper

[chapel]

Hi all,
We're looking at painting the walls of our cottage in 'Pointing' by F&B. Suckers to the brand i know!

Downstairs and hallway the walls are newly lime plastered. Obviously we want to keep every breathable and it'd be useful to hear what you think about the releative merits of limewash, distemper or a modern breathable emulsion.

We have a young child, so need something that stands up to a knock, is washable (to an extent), and doesn't come off on clothes. is there such a paint????

Put off by limewash because of the no of coats, and marking clothes
Put off by casein distemper because i've heard it can be a bugger to get a good finish and cant be washed
Put off by modern breathable emulsion as its not as breathable as the two others.

Going round in circles....HELP!

thanks all
Paul

 

[Gervase]

Earthborn clay paints - tough as old boots, easy to apply and very breathable. Not a huge range of colours sadly, but ideal for new lime plaster.

 

[middi]

Hi
Stop going around circles, you will get dizzy, fall over, bang your head and no painting will get done at all:wink:
You say the walls are newly plastered ( presumably internal walls).
Presumably you have used lime plaster( if not what kind of plaster)
You say you want to keep walls breatheable ( breatheable within the building or right through to outside)
What are you walls constructed with
The answers to these kind of question will determine what kind of paint you should be using and to what degree of breatheability factor

Middi

 

[chapel]

Hi Middi,
Yes, they're internal walls. Single skin brick infill, lime plaster on inside and painted on outside (most likely with any old exterior paint) - so i doubt the walls are breathable right through.
Had a few damp issues which seem to be sorted now through removing cement render on internal face of walls and repairing a rotten sill plate
thanks, Paul

 

[middi]

I am reading between the lines here and presume that your single brick " infill" is between the timbers of a timber framed cottage. This is painted on the outside with contemporary masonary paints. ( as you mentioned sole plate !!!)
If this is the case, then ideally the outside should be exposed soft bricks or lime washed if you prefer and the inside should also be lime washed, The principal being that when external walls get damp, the moving air will quickly dry them out again, any moisture travelling trough the wall should be controlled by heat and judicious ventilation . As the situation stands ( modern paints on the exterior) an attempt has been made to stop the water entering the brickwork, this does work to a good extent , untill the paint cracks( or falls off with any flaking bricks) water enters the exterior, gets trapped in the brick work behind the paint and the only way out is through the inside of the cottage ( and some large split paint blisters on the outside wall).

Under your circumstances, If you maintain the exterior well coated with modern paints you should also be able to cover the inside with modern paints with enough heat and ventilation to dissipate any moisture you may create within the rooms so no condensation will occur. You can certainly use limewash if you want which means that some of the moisture within the building will be absorbed into the wall and not as readily seen as any moisture condensated on non breatheable paints. If brick infilled timber framed, this ( later adapted or " upgraded") system needs to have a fast evaporation rate in both direction in orde not to speed up the decay process of the timbers.
In you situation beggars can't be choosers may be appropriate. I hope this helps

Middi

 

[jocelyn plummer]

Have a look at Francesca's soft emulsions.Also Little Greene paint Company, Rose of jericho's oil based distemper.

 

[robgil]

Did you say they were internal walls? I.E. walls with both sides inside the house? If so why do you think they need to be breathable?
The cement you say caused damp to form and thus rotted a sill plate, was the cement covering the entire wall?
personally i dont really see the need to keep internal walls (walls inside the house) breathable providing you dont live in a very water logged area, its good practice to but not always necessary.
Or have i miss read your post?

 

[piper]

Earthborn clay paint. Goes over anything and looks strangely dark and transparent when wet, and the second coat looks worse than the first - but don't panic, the next morning is a transformation as it dries to look beautiful. Over the last two years, since first discovering it (thanks mainly to this forum) we have used it in four rooms - old house and new extension, over old lime, new lime and gypsum. Quite expensive, but goes a long way. Mrs Piper, who is an expert at painting - and has done a lot in her time - says she now wouldn't use anything else.

 

[skier-hughes]

I've used casein distemper, very easy to use, gives a good finish unless you look hard or maybe the light catches it in a certain way, but we tend to look at the "room" rather than a section of the wall.
It can't be washed easily, a light rub over is ok.

 

[AMc]

.Also Little Greene paint Company, Rose of jericho's oil based distemper.

I've used Little Greene distemper on a vast exposed brick wall in our vinery. It went on well and is as durable as the modern emulsions we've used elsewhere.
There were spots where I used it to cover modern gypsm skim over plasterboard over the structural steel and it looks as good as the other emulsioned plastered walls. I'd use it again if breathability is an issue - nice colours too.

http://www.littlegreene.com/

 

[chapel]

Thanks all. When I said internal walls, I meant the internal face of external walls....if you follow...

I see the Earthborne offer a pigment option so we could get pretty close to F&B's Pointing.

Skier - was that the F&B Casein Distemper you used, or someone else's?

thanks, all

 

[Nigel Watts]

A modern emulsion applied over very new lime plaster may discolour as a result of the residual alkalinity.

 

[lou]

Can anyone say whether the benefits of clay paint are lost if you are painting over normal emulsion and whether there are any problems with getting a satisfactory finish doing this? I am very tempted to try them but they are a bit expensive.

 

[Moo]

I'd like to know that, too.
In my innocence bppuk* I used emulsion on all my walls and there are areas where the underlying lime plaster has begun to object.
Stripping it all off is quite out of the question, so I'm going to have to repaint with something that will work over patches of lime, more patches of (I think) distemper, and large areas of emulsion. And that will be a practical proposition for traffic areas like the stairs.


* bppuk = before I found the forum

 

[skier-hughes]

I used rose of jericho.
If you have non breathable emulsion, there is no point putting breathable paint on top, it will only breathe down to the emulsion, the idea is to allow the bricks and plaster to breathe as well.

 

[Moo]

I take your point, Graham, but although most of the walls have been suffocated by plastic paint, there are now considerable areas where I'll be painting straight on to the old lime - and that's where I've got to be a bit picky about what I use. So whatever it is, it must stick to the plastic as well as the lime.

xx M

 

[skier-hughes]

Speak to RoJ, they'll tell you what will and what won't

 

[Moo]

Will do.

 

[robgil]

A wallpaper steam stripper can sometimes be good for stripping silk emulsion , just scratch the emulsion to allow the steam to penetrate.

 

[Lime]

F&B paint is not what it once was and I wouldn't use it now.
It is a modern paint in everthing except the colours' names.