Paint that imitates stone?

[JoceAndChris]

Hi all, I'm struggling with my exterior cornice ( forming the wooden section below my lead lined guttering ) at the minute - trying to get a match to the limewashed walls.

We chose to have the new lime render imitate stone in terms of it being scored like ashlar blocks and limewashed in " Naples" - which is perhaps a touch pale, but pretty. As you will see in this pic the cornice in its dark brown wood state disappears being the colour it is, and just looks a dark brown line beneath the roof line.

It is made of chestnut and cost the previous owner £7000 in 1985!!! I was staggered when I found the bill in the box of house papers. Quite a nice feature, and a copy of bits of the original cornice which I've found stashed in the garden. That seems to be a nice hard wood too, not sure what. No traces of paint remaining on the surviving fragments of the original Regency one so it's very hard to know how it would have looked originally, but I think it's designed to ape more expensive stone ones on higher status buildings.

Has anyone tried to limewash wood? Because I'm starting to think it should be "Naples", which is the Rose of Jericho limewash I used. Would it work, on top of three coats primer? It is quite sheltered. Rose of Jericho do a wood paint but it won't have the shifting blotchy colour of limewash.

Thanks for any ideas.

 

[88v8]

Well, you've seen the current Paint thread, so I won't say anything about which paint, but as regards colour ..... being in the shade it will fade & bleach at a different rate to the limewash on the wall so after a year or three it won't match anyway. :?

Ivor

 

[plasticpigeon]

I wouldn't have thought limewash on wood is a good idea, it might act as an oil paint stripper as it is alkali/caustic. The cornice is quite detailed so won't the natural shadows cause enough variation in shade? My favourite of your paints is the far left shade. Could you get paint made up to the colour of the limewash?

 

[Flyfisher]

When repairing our rubble walls we had some large (6x6 inches) oak lintels inserted above some windows and when I limewashed the walls I also limewashed the oak and it covered easily enough. I believe it was quite commonplace to limewash oak beams (our attic beams are all limewashed). The beams of the Guildhall in Lavenham are also regularly limewashed and I'm sure they know what they're doing.

Those examples are all bare wood though and I've no idea how limewash would take to previously painted wood.

However, it may be worth trying this Pozilime mix: http://www.ingilby.co.uk/Pozilime%20TDS.pdf

It's specifically formulated to adhere to difficult surfaces and I've used it to paint over our 'plinth' line around the house, which has previously been painted with some sort of tarry paint that's very difficult to fully remove. It has covered very well with just one coat, though two are recommended, and was very easy to use. I can't vouch for its longevity as I've only applied it recently but it looks very good.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Thanks for all the replies.

Ivor - yes I did read the paint thread, very relevant to me right now as I deal with the failed south facing dark green paint on my Windows! I wondered if I'd get a longer life from linseed paint but I think with it being dark green and sun all day probably not. I think I'm just resigning myself to 2 year touch ups!
I wonder if the cornice paint really will fade at a different rate? The limewash hasn't faded very differently to the modem emulsion "Naples" I've used on the cement bit. They have different textures, being limewash and modern emulsion, but the match is really good.

Plastic - I think I like the lightest colour best as well. It's Little Greene "Ivory" - as I recall you aren't a fan of this paint. This is the paint that's failed on my south facing Windows but I'm
blaming the colour rather than the company at this stage. I take your point about shadows but up close coloured limewash resembles clouds and eggshell is very flat and matt.

Ff - that sounds a very useful paint indeed - I will investigate - and I had forgotten about those super limewashed beams at Lavenham! It's actually quicker to flip flop your limewash over the whole lot, I'd imagine, than cut in fiddly joinery with precise lines. Glad you got a good fix.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Urrgghh - interesting chats with both Rose of Jericho and FF's suggested company ingilby. RofJ said limewash won't last on wood and you don't know what's gone on that wood, which is true. They said use Sikkens. They don't do exterior paint for wood. Ingilby raved about thier created product pozilime and said they'll match it to any colour you like. It does sound an excellent product. But, the catch is he said that if I suspected varnish or anything shiny applied to the wood I would need to sand it back to bare wood, which is something of a tall order, and rather dangerous access up there really. I don't want to be sanding at full stretch on a ladder, and not do I want to pay for weeks of scaffolding.

Off to look at the Sikkens colour chart.

 

[MikeG]

........ I believe it was quite commonplace to limewash oak beams (our attic beams are all limewashed). The beams of the Guildhall in Lavenham are also regularly limewashed and I'm sure they know what they're doing. ...........

Many/ most/ all timber framed buildings with externally exposed framing and rendered panels would originally have been entirely limewashed, frames and all. This black and white nonsense is a much later fad.

 

[88v8]

Many/ most/ all timber framed buildings with externally exposed framing and rendered panels would originally have been entirely limewashed, frames and all. This black and white nonsense is a much later fad.

And this had the merit that a regular limewash helped to seal the cracks twixt wood and render.

I need to recoat my half-timber, it's painted with hardware shop black matt, some of which is peeling. And the panels are whited with Weathershield. It would radically change the appearance to limewash the whole thing. And of course I'd have to strip it all first. Was going to do it this year... like so many other things.....

Ivor

 

[Penners]

Off to look at the Sikkens colour chart.

Joce, I think you're on the horns of a dilemma here (excuse the blindingly obvious comment!). I'm no expert on the Sikkens range, but all of their external wood paints that I've seen are somewhat translucent. So if you're applying such paint over the top of old paint - particularly if that old paint has become patchy - you're going to end up with a fairly patchy finish. If you've had to sand off any peeling areas, this will exacerbate the problem.

I know this will be anathema to you but I honestly think that, if I were approaching your problem, I would probably end up using something like Sandtex Smooth, which should give you good, opaque coverage and decent stickability.

I hasten to add that this is an inexpert view!