Priming lime plastered wall

[chuckey]

I am about to decorate a bed room. Its walls are lime plastered which was left with carbuncles in them, from pimple size to smooth lumps say 3" diam and sticking out 1/8". The wall was then painted sky blue then light green. the green paint is very dusty and loose. I would guess this is distemper. The blue adheres very well and tends to flake of when scraped. Where I have run over the wall with a scraper the carbuncles have been shaved to show spots of the lime undercoat.
What should I do next? I was thinking of using a "thick" lime wash to try to smooth out the bits of undercoat and to seal them, then lime washing the lot. Would linseed oil in the lime wash stop the dust?
Frank

 

[Ian Bond]

I wouldn't put linseed in the limewash for internal work if you can help it.

I'd wash the walls down carefully to remove dust and debris, then limewash with 3 or more thin coats, leaving a couple of days at least between.

I've found that if the limewash is too thick it tends to build up around small lumps and bumps, accentuating them. Also, if it's slapped on too thickly it tends to craze, and dust/rub off easily when dry - I experimented with this on bare stone that I later rendered.

Here's a link to one of the many articles I found whilst I was contemplating my limewashing experiments...


http://www.earthpigments.com/lime/lime-wash.cfm

You may have seen my thread on my own limewashing experiment - I'm fairly happy with the results, although the colour is a bit patchy it adds to the charm. However, the surface is not as smooth as I'd hoped, and is somewhat grainy. I should have mixed and sieved more thoroughly. It isn't dusting or rubbing off on clothes though, which is a big relief.

Hope this is useful, would be good to see some pics Frank!

 

[Ian Bond]

Here's another limewash guide...

http://www.northwilts.gov.uk/print/limewash_-2.pdf

 

[Chris1roll]

When i put the limewash in our living room ceiling i put it on (too) thick and it flaked off again within days! It definitely needs to be thin coats.

 

[Ian Bond]

It's very tempting to try and put it on thickly, especially with the first coat. It seems like you are painting with plain water when it's a basic, unpigmented wash.

Then the magic takes places as it dries.... Good innit?