To Limewash or not to Lime Wash

[L1zzy]

Hi folks - having just about finished all my repointing in Lime to teh front of my cottage I have begun to apply White Limewash currently 2 more coats to go. Its all gone well and in teh process of stripping off teh layers of modern emulsion and concrete that had been aplied previously I was able to reveal that the lower half of teh front consisted of irregular blocks of Local green Sandstone (Rubblestone) as these have dried out they have revealed gorgeuosu clours from Ochre to green thr Grey etc and I love looking at them. teh upper half of teh cottage is all brick and it is teh upper half I have Limewashed so far. My quandry is this given I love the look of teh rubblestone it would be wonderful to keep it unwashed but I'm concerned the cottage looks daft 1/2 and 1/2 . At the moment on a daily basis I cheng my mind to wash or not to wash - given that soon there will be a domed zinc canopy above the front door and yes I have plans to plant a Mermaid rose (rose round teh door) - these two things will relieve the current striking half and half effect - what do you guys think I wonder?

 

[Mark]

I think we need pictures.

 

[Nemesis]

It may not be advisable on sandstone:

http://www.spab.org.uk/html/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-18-limewash/?PHPSESSID=13c74679ae72a846044fbdf6e3e6d106

http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/vapour/vapour.htm


The stone sounds lovely anyhow - why cover it?

(check with the CO too...)

PS consider a Gloire de Dijon. My favourite. Although Mermaid is lovely too.

http://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/m/mermaid.html

http://www.classicroses.co.uk/roses/g/gloire_de_dijon.html

 

[MdB]

It may not be advisable on sandstone:

http://www.spab.org.uk/html/advice/technical-qas/technical-qa-18-limewash/?PHPSESSID=13c74679ae72a846044fbdf6e3e6d106

http://www.buildingconservation.com/articles/vapour/vapour.htm

From the last link:
"Limewash should not be used on sandstone which has not previously been treated with limewash, as the introduction of lime can lead to its deterioration"

My end walls are made from some horrible poor quality sandstone which cracks and crumbles easily (though it looks quite nice). It also soaks up water like a sponge. One wall currently has a failing layer of cement render on it which we intend to remove. The other wall has 10 or more layers of paint on it of various types which is peeling away. Again the plan is to remove this. Underneath the wall is held together with mud which we plan to point with lime. To finish it off and to help keep the rain from soaking into the surface too quickly, the plan was to cover the wall with limewash but the above comments have put me of this idea. Maybe a silicate paint would be a better idea. I don't think leaving the wall bare would be a good idea as just too much rain would be absorbed by the stone.

 

[Nemesis]

And yet sandstone has been limewashed in the past, I think it's maybe a question of trial and error on individual buildings.

Give one of the lime suppliers a ring and see what they say.

It's worth discussing it with SPAB too.

 

[L1zzy]

Hi Everyone - thank you and my sincere apologies for the absolutely appalling spelling (I was typing in secret at work!)

Mm very interesting rearding the limewash and sandstone info - thankyou it makes me feel much better about leaving the stone and my rather fabulous (even if I do say so myself) pointing work on view - Nemesis yes I too love Gloire de Dijon and that lovely blush pink would look great against the grey/ochre stone - but Mermaid is a long held ambition of mine ever since seeing it against Monets' house at Giverney.Mind you you can never have enough roses round the door!

I'm really pleased none of you exclaimed that the 1/2 and 1/2 ide was totally barmy so will spek with the CO before finally leaving as is.

Thanks again everyone - Has someone put something in the water ? the general tone of dialogue on the forum seems to have really become much more positive and supportive as well as informative of late?

 

[L1zzy]

to MdB - some of my greensandstone 'stones' were very absorbent as they had been previously smothered in modern emulsion - it wasn't the quality of the stone it was the smothering that caused them to become badly spalled and flakey - but within about 2 weeks these same stones dried out once exposed and now look just fine although the surface water damage couldn't be undone I found often the next layer down was dry out able so... don't despair you may find the problem isn't as bad as it first looks - my stones have only just dried out after about 3 months of being exposed to good old fresh air and sun. I feel very strongly now that any modern paint finish is a disaster for old materials so I wouldn't use silicate paint because it can stick like superglue and you then can't undo it without more damage - but I'm just a novice others on this forum have much deeper experience than I.