Schoolmarm
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It has been very useful. Thanks for that.
- Thread starter Ian Bond
- Start date
Flyfisher
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Yes, very interesting. The finish is a lot less uniform than I was expecting. I would be interesting to know how - or even if - it changes any more over the coming weeks.
Thanks Schoolmarm, Flyfisher.
The last pic is of a particularly problematic patch on an external wall, despite thorough preparation of the surface.
The area around the fireplace is completely new plaster, so I can't blame the old surfaces or remnants of modern paint.
Flash photography could perhaps be exaggerating the defects slightly - it does look a little better in natural daylight, not that we are getting much of that at the moment.
I will leave those walls for a couple of weeks now, but I can't see them improving on their own.
If I was after a better finish, I think I'd give the walls a good brushing/scraping to remove the worst of the gritty bits, and have another go with the pigmented limewash. However I may make the wash a little thinner, and try and get hold of a finer sieve.
Shining a torch along the original surfaces is an education. I'm talking about the area that were under layers of wallpaper for 150 years or more. The plaster undulates, and follows the contours of the rubble walls. Flat is certainly not a word you could use to describe it. However the limewashed surface is beautifully smooth. Not the finest work be any means, but still of a quality that's as yet beyond me.
The last pic is of a particularly problematic patch on an external wall, despite thorough preparation of the surface.
The area around the fireplace is completely new plaster, so I can't blame the old surfaces or remnants of modern paint.
Flash photography could perhaps be exaggerating the defects slightly - it does look a little better in natural daylight, not that we are getting much of that at the moment.
I will leave those walls for a couple of weeks now, but I can't see them improving on their own.
If I was after a better finish, I think I'd give the walls a good brushing/scraping to remove the worst of the gritty bits, and have another go with the pigmented limewash. However I may make the wash a little thinner, and try and get hold of a finer sieve.
Shining a torch along the original surfaces is an education. I'm talking about the area that were under layers of wallpaper for 150 years or more. The plaster undulates, and follows the contours of the rubble walls. Flat is certainly not a word you could use to describe it. However the limewashed surface is beautifully smooth. Not the finest work be any means, but still of a quality that's as yet beyond me.
Tom
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Ian, please keep your posts and pics coming. This is something I'll be doing a LOT of this year :shock: and I'm more than happy to learn from someone else's experience....I guess that's an important feature of this forum 
jaqy
jaqy
Cloudscape
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Ditto.
I'm not expecting to get a result as good as this. You've done (to my eyes) a really great job. I need a few acres of re-plastering, so I'm going to have to get to grips with it.
What kind of float did you use, and did you return to the plaster before it hardened - dampening and smoothing - as I've read elsewhere?
I'm not expecting to get a result as good as this. You've done (to my eyes) a really great job. I need a few acres of re-plastering, so I'm going to have to get to grips with it.
What kind of float did you use, and did you return to the plaster before it hardened - dampening and smoothing - as I've read elsewhere?
Thanks for the encouragement Jaqy, Cloudscape, et al!!!
I have to credit Liz with the limewash colour coat - I just did the mixing and basic limewashing (and of course the plastering).
I've tried several methods of plastering. With my house, the plaster is not flat and smooth, as mentioned earlier. There are just two coats - a coarse render which was not scratched, with a fine finish on top. The thickness of both coats varies with the uneveness of the random rubble background.
I've actually scratched up my backing coats for extra security. I trowel on the scratch coats, and level up roughly with a wooden float. Then scratch it up.
For the finish coat, I use a steel float. This gives a very smooth surface, which is probably not as done originally. I suspect that the original finish had a more open, rougher texture obtained with a wooden float. However, the original stuff is smoothed out by many decades of limewash, and I'm trying to match this finish, hence the steel.
I do the finish in 2 thin coats applied in quick succession - the first coat is not smoothed too perfectly, but provides a good base for the 2nd coat, and helps to control suction. It seems to reduce cracking too, providing I've dampened the walls well enough of course. In hot (ha!) weather I return to the finish coat every so often to spray up and trowel out any minor cracks. There aren't usually many. The original finish is very crazed in places, though well bonded. Limewash had filled these cracks anyway.
Patching is difficult, and I find it impossible to get an invisible join. I do sometimes apply a 3rd skim to bring uneven surfaces level, and if you do this within a couple of hours you don't get tool marks in the new work.
My rough(ish) plastering would ruin a fine, smooth room in a more sophisticated building - it is vital to match the original finish as closely as possible. Even my 1830s wobbly rustic plaster shows a considerable level of skill, which I freely admit that I struggle to match.
Good luck with your plastering and limewashing - I'm looking forward to see your latest progress pictures!!!!
I have to credit Liz with the limewash colour coat - I just did the mixing and basic limewashing (and of course the plastering).
I've tried several methods of plastering. With my house, the plaster is not flat and smooth, as mentioned earlier. There are just two coats - a coarse render which was not scratched, with a fine finish on top. The thickness of both coats varies with the uneveness of the random rubble background.
I've actually scratched up my backing coats for extra security. I trowel on the scratch coats, and level up roughly with a wooden float. Then scratch it up.
For the finish coat, I use a steel float. This gives a very smooth surface, which is probably not as done originally. I suspect that the original finish had a more open, rougher texture obtained with a wooden float. However, the original stuff is smoothed out by many decades of limewash, and I'm trying to match this finish, hence the steel.
I do the finish in 2 thin coats applied in quick succession - the first coat is not smoothed too perfectly, but provides a good base for the 2nd coat, and helps to control suction. It seems to reduce cracking too, providing I've dampened the walls well enough of course. In hot (ha!) weather I return to the finish coat every so often to spray up and trowel out any minor cracks. There aren't usually many. The original finish is very crazed in places, though well bonded. Limewash had filled these cracks anyway.
Patching is difficult, and I find it impossible to get an invisible join. I do sometimes apply a 3rd skim to bring uneven surfaces level, and if you do this within a couple of hours you don't get tool marks in the new work.
My rough(ish) plastering would ruin a fine, smooth room in a more sophisticated building - it is vital to match the original finish as closely as possible. Even my 1830s wobbly rustic plaster shows a considerable level of skill, which I freely admit that I struggle to match.
Good luck with your plastering and limewashing - I'm looking forward to see your latest progress pictures!!!!
worms
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Sorry, I think I've missed something here, what are you sieving? And where are the gritty bits coming from? Is this from the putty or the pigment?
Cloudscape
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I have to do the undulating surface. I have four wall treatments in my house:
• 0riginal delightful wibbly-wobbly lime plaster (fragile, but lovely and sometimes unpainted, under wallpaper/s)
• Gypsum skimming that's pretty much flat as a pancake, where it isn't popping off
• Thick, drug-induced, 'hey-man-let's-do-some-plastering!', mock-cottage/Spanish-restaurant ridiculousness
• And 'let's-cover-the-walls-in-plasterboard-and-make-this-room-as-soulless-as-possible', pseudo-quick-barn-conversion nothingness.
I forgot to breathe while typing that. :shock:
I'm quite keen to see how I get on. I'd have tried finishing with a wooden float, but only because I've had bad experiences finishing render with a steel float. It seems to induce cracking and possibly sucks finer particles to the surface - this seemed to leave the surface slightly friable. I have zero experience with lime.
• 0riginal delightful wibbly-wobbly lime plaster (fragile, but lovely and sometimes unpainted, under wallpaper/s)
• Gypsum skimming that's pretty much flat as a pancake, where it isn't popping off
• Thick, drug-induced, 'hey-man-let's-do-some-plastering!', mock-cottage/Spanish-restaurant ridiculousness
• And 'let's-cover-the-walls-in-plasterboard-and-make-this-room-as-soulless-as-possible', pseudo-quick-barn-conversion nothingness.
I forgot to breathe while typing that. :shock:
I'm quite keen to see how I get on. I'd have tried finishing with a wooden float, but only because I've had bad experiences finishing render with a steel float. It seems to induce cracking and possibly sucks finer particles to the surface - this seemed to leave the surface slightly friable. I have zero experience with lime.
worms - the gritty bits are in the limewash. I had the same problem before I added the pigment, and I washed the walls down beforehand so the bits must be in my limewash. I think I know how to solve it though.
You can buy ready made, finely sieved limewash that probably doesn't have any lumps in it.
But I'm making my own wash from lime putty and mixing it with a length of lath. Then chucking it through a plastic kitchen sieve.
I suppose I could try a bent piece of wire in my drill, but so far I haven't dared - I've got visions of accidentally limewashing the entire room instantly.
Great descriptions of the various types of plastering Cloudscape - The Art*x type finish so beloved of the Olde Worldy renovation fans is a particular favourite!
I have no doubt that you will be able to improve on the last 3 items on your list. You couldn't really do worse!
You can buy ready made, finely sieved limewash that probably doesn't have any lumps in it.
But I'm making my own wash from lime putty and mixing it with a length of lath. Then chucking it through a plastic kitchen sieve.
I suppose I could try a bent piece of wire in my drill, but so far I haven't dared - I've got visions of accidentally limewashing the entire room instantly.
Great descriptions of the various types of plastering Cloudscape - The Art*x type finish so beloved of the Olde Worldy renovation fans is a particular favourite!
I have no doubt that you will be able to improve on the last 3 items on your list. You couldn't really do worse!
worms
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Now I am notoriously frugal, but I did blow a fiver for a paint mixing attachment for the drill to get the putty moving!
worms said:
What?! Five whole British pounds - you spendthrift Worms!!!! Are they all like you in Ultima Thule?
That kind of extravagance is not tolerated here in Yorkshire, at least not when you can use a bit of old lath, and get splinters thrown in for free.
Anyway, I'm trying to do it the authentic traditional way. That is apart from the manufactured lime putty, plastic buckets, masonry brush etc...
:lol:
Hi Daron
I decided not to apply any more coats, so what you see here is 2 coats of colour, on top of 3 coats of white limewash. The pics were taken about 2 weeks after the last coat was applied....
Grainy surface - not sieved and mixed quite enough?
The area just to the right of the window has always been awkward - a darker patch appeared on every coat, although it has toned down a bit now
I'm happy with the results, and it looks better in reality than the photos - especially by candlelight. The surface is a bit rough and the colour patchy, but this gives the room a bit of character, and it seems to suit this type of house, a very ordinary stone built cottage. Seems a bit of a twee description now, given its modern, no-longer-rural setting.
I particularly like the matt, chalky finish, and am even more pleased that it isn't dusting or flaking off.
It will be a long time before I decorate any more rooms - there's a lot of repairing to be done first. I may use limewash elsewhere, and certainly on the ceilings. The basic limewash has covered all manner of fine cracks and old water stains rather well. Plus I'd like to have another go and see if I can get a smoother finish.
This room was the worst to prepare, as the walls hadn't been protected layer upon layer of wallpaper, so had suffered modern plastic emulsions. It took me weeks of scraping and steaming (and swearing) to get that lot off, but perhaps the effort put in payed off later, as the limewash stuck well and doesn't rub off easily.
Thank you all for your advice and comments on my experiment. I'd be interesting to see your limewashing/distempering &c pictures too. It may even give me some inspiration to do another room
I decided not to apply any more coats, so what you see here is 2 coats of colour, on top of 3 coats of white limewash. The pics were taken about 2 weeks after the last coat was applied....
Grainy surface - not sieved and mixed quite enough?
The area just to the right of the window has always been awkward - a darker patch appeared on every coat, although it has toned down a bit now
I'm happy with the results, and it looks better in reality than the photos - especially by candlelight. The surface is a bit rough and the colour patchy, but this gives the room a bit of character, and it seems to suit this type of house, a very ordinary stone built cottage. Seems a bit of a twee description now, given its modern, no-longer-rural setting.
I particularly like the matt, chalky finish, and am even more pleased that it isn't dusting or flaking off.
It will be a long time before I decorate any more rooms - there's a lot of repairing to be done first. I may use limewash elsewhere, and certainly on the ceilings. The basic limewash has covered all manner of fine cracks and old water stains rather well. Plus I'd like to have another go and see if I can get a smoother finish.
This room was the worst to prepare, as the walls hadn't been protected layer upon layer of wallpaper, so had suffered modern plastic emulsions. It took me weeks of scraping and steaming (and swearing) to get that lot off, but perhaps the effort put in payed off later, as the limewash stuck well and doesn't rub off easily.
Thank you all for your advice and comments on my experiment. I'd be interesting to see your limewashing/distempering &c pictures too. It may even give me some inspiration to do another room