My Limewashed Exterior

[Nigel Watts]

These photos show the general effect quite well. All other houses in the street are decorated in a similar fashion to my neighbour (white sashes, white soffits under the gutters and pale modern emulsion paint in the stucco. Many also pick up string courses in white to contrast with the cream stucco and most paint downpipes the same pale colour as the wall.

My front door has been painted the base colour for a fake oak finish, which will be darker and browner.

My modern rear extension has been painted in magnolia emulsion with pale grey window frames as a contrast

Colour variability is too much in parts. Below the string course under the ground floor window it is much paler. It looks worse in real life than in these photos

The illusion of stone is completely broken when this happens. Any touching up has to be done across the whole of the fake ashlar blocks affected.

When spayed with water limewash goes very much darker but emulsion doesn't. Where my builder touched up using emulsion shows up all too clearly with this test.

 

[Alex]

Nigel, that first photo made me think of the beautiful houses in Bath, what a lovely limewash colour. It is the first Georgian house, apart from the left natural stone ones, I have seen that hasn't been covered in plastic masonary paint which is quite sad when you think about it. I see what you mean about the emulsion lines, is it possible for you to remove it without causing damage ? I like the limewash, even if you are not happy with the way it has been applied but isn't this what happens with coloured limewashes, don't the coloured pigments separate and sink to the bottom of the tub unless it is stirred almost constantly. I haven't actually used coloured limewash yet only white and that is bad enough for separating. Does it also look worse to you because it is next to the uniform modern stuff next door. I like it.
Not even going to mention the fact that you paid a builder to do work for you and yet again you have been let down :evil:
Alex

 

[plasticpigeon]

Hi Nigel, I think your house looks great, the overall effect is very sophisticated, and much nicer than the very uniform colours on other Georgian properties. I can see what you mean about touching in needing to be across and entire faux ashlar block and it is a real shame your builder skimped on the detail by using emulsion. However you can rest assured that the overall effect is a successand I'm sure you can fix the details in time.

 

[Moo]

You haven't yet paid him, have you, Nigel? How much are you going to dock off for that criminal use of emulsion?

 

[Nigel Watts]

You haven't yet paid him, have you, Nigel? How much are you going to dock off for that criminal use of emulsion?

I am holding his final payment. He hasn't quite finished yet so I will get him to redo these bits. He claims he had no knowledge that this had been done. It is possible that paint tubs got mixed up with distempter ones (silicate paint in a very similar tint was used on the new chimney stack in preference to limewash for durability reasons) but unlikely if the painter has his wits about him as the copperas limewash is green before you apply it, only going orange later.

The remaining copperas tint limewash I have is all coming out much too pale. I have contacted the supplier to see if there is an issue caused by keeping it too long. If he thinks it's just natural colour variation I have asked if he can supply some additional pigment. Alternatively I might order some darker copperas limewash (the colour I originally wanted but was dissuaded by the CO) and mix some in with the lighter. Most of the areas with colour mismatch are reachable from ground level or by ladder. Higher up on the front facade there are areas where there is some crude and very visible brushwork but, at least for most of the time, the builder followed my instruction to keep any significant patching up within the bounds of individual fake ashlar blocks, and it just about works.

A key lesson is not to carry out work in a haphazard, stop start way as my builder did. If all the stripping had been finished first, then all the stucco repairs, then all the limewash applied the finish and colour would have been more uniform.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well I can see why you ave some reservations, but these look to be relatively minor.

Overall it looks very handsome. You'll enjoying looking at it in many different lights over the coming months and years. The stucco looks good, and the whole effect adds an elegant warmth. Almost Venetian.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, that's so beautiful Nigel! Am insanely jealous, and hate you now. :wink: It's exactly what I want for here- it looks just like stone! People will go by and wonder why everyone except you has slapped emulsion on their lovely stone houses. Well done, it was a great choice, and the imperfections aren't even noticeable to my eye. I'm bookmarking this for future reference for what we want. I think it's totally stunning, and a massive improvement on the FnB "String".

 

[Nigel Watts]

Thank you for the kind words

a massive improvement on the FnB "String".

These are the "before" pictures:

The house we bought looked like this:

Painted in string (before the front railing were reinstated:

Now:

 

[Nigel Watts]

Just spoken to Ty Mawr, my limewash supplier. They reckon that the copperas pigment may have deteriorated over time in the tubs, given how long ago it was ordered. The limewash on the upper parts of the house was mostly done last winter and the lower parts, together with some patching up higher up, much more recently.

I have ordered a new tub of their Copperas tint (the colour we used) and a tub of the darker Copperas (the colur I wanted to use until the CO said no). If the former is still too pale I can used the latter to beef it up

 

[LadyArowana]

It looks beautiful, just like Bath stone..... or should I say cleaned Bath stone. It has taken a long time for most of the buildings there to have their black grimy coating removed. You should be really proud of what you have achieved, once the last touch ups are done and the door is finished it will be perfect, a shame none of the neighbours have followed your lead.

 

[Gervase]

I have to admit I wouldn't be happy with the emulsioned patches either - they stand out like a bulldog's wotsits in the wet. Overall, though, a lovely finish, despite the irritating mishmatches.

 

[88v8]

How many coats? At least three?
And... the stucco was patched, and perhaps had been previously. Different backgrounds will have different rates of absorption, which will have an effect on the colour both wet and dry. Indeed, the patching itself may be variable, unless the mix was gauged.
Also, different textures will refract the light differently. A different float, a different hand....
Given the 'transparency' of limewash, it all adds up.
I suspect it might require several coats, all applied over a short period, to acheive a truly uniform result.

There are doubtless several reasons why limewash fell from favour, you are now aware of another.

Looks pretty good though.

Ivor

 

[Nigel Watts]

How many coats? At least three?
And... the stucco was patched, and perhaps had been previously. Different backgrounds will have different rates of absorption, which will have an effect on the colour both wet and dry. Indeed, the patching itself may be variable, unless the mix was gauged.
Also, different textures will refract the light differently. A different float, a different hand....
Given the 'transparency' of limewash, it all adds up.
I suspect it might require several coats, all applied over a short period, to acheive a truly uniform result.

About four coats were applied.

Differences in texture and surface absorbability (if that is a word) are not too much of a problem. In fact it was very much worse before, as the stucco had been painted with Sandtex or similar masonry paint which had peeled off in some areas. The limewash has a very nice matt finish.

The main problems were the lack of artistic sensibility on behalf of the builders and possible deterioration of the pigment in the tubs over the excessively long period of time it took for them to complete the work.

There are doubtless several reasons why limewash fell from favour, you are now aware of another.

Underneath the modern masonry paint and emulsion (all fairly pale colours except the F&B String I applied about 8 years ago) were many layers of linseed oil based paint, some quite similar in colour to the honey brown the house probably was when first built. Given that Islington was a slum for much of the early to mid 20th century it seems likely that at least some of the linseed oil paint was applied in the 19th century. The air quality in London would have been horrible then (forcing middle class residents to move further out to the then rural fringes in Hackney) and the limewashed stucco would doubtless have got badly stained with dirt. This, I suspect, was the main reason limewash was abondoned in favour of oil paint as landlords sought to entice tennants back.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Some good news from my builder yesterday.

He has, in effect, admitted that the work done on the side of my house between ground level and about 15 feet wasn't up to scratch. This was one of the areas where the original stucco was is very poor shape. He tried patching, filling, skimming - none of which was satisfactory. This is also the area where he then patched the limewash with emulsion. The whole lot is now coming off and going to be redone in lime by his specialist lime pasterer.

Although between a third and a half of the original stucco in this area could probably have been saved had he been more diligent (which I would have preferred), I am sure this is the right answer given where we are now.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Front door now finally painted to look like oak.

The oak colour has come out a bit too dark. The photo of the whole facade doesn't really show the colour difference between the brown oak door and invisible green window frames, which I don't think works completely. I like the contrast between the oak door and the green railings though. Two coats of dead flat varnish have made the door look uncannily like oak desperately in need of a good coat or two of varnish. It might have been better to have done all the wood work in the fake oak and all ironwork in the invisible green. Perhaps I will try this next time the outside needs decorating.

 

[DJH]

These photos show the general effect quite well. All other houses in the street are decorated in a similar fashion to my neighbour (white sashes, white soffits under the gutters and pale modern emulsion paint in the stucco. Many also pick up string courses in white to contrast with the cream stucco and most paint downpipes the same pale colour as the wall.

I've just read all the way through this thread and your attention to detail jumps out of the photos. Your comment on the the pipes being painted the same colour as the walls reminds me of the detailed rainwater heads I made for a certain estate who own many properties in central London, who insist on painting everything the same colour loosing much of the details in the process.

 

[worms]

Door looks fantastic!

I've always wondered about these doors with the handle in the middle... Is this just a London thing? I know its the way its done down there, but why on earth should the handle be where the leverage is less than ideal? I don't think I have ever seen one in real life, never mind tried to open one*, but if you pull on the handle do you not need to jump back to avoid hitting yourself in the face with the door?

* Note to self...Must get out more!

 

[Nigel Watts]

Handles weren't really needed on the doors of smart London townhouses because there would always be a servant inside to close it for you. I guess if there had to be a handle it would be placed in the centre because it looked better there. If if was awkward to close for a servant why should that matter more than aesthetics?

Since we dont have any servants we tend to use what would have been the servants' entrance rather then the front door. We also spend far more of our time in the former servants' domain in the basement than elsewhere in the house. Our original bell system has long since disappeared but I have toyed with the idea of installing a new one. It would have to be inverted, of course, with the bell pulls in the kitchen and the bells in the floors above. In this way my wife and I could summon the children or our guests to come down for meals/homework sessions etc.

 

[JoceAndChris]

You've done a lovely job with that door, as ever. It all looks so smart!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Wow I'm fascinated by graining and marbling, and that door looks great. Was this your handywork? If so had you done it before and did you follow a particular method? in an old construction book I have it talks about mixing water soluble colour with beer to go on top of an oil ground!

I'm surprised you think it is too dark though, as I would have thought darker still might be better, but I'm realising that decoration may not be my strong point.