Painting Advice - Limeplaster & Plasterboard in the same room

[Rawler]

Hello,

I need to remove an (internal 1st floor) lath and plaster stud wall to rightsize a room which will mean replacinging it with a stud wall with plasterboard (time and cost). So the room will end up with three lime plaster walls (original decent nick), one plasterboard wall and the ceiling plaster(over)boarded. I intended to use limewash (with a pigment) over the limeplaster walls. Is there are clever way to "blend" in the plasterboard. The walls are flat anyway, so no contour issue. I get the feeling that using emulsion on the plasterboard will create a nasty contrast... Anyone done this? Should I ditch the limewash and go with clay paint? Ideally want a clean contemporary look with the right product for the material. It's not a 1700 listed property, just a 1900 stone terrace so has flat straight walls.

Any advice or examples glady received.

 

[mardinor]

It's first floor, so breathability shouldn't really be an issue. So no need for limewash unless you like the look.
Having said that, I'd go for any modern breathable paint: Earthborn clay paint, Auro, Edward Bulmer, F&B estate emulsion, Little Greene. All will work fine across lime and plasterboard - many, many houses have that mix.

 

[a twig]

+1 for the above

 

[paulc]

Are you planning on giving the plasterboard a skim ?
If you slap a bit of Febond Blue Grit on first, you can plaster with lime (done it here a couple of times). Or you can skim with Multifinish and then use limewash over the top.

 

[a twig]

In my old place I had several upstairs rooms with a mix of plasterboard, gypsum plaster and lime plaster. Clay paint over the whole lot and you couldn’t tell the difference

 

[Lacan07]

Hello,

I need to remove an (internal 1st floor) lath and plaster stud wall to rightsize a room which will mean replacinging it with a stud wall with plasterboard (time and cost). So the room will end up with three lime plaster walls (original decent nick), one plasterboard wall and the ceiling plaster(over)boarded. I intended to use limewash (with a pigment) over the limeplaster walls. Is there are clever way to "blend" in the plasterboard. The walls are flat anyway, so no contour issue. I get the feeling that using emulsion on the plasterboard will create a nasty contrast... Anyone done this? Should I ditch the limewash and go with clay paint? Ideally want a clean contemporary look with the right product for the material. It's not a 1700 listed property, just a 1900 stone terrace so has flat straight walls.

Any advice or examples glady received.

I would reconsider your desire to use lime wash internally, it's an idea that sounds a lot nicer than it's practicality. You'll find plenty of people opposed to the idea, I've run some experiments with limewash and im not convinced its practical or in my ability to apply it to decent standard

 

[housewinnie]

Can vouch for earthborn clay paint. Very good. Paint direct at we chesp

 

[paulc]

Just a thought. Be careful removing any stud wall. Despite what some people will tell you, it could be structural.
My ceiling joists upstairs rest on the top of a couple of stud walls. As the joists only span the space between these two walls, taking either out will see the ceiling collapse in rather a spectacular fashion.

 

[Rawler]

Many thanks for all your advice folks. I have been looking at clay paints so sounds like that's the direction to head.

 

[Kearn]

Many thanks for all your advice folks. I have been looking at clay paints so sounds like that's the direction to head.

If you’re really liking for true breathable covering, try Rose of Jericho or Ingilby, both offer genuinely traditional options, but at a price.

Doesn’t sound like you need to worry too highly though, so clay can work fine, unless the external walls are especially cold, in which case maximum moisture management will improve the thermal capacity of the materials.

The paints mentioned above all have chemical binders, so a bit of marketing spin. I’ve found Earthborn to cover well, over various substrates for an even matt finish.

New plaster needs a dilute first coat as it’s very thirsty and will be like painting porridge onto a hungry bear.

Limewash is indeed very tricky to apply to achieve an even coat, it’s a day between coats so it can dry before the next one. First application will need 4-5 coats. The method of application is an art and goes against logic, as you can overwork and over apply, as it needs to dry to become opaque. Pigments don’t take too well, and will only provide pale colours. I’d avoid it unless you really want to, or appreciate the very low cost of making your own!

 

[WetWales]

Hi guys,
Does anyone have any advice or experience in when they painted their newly applied lime plaster ?

the lime plaster is all finished now in our house and just been drying out slowly, some parts are still showing damp patches as the gypsum plastered walls slowly slowly dry out

Our plasterer who has 30 years experience in lime thinks it’s absolutely fine to start painting now ish, once it’s pretty dry, some of it has been on for over 5weeks

Im reading a lot of conflicting advice online -
Don’t paint new lime for 6months - 1 year
Paint now be fine as long as it’s breath ale

I was thinking of using earthborn clay paint….

Many thanks for any experience!

 

[Lacan07]

Hi guys,
Does anyone have any advice or experience in when they painted their newly applied lime plaster ?

the lime plaster is all finished now in our house and just been drying out slowly, some parts are still showing damp patches as the gypsum plastered walls slowly slowly dry out

Our plasterer who has 30 years experience in lime thinks it’s absolutely fine to start painting now ish, once it’s pretty dry, some of it has been on for over 5weeks

Im reading a lot of conflicting advice online -
Don’t paint new lime for 6months - 1 year
Paint now be fine as long as it’s breath ale

I was thinking of using earthborn clay paint….

Many thanks for any experience!

I thought it was 3 months minimum in order for the lime to migrate to the surface. I certainly wouldn't be doing anything before then. What type of lime did you use?

 

[WetWales]

Thanks lacan, I read and hear different lengths of time all the time! So perhaps it’s a case by case basis…
We’ve used SECIL eco cork on the stone walls and secil reabilita cal Ac ontop , and on the internal stud walls with wood wool board we’ve used isovit and the. Reabilita

The stud walls are obvisosly very dry now already as the lime is so thin compared to the circa 50mm plus on the stone walls so perhaps there my answer

Might paint the stud walls upstairs and leave all stone walls for a few more months, especially as I can see damp patches still


Just a tad worried my little girl is going to be getting lime dust in her eyes for the next few months off the walls but doubt it’s really that dusty

 

[WetWales]

A pic of back kitchen, it’s been in about a month and the damp patches have significantly shrunk probably by 30-40% already so fingers crossed

But I’m guessing it’s not a good idea to paint these walls! ??

 

[a twig]

The Reabilita is NHL based so can be done much quicker - I typically waited 1-2 weeks and had no issues. That said I had no visible damp patches…

I’d agree with your plan of painting the stud walls and holding off on the stone until those patches are gone if possible. While the wall will continue to dry and the plaster will be fine, with the Earthborn clay paint on it will be slower and I did have issues with salts and efflorescence the one time I put clay paint on NHL plaster that was still damp.

The Earthborn usually looks a markedly different colour when wet vs dry so visually will probably look worse than the bare plaster does at present