I've read quite a bit on this forum about breathable (vapour permeable) paints and am planning on using these on my new lime plastered walls. However, my kitchen presents a dilemma. It is three rooms joined into one and of the 6 walls, only one is external redbrick. The other external walls were a new extension built by the previous owners. I have done my due diligence and lime plastered the redbrick wall. But now it comes to painting. I would like to choose an off-the-shelf paint for a regular high street shop. That would work fine in this room except for the lime plastered section. I need to make a cost effective choice. Any suggestions? Has anyone any experince of colour matching with the an appropriate paint for lime? Woudl using two paints that are colour matched be a possibility? Many thanks.
- Thread starter Maria D
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I suspect that, even if you could colour match (by choosing, say, RAL colours) you'd be unable to match the sheen or how the two paints age accurately. You'd likely be much better off thinking about making the different wall a feature wall and highlighting it in an obviously different colour?
Flyfisher
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I've used Lakeland Paints to colour match their clay paint to a Dulux colour. However, I only used the Lakeland paint so while I can say the colour match was good enough for my needs, I don't know what it would have looked like with the two paints side-by-side.
I suspect phillc's point about matching the sheen etc is probably correct, though I'm not entirely sure it would matter. We have a room in which the walls, ceiling and skirting/architraves are all painted the same colour yet the lighting, both daylight and artificial, can cause a wall to look slightly different to the ceiling, or in a corner the result in one wall being more illuminated than the other giving the effect of a different colour on each wall - well not so much the colour but brightness.
The only real way to find out would be to try it, but my bet is that any difference would be so slight and probably not noticeable, especially when the room is fully furnished and with a few pictures on the walls.
I suspect phillc's point about matching the sheen etc is probably correct, though I'm not entirely sure it would matter. We have a room in which the walls, ceiling and skirting/architraves are all painted the same colour yet the lighting, both daylight and artificial, can cause a wall to look slightly different to the ceiling, or in a corner the result in one wall being more illuminated than the other giving the effect of a different colour on each wall - well not so much the colour but brightness.
The only real way to find out would be to try it, but my bet is that any difference would be so slight and probably not noticeable, especially when the room is fully furnished and with a few pictures on the walls.
The section of the wall with the lime
plaster has two large windows where the rest of the length wall has no windows and the kitchen will be against it, so the difference in paint might be negligible. Tikkurila appear to have low SD value and colour match, so I might see if they can do it. Thanks for the advice
plaster has two large windows where the rest of the length wall has no windows and the kitchen will be against it, so the difference in paint might be negligible. Tikkurila appear to have low SD value and colour match, so I might see if they can do it. Thanks for the advice
Vapour permeability is one thing, the one that really matters is the ability to let liquid moisture pass. SD values are completely misleading and misused in marketing materials.
Try Ingilby, they will colour match their distemper - it is good value, due to very good coverage and is lovely to work with. The only other thing appropriate for lime after limewash, happily goes over other surfaces too and has a lovely flat matt finish.
It does need to be used quickly though (months) and what’s left cannot be kept indefinitely for future touch ups as it goes off and splits due to the natural ingredients.
Try Ingilby, they will colour match their distemper - it is good value, due to very good coverage and is lovely to work with. The only other thing appropriate for lime after limewash, happily goes over other surfaces too and has a lovely flat matt finish.
It does need to be used quickly though (months) and what’s left cannot be kept indefinitely for future touch ups as it goes off and splits due to the natural ingredients.
Stevers
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Different walls with the same paint will have different lighting conditions so can appear different, so a perfect match may not be so important.
Let’s not re-hash all this debate again. I think before we settled on:
Is Earthborn a traditional heritage product? No
Does it contain a small amount of vinyl acetate as a binder? Yes, it uses Vinyl Acetate Ethylene emulsion as a binder, i.e to help stick all the other ingredients to each other and the wall. The breathability is achieved through the high clay and calcinated clay content.
Conclusion: While not as breathable as limewash, it’s orders of magnitude better than the majority of available interior paint finishes, and is often an acceptable compromise when trading off availability, colours, durability and ease/speed of application
It’s not a debate. and the OP can go and search previous posts with all the info contained.
It’s not a decent product , I have personally had issues with it in a past life and have seen multiple other examples of it acting much the same as a plastic paint, bubbling off the wall and trapping salts that are trying to escape.
Clay paints are a modern creation. There is very little clay in the spec.
Its coverage isn’t great either.
If you read my suggestion, it was not for limewash, which has aesthetic and practical limitations for some.
Distemper is a cost comparable, historically appropriate option. It can be also be colour matched.
Wasn’t disagreeing with your suggestion of distemper at all, it’s a very good one!
Just pointing out that clay paints aren’t as cut and dried as your post seemed to imply.
I’ve used Earthborn clay paints extensively and seen the exact opposite of what you describe, no issues at all with salts escaping - indeed in one case I’ve posted about on here previously I spent a few weeks brushing salts off every couple of days on one troublesome window surround post painting - my own fault as when replacing the windows I hadn’t let the stonework dry out fully before lime plastering the reveals and then whacking two coats of Earthborn on.
When using it on walls below ground level (before I had resolved them) you could see the visible transit of moisture through the wall to the paint - after it rained patches of the wall would darken as it got damp and then lighten again as the moisture evaporated away.
The only times I’ve seen any bubbling was when I got lazy about making sure I had fully stripped all the old finishes off before putting the Earthborn on.
Coverage varied massively with colour for me, for some reason pale blues and pinks were excellent but some of the neutral / off white so happy to concede on that one.
For me the big drawback when I was using it a lot 10 years ago was their quality control, at one point I bought three tins of the same colour which turned out to be different batches. Both colour and consistency was noticeably different between tins
Just pointing out that clay paints aren’t as cut and dried as your post seemed to imply.
I’ve used Earthborn clay paints extensively and seen the exact opposite of what you describe, no issues at all with salts escaping - indeed in one case I’ve posted about on here previously I spent a few weeks brushing salts off every couple of days on one troublesome window surround post painting - my own fault as when replacing the windows I hadn’t let the stonework dry out fully before lime plastering the reveals and then whacking two coats of Earthborn on.
When using it on walls below ground level (before I had resolved them) you could see the visible transit of moisture through the wall to the paint - after it rained patches of the wall would darken as it got damp and then lighten again as the moisture evaporated away.
The only times I’ve seen any bubbling was when I got lazy about making sure I had fully stripped all the old finishes off before putting the Earthborn on.
Coverage varied massively with colour for me, for some reason pale blues and pinks were excellent but some of the neutral / off white so happy to concede on that one.
For me the big drawback when I was using it a lot 10 years ago was their quality control, at one point I bought three tins of the same colour which turned out to be different batches. Both colour and consistency was noticeably different between tins
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Flyfisher
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FWIW, I've used Lakeland clay paint on a wall with escaping salts (due, I think, because of a buttress 'capturing' rainwater and funnelling it into the rubble wall, but that's another story) and there has been no bubbling of the paint and the salts are easily brushed off, so I'd say that's pretty breathable.
I've also used Earthborn clay paint on different lime-plastered walls without any blistering or bubbling problems, but I admit that could be because there are no damp issues with those walls so it's a less conclusive example than my above example.