Sea-facing gable-end wall to paint

[Tabby]

fwiw fresh lime doesnt mind a light shower. Its so easy to apply & clean up, unlike other paints, that I dont mind a bit of a gamble on rain.

NT

[Jason]

Thanks for your help everyone - much appreciated. Even though this job is not strictly DIY, I do like to know what I'm buying into, and I do like to get involved as much as possible to keep the costs down. Rebuilding a chimney and walking around 30ft up scaffolding is just not something I feel confident to tackle, though I'll be painting the lower levels.

That's not say I won't be sneaking up there to take some pictures. Being surrounded by sea on three sides should get me a nice view :-)

I'm probably going to be going for the Johnstone's Stormshield. I've had a few local houses pointed out that have it, and they look great. Magnolia is on offer at various places, but I suspect my partner has other ideas on colours. I'm not sure if the "self cleaning" version is worth the 40% premium though. There is very little explanation about what it actually means, apart from containing miracle nano-particles (nano-bots may be the ideal solution though;-)

I've got lots of ivy to pull off before painting, so will probably be back here in a panic shouting, "help - how do I get these little stringy bits off?!". I might invest in a wire brush for that.

-- Jason

[Dave Liquorice]

I did the top of of our chimenys last year but that was large blocks of hewn stone rather than brick. So getting the joints even, level etc wasn't much of an issue.

Running about on the scaffold wasn't a problem for me you aren't really exposed on a properly constructed scaffold. I'm not a great one for heights, 12' up a ladder makes me nervous.

Hard work I should think, try a pressure washer. That's what I used to clean the outside here, removes the loose paint and anything else loose as well. Algae and moss no problem, ivy root remains are tough though.

[stuart noble]

I removed a big beast from the house next door, so I had plenty of time to experiment with different methods. The wire brush was a bit too aggressive for yellow stocks and, in the end, I found an ordinary paint scraper the best tool. Even on a crumbly Victorian wall, the stringy bits were confined to the brick faces and hadn't got into the mortar joints.

On this particular wall, my guess is that a pressure washer would have cleared the mortar joints before it shifted the ivy, and created a lake at the bottom of the ladder.

[stuart noble]

The Stormshield range seems to cover the acrylics and the pliolite. I would recommend the latter because, although it is essentially a trade paint in that it can be applied in the depths of winter, it has out performed any water based masonry paint I've ever used. Pricey though, especially in non-magnolia :-)

[Jason]

Good idea - I'll give that a go. Got a £13 special from Lidl a few years ago - works well, but bloomin' noisy.

The ivy is a kind of Boston ivy (which annoyingly does not go red in the Autumn). It does mean its grip is not too tight and it tends to sit on the surface rather than dig its way in. I cut the base a year ago, and so the whole thing is brown and crispy now, and comes off pretty easily in huge chunks. A wire brush gets the little bits off (I picked one up this morning), but the jet washer sounds like a lot more fun :-)

-- Jason

[Jason]

I picked up a wire brush this morning, and it has a kind of paint scraper built into the end of it. Tried it today, and it works well, but raises lots of dust. Will try again with a mask tomorrow.

[Jason]

Yep. I'm looking at six tins at getting on for £30 a tin. I haven't managed to persuade my partner that the magnolia on £17 special from many places would be the right colour. I did try ;-)

Thanks for the tip about the two types - I'll make sure it is the pliolite. I'm looking at three coats - the first will probably soak in a lot and fill the grain of the render (tough work), the second to give a nice colour coat, and the third to hopefully give a bit more resilience to the biting NE Siberian winter winds.

-- Jason

[stuart noble]

IME coverage is excellent. It doesn't soak in nearly as much as a water based paint, so you might need less than you thought.

[Jason]

I suppose whether I can return it will depend on what colours we choose. There are a couple dozen off-the-shelf colours that are ready-mixed (as far as I know) so I could return any unused tins if I pick one of those.

I've also noticed Santex on offer in some local shops for half the price (£17/5 litres). The local decorating shop can mix any of the Dulux range of colours in the store into that paint. It says "15 years guaranteed" on the tin, but I don't know how it compares to the Stormshield. There is no description of any use on their website though

Jason

[stuart noble]

as the pliolites.

[John Rumm]

More to the point, you can use a cheap colour for the first coat.

[Jason Judge]

Okay, we are going for the Pliolite for the whole wall (the final colour, magnolia).

One question: the painter doing the high bits says two coats are all that is needed. I suspect three would be better.

The first coat should be diluted with 10% white spirit to stabilise the surface, that much I am sure. But two coats or three? If three will add to the durability and lifetime, even just by a few years, then that is what I'll do. If a third coat is a waste of money, then I'll skip it.

Any opinions?

-- Jason

[stuart noble]

Good. You got your way then!

I'm with the painter

Are you? The solvent for this paint is naptha, so white spirit might well screw things up. I'd use the stabilising solution recommended by Johnstones if you think the surface needs it. You're paying enough for the paint, might as well follow their advice :-)

But two coats or three? If three

[John Rumm]

Two ought to be plenty.

Don't do that. If the wall needs stabilising, then use the Johnstones stab solution first, and then two coats.

Personally I don't think the third coat would be worth it.

[Jason]

Hmm, okay, perhaps I have been reading advice in the wrong forums. I should stick to the discussion group I trust :-)

The PDF spec provided by Johnstones, and downloadable from a could of places, does have slightly conflicting advice. It says in one paragraph:

And then it says on the same page:

I don't think the surface is particularly porous. It is hard rendering, and not soft limestone or spalled brick. Maybe there is no conflict and rendering can be considered "suitably sealed"?

-- Jason

[Jason]

Cheers. Two coats it is then.

The main cost to me here is the scaffolding rather than the paint, so I just wanted to make sure I got best use of that, even if it needed an extra thirty quid of paint.

[stuart noble]

I would have thought so

[John Rumm]

That's not a contradiction - just saying it sticks to painted, sealed, and unpainted porous surfaces.

The only ones you may have are unsound friable ones - and those will need a "suitable" sealer.

Assuming the surface is not all crumbling away, I would just paint it. You may need more paint than you expect the first time its painted - especially if its a textured render.