Which is the No.1 Lime Silicate Paint for Lime Rendered Walls in Period Homes & Cottages.
Breathable Lime Silicate Paints, GCS Exterior the Best product for your Period Home.
During the Tudor period (1485-1603) in England, lime-based building materials played a crucial role in construction. Tudor buildings, known for their distinctive half-timbered style with exposed wooden beams and infill panels, often utilised lime render on their exterior walls. Lime renders, made by mixing lime, sand and water, provided a durable and flexible coating that protected the underlying structure while allowing the walls to breathe. You can read more about the different types of lime plaster here.
Painting exterior lime rendered walls on Period buildings can enhance their appearance and protection, it is crucial to understand the challenges involved. Lime-based surfaces present unique considerations that differ from painting traditional cement, gypsum or plaster-based walls. Here are some of the modern-day problems faced when painting these surfaces:
Compatibility: Lime-based surfaces require paint that is specifically designed to be compatible with the lime render. Traditional oil or modern acrylic-based paints can trap moisture within the walls, leading to potential damage and deterioration. Therefore, it is essential to use lime-compatible paints to preserve the breathability and integrity of lime-based materials already in place.
Adhesion: Lime render tends to have a powdery or chalky surface, which can pose challenges for paint adhesion. Prior to painting, proper surface preparation is necessary, including cleaning away loose or flaky paint, repairing any cracks or imperfections and ensuring a clean and porous substrate for optimal paint adhesion.
Breathability: One of the main advantages of lime-based materials is their ability to release moisture vapor, allowing the walls to "breathe." Using traditional, impermeable paints on lime render can inhibit this breathability, leading to moisture buildup, mould and potential damage to the underlying structure. Lime-compatible paints, like Graphenstone GCS Exterior Lime Silicate paint, allows for this necessary breathability while providing long term colour and protection in an exterior environment. It has an Sd value <0.08 a class 1 breathable paint.
GCS Exterior Lime Silicate paints are an ideal choice for painting exterior lime rendered walls due to their compatibility with lime-based materials and their ability to allow vapor transmission. They form a strong bond with the lime render, providing a durable and long-lasting finish while preserving the breathability of the walls. Lime silicate paints, such as Graphenstone GCS Exterior lime silicate heritage paint, offers excellent options when it comes to protecting and enhancing Period buildings and Cottages.
Aged exterior lime rendered walls on Period buildings and Cottages can benefit greatly from a fresh coat of paint. Not only does it enhance the building's aesthetics increasing the properties value, but it also protects the lime render and extends the buildings lifespan. In this blog, we'll walk you through the process of preparing the surface, removing old flaky paint, and priming and painting using GCS Exterior Lime Silicate paints. Additionally, we will compare GCS Exterior with Kiem and Earthborn lime silicate paints, considering factors such as cost, environmental credentials, colour choices and coverage rates.
Step 1. Preparing the Surface: Before painting, it's crucial to properly prepare the surface. Follow these steps to ensure a successful paint job:
Inspect the wall for any loose or flaky paint, use a wire brush or scraper to remove the loose material to a sound edge. If there are any cracks or holes, fill them with a suitable lime-based filler such as Graphenstone Primer Filler. Wash the surface with water to remove any dirt or dust residue, ensuring it's clean and dry before painting.
Alternatively high pressure water jetting may be used if the paint is particularly stubborn, a pressure washer can be effective in removing it, however, be cautious not to damage the lime render.
Step 2 Priming the Surface: Priming is essential to ensure proper adhesion of the paint to the lime render. Lime silicate paints require specific primers that are compatible with their formulation and must also be breathable. For GCS Exterior Ambient Primer L42 is recommended. It is a lime based breathable colourless primer that penetrates the porosity in the lime render, improving adhesion for the subsequent topcoats. Mix the product and dilute 1:1 with water, make sure a good mix applying one coat evenly by brush or roller.
If the substrate presents algae, mould, fungi and or other impurities, for non porous surfaces it is recommended to use bleach mixed 1 part to 4 parts water, rinse thoroughly after use. If the substrate has salt deposits, brush and apply Neutralysal Premium.
Step 3 Now that your surface is prepared and primed, it's time to paint!
GCS Exterior is reinforced with graphene technology. It is formulated with exterior durable long-lasting pigments and guarantees the breathability of the building. Apply two full coats of GCS Exterior over the Ambient Primer. Apply by roller evenly in a V shape, paint in sections starting with the borders. Without soaking the paint roller, use the roller to spread out the paint evenly avoiding areas that are drying and avoid overlapping. Allow 2-4 hours between coats and 24 hours to fully dry.
Which is the Best Lime Silicate Paint for your Period Home or Cottage.
Let's compare Graphenstone GCS Exterior, Kiem, and Earthborn lime silicate paints over four critical factors, cost, coverage rates, environmental credentials and colour choice.
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- Cost: Graphenstone GCS Exterior is a premium lime silicate paint competitively priced compared to other brands. At £18.50lt it compares favourably with Keim and Earthborn silicates.
- Coverage Rate: Graphenstone GCS Exterior has excellent coverage, typically around 14 square meters per litre. Kiem lime silicate paint offers a coverage rate of approximately 6-8 square meters per litre. Expect a coverage rate of around 5-7 square meters per litre with Earthborn lime silicate paint. This has a significant impact on applied costs, approximately a 40% reduction in material requirements.
- Environmental Credentials: Graphenstone GCS Exterior meets the highest environmental standards. Cradle to Cradle Silver. Certified by LEED, BREEAM and WELL building standards. It contains only trace VOCs <0.1% , no microplastics and has an Environmental Product declaration. EPD Verified with a GWP (A1-3) CO2e of 0.12kg/m2 per coat. Keim has a VOC content of 0.1 gm/lt and an EPD GWP of 0.21kg/m2 , resulting in higher carbon emissions per coat. Earthborn has few environmental credentials and no EPD data is available, VOC content is 0.5gm/lt.
- Colour Choice: GCS Exterior is available in many NCS Colours and 46 heritage colours in a 2% matt finish, enabling you to select the perfect shade for your Period building or Cottage. Keim also has a wide choice of colours, Earthborn promotes 48 bespoke colours.
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Colour cards and sample pots are available from AVACE to select your preferred colours before ordering.
Conclusion: When painting exterior lime rendered walls on a Period buildings and cottages, selecting the right paint is crucial for achieving a long-lasting and attractive finish to increase the value of your home. Graphenstone GCS Exterior lime silicate paint applied costs are significantly lower due to its competitive unit price and high coverage rates. Costs are not the only consideration, it is the most environmentally compliant lime silicate paint, independently tested and verified, with lower embodied carbon, natural ingredients, no microplastics and only trace VOCs. These critical factors make it the most compelling choice.
