repointing

[The Griffins]

The next job in our 250 year old barn in the Perigord Vert is to tidy up the internal walls of the living area.  Like most properties in the area, the building is constructed of numerous stones held together by a crumbly white mortar - I guess it's a lime and sand mix as it's soft.

What I would like to do is render the walls and brush back to reveal the face of the stone in the style I believe is known as 'pierre apparente'.

I have read various articles and trawled through the Forum, but I'm still puzzled - what is the best 'mix' to get the job done?  Sand and lime is obvious, but 3:1 or 4:1 or even 6:1.  Is it a good idea to add a portion of ciment blanc to the mix?  What about a dash of PVA?

The walls are a couple of feet thick and in relatively good condition, but it is a pain cleaning up the dirt and dust all the time.

I've got three willing blokes (including a plasterer!) ready to go when we have a lads week away in a few weeks' time, so I want to order a delivery from Reseau Pro or Point B.

Any bright ideas from you folks out there who have dealt with this task will be gratefully received! 

[Bluebells]

well here in my bit of the Deux Sevres, my French builder used and advised 3 - 1 sable viene (a fine sand stone mix) and St Astier ( probbaly spelt wrong but they know what I mean at Point P)  a chaux blanc, have used this mix and mothing else for more walls than I care to remember and all have turned out well with the finished pointed colour a white / cream mix, I brush my joints over after they are reasonably firn to the touch and all has gone ok, others may offer other suggestions and indeed it may be different where you are, best of luck

[raindog]

[quote user="Bluebells"]...... and indeed it may be different where you are, best of luck[/quote]

I think this is important. Each region will vary. When I did our place I took a trip round 3 or 4 restauration jobs around our village and asked advice from the builders doing the work.

[The Griffins]

Thanks for this helpful advice - I most certainly will get advice from the locals before starting on the job.

A 3:1 mix of sand and chaux 'feels' right - it is going to have the right colour and yet remain flexible so as to allow the building to move without cracking the finished article.

[phylisbide]

The other thing to check is the colour of the sand because this will affect the finished look of course - making sure you have enough sand available to finish the job - our builder had  to go back to the merchant to buy an alternative sand because the first one he chose was going to be too yellow ...

[Punch]

Just to mention also that there are a great variety of ready mixed products available in a whole range of colours that are lime based and have hydrofuge qualities too.

The photo below is a job we recently did using Weber and Broutins Procalit range ( colour 016) .  The great thing about them (and why we tend to use them all the time) is that the colour is consistent which means if you do a patch in January, and don't do any more until the following January - you can gurantee the colour will remain consistent.

We also use tradifarge and sand ocassionally but the colour tends to be too white and the addition of colourants and such like is very difficult to achieve uniform results.

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v464/Etvoila/EVANS/DSCF0007-3.jpg[/IMG]

[bosie]

That looks great and the effect that we would like to achieve. Can you tell me how much it is to buy, where to buy it and what area one bag will cover.

When we start on ours it is going to be done a visit at a time so having the consistent colour would be great.

Thanks

Gill

 

[Punch]

Gill, we buy trade and claim the TVA back so am not sure of prices to the public but as a guide I think you would pay around 10/12 euros excluding TVA per 25kg sack.

Quantity used can vary enormously but if you allow 1 sack/m2 of wall area you won't be far off.  

The whole job finished below!

[IMG]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v464/Etvoila/EVANS/DSCF0005-5.jpg[/IMG]

 

http://www.punchardrenovation.com

[scotslassie]

Just like to say that looks great, Punch!  I too, hope to have a finished project like this in 10 years time! I plan to do things each visit as well.  You said you buy trade - are you a reg builder or can simply buying in bulk get discount?

[Punch]

Thank you Scotslassie - yes I am fully registered and have good relations with local builders merchants for prices, but the best thing to do is shop around and don't be afraid to ask for a discount ! And remember that if you use a registered artisan for the work you may only pay 5.5% TVA instead of 19.6% [:)]

www.punchardrenovation.com

[The Griffins]

Thanks, Punch - the house looks fantastic!

I don't think we are going to have the time to do the whole job in one visit so the premix suggestion is extremely helpful. We have to remove some patches of grey sand + cement repointing before starting, so this will take a lot of time. I will however seek the advice of the locals before pressing on.