Question relating to Ancient Normandy Colombage House - Off-white Enduit?

[Sarahd]

Hello everyone.

My husband & I live in a four hundred year old Norman House which is half timbered and preserves most of the original features and materials in its structure - wattle and daub (torchis) etc. and so forth.

We are about to do some maintenance work on the outside walls of the house which will involve repairs to the final coat of "enduit" between all of the vertical and horizontal beams. This is obviously a feature of these old Normandy colombage houses and I need to make certain we match the colour and consistency of the enduit as closely as possible. Whilst I realise "enduit" simply means filler or filling in Normandy this word is also used for this final coat of plaster/render that gives the cosmetic finish to the houses.

I know you can buy bags of this enduit from local DIY shops and builders merchants however what I need to know is how to match the outside colour of our walls.

Our walls are a subtle off-white colour (close I suppose to magnolia) but seem to have a grainy finish to the enduit suggesting perhaps that the colour has been matched / adjusted by having sand mixed in.

My question is whether one does this by buying a white enduit mix and then mix in a bit of sand to adjust colour or  if one can buy preprepared enduit mixes which are already off-white.............?

Is there a special type of enduit mix with a certain name that you can buy that gives you this type of off-white cxolour?

I know this relates really to Normandy houses but thought I would put this question in the general building section nevertheless.

Many thanks for any guidance on this in advance.

Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nick Trollope]

"Enduit" also means "render" as in coating a building.

Normally enduit (in this case) is the local sand mixed 5:1 (or 4:1 or something in between) with lime. Natural, breathable and essential for old buildings. If you put anything cement-based on your walls, your house will fall down.... Honest.

Given that lime, sand and water will have changed significantly over 400 years, you may need to do a bit of experimentation. Or you could patch it up & limewash the whole building back to a single colour.

 

[Sarahd]

I would never dream of ever putting anything cement based on our walls I can absolutely assure you 1000 per cent. I fully appreciate that the enduit mix we need to use must be comprised of the right ingredients.

My question comes out of the fact that in the local DIY stores you can buy bags of "enduit" for the necessary purpose which are already premixed with, what I believe, are the correct ingredients (lime & sand) and all you have to do is add water.  The only problem is the colour which I think is normally always white. I cannot recall the exact name for the stuff but I think it is "Enduit de .........something"

My thinking therefore is to mix in a bit of sand to adjust the colour and achieve the required shade of off-white.

In view of your very helpful answer my strategy I think therefore should make sense............................?

If not presumably I can source the lime and sand & mix it myself. If so, what is the French word / phrase for the lime? My dictionary says "chaux". Is this what I should ask for?

Thanks again!

Sarah

 

 

 

[Nick Trollope]

I avoid the pre-mixed stuff (doing it yourself is cheaper!!), so I have little experience of it. Again, the best colour match you are likely to get is local sand mixed with chaux (indeed). i use a product called Batidol - comes in 35Kg sacks for about 8€

 

[Sarahd]

Nick, thank you again for your reply. Much appreciated.

I intend to venture forth and buy some Batidol tomorrow morning. Do you know which DIY or building supply companies stock it? Brico-Depot, Bricomarche, Big-mat etc.??????????????

Would be most grateful if you could point me in the right direction, Nick.

Kind regards,

Sarah

 

 

[Cassis]

I hope Nick will agree, your chaux does not need to be Batidol brand.  There are lots of brands of chaux blanche - but do get a brand (e.g. Batidol or Lafarge) rather than going for the cheapest non-branded.  The price difference is minimal.  If you are buying sand it is cheapest to get it from a quarry (carrière) and will also be more likely to be sourced locally.  Take away a few buckets of each, if there is a choice, and experiment with the colour.

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="Cassis"]I hope Nick will agree, your chaux does not need to be Batidol brand.  There are lots of brands of chaux blanche - but do get a brand (e.g. Batidol or Lafarge) rather than going for the cheapest non-branded.  The price difference is minimal.  If you are buying sand it is cheapest to get it from a quarry (carrière) and will also be more likely to be sourced locally.  Take away a few buckets of each, if there is a choice, and experiment with the colour.
[/quote]

Fine by me. I use Batidol because that is what my local stockist has.

Any builders merchants will stock it. I'm sure that BricoDepot will, too. Can't comment on the DIY sheds as I tend not to use them (for things like this!)

 

[Sarahd]

Thanks Nick & Cassis for your replies.

I now know what I need to know. Very much appreciated. Thanks.

Best wishes, Sarah

 

 

[Cassis]

Another good make is Calcia but I think it is Italian - the purist in me prevents me from buying it!