PAINTING PLASTERED WALLS In every house there are some walls and ceil ings which should be painted or which it is usual to paint. There are many people who be lieve that wall paper is unhealthy, and that a wall finished in oil paint that can be washed is more sanitary. This makes a very satisfactory finish for the kitchen, pantry, and bathroom walls, since the steam and dampness in such rooms often prove disastrous to wall paper.
In painting a plastered wall with oil paint, the first thing to be considered is the best method of killing the suction, or at least ren dering it uniform. The paint itself, if mixed sufficiently thin with raw linseed oil, acts in a measure as a filler; and if a sufficient number of coats—say four to applied, it will finally show a perfectly smooth and even surface.
Other and cheaper expedients are usually re sorted to. The simplest and cheapest of these is to give the wall a coat of glue size, or a thin solution of glue in hot water, applied with a whitewash brush. This glue size holds out on the surface, and practically stops the suction, so that with two additional coats of oil paint it will look as well as a four- or five-coat job, using no glue size. There is, however, one decided objec tion to the use of glue size, and that is its lia 162 bility to be softened and thrown off by any damp ness which may come through the plaster. Some painters recommend that the wall be given a priming coat of oil paint, and that this he fol lowed by a coat of glue size, with two additional coats of paint applied on top of this. The object of this is to seal up the glue size between two waterproof coats, and so prevent the dampness from affecting it.
A good quality of hard oil finish reduced with an equal volume of turpentine (or with enough turpentine to make it dry without gloss) makes an excellent size for a plastered wall, whether it is to be finished in oil or in water colors. Many of the failures to obtain satisfactory re sults with prepared calcimines are due to the fact that the wall was not first sized with glue size or a thin varnish size. Some painters not only use the varnish size, but they give a thin coat of flat oil paint before using the calcimine.
The following is recommended as an excel lent glue size for use under calcimine: One pound of white glue is first F raked in cold water, which is afterward poured 4D and the glue is then dissolved in one quart of boiling water.
To this is added one pound of finely sliced bar soap dissolved in one quart of boiling water, and then two pounds of pulverized alum dissolved in boiling water is added to make one gallon of the size. Several prepared sizes, some of them made with vegetable glue, are on the market and have been highly recommended.
The question whether oil or water colors shall be used in painting the wall, after it has been sized, is largely one of cost, water color or calci mine being much cheaper, although it presents a surface which is more or less absorbent, is af fected by dampness, and is much less durable. Walls painted with oil colors are non-absorbent and can be washed readily, hence should always be employed for kitchens or similar places.
No definite rule can be given as to the num ber of coats of oil paint that are needed to pro duce a first-class job; but, as a rule, from three to four coats will he required, in addition to the sizing, although a fair result can be obtained on cheaper work by the use of two coats in addition to the size coat. As many coats as are neces sary to cover smoothly and uniformly should be applied, using white lead in oil, thinned with raw oil and turpentine. The last coat may be either white lead or zinc white, with such colors as may be required to produce the proper tint, and it may be made flat or glossy as desired. For kitchens and similar apartments, a full gloss paint is best, while a flat color seems most suit able for ceilings. In many cases a faint egg shell gloss is desirable. Sometimes a high-gloss finish is preferred. For this the wall may be finished in enamel, the same as wood finish, after it has been prepared by at least two or three coats of white lead in oil. Some of the prepared enamels are specially designed for use on plas tered walls and are said to be particularly ap propriate for use in hospitals and similar insti tutions, since they present a surface to which disease germs cannot cling and which may also be washed with disinfectants.
Where a perfectly white wall or ceiling is de sired, nothing better than pure French zinc, thinned with turpentine, can be used. It gives a smooth velvety finish that will not discolor.
Decoration by means of stencils or by free hand work can be applied to the painted wall or ceiling to any unlimited extent.
Interior Work