Bath Stone - Painting?

New_User

I've been advised that the window and door surrounds of my Edwardian house are made of Bath Stone.
Any paint seems to peel off within a few weeks/months.
Does anyone have any advice?
Thanks.

macman

What type of paint have you been using?

Doozergirl

Strip them! Why paint over something of value and character.

cyclonebri1

Doozergirl wrote: »

Strip them! Why paint over something of value and character.

Totally agree, clean and expose then seal with a slate/stone sealant.
Cheap as chips.

arbrighton

Doozergirl wrote: »

Strip them! Why paint over something of value and character.

^^^^^^^ This, Bath stone is beautiful

WestonDave

As a Bath resident I'm aghast - you'd be strung up here for even thinking of such a thing! (To be slightly more helpful - you'll struggle to get anything to stick as the surface tends to "dust" which brings the paint off - there are bits that do get painted such as backgrounds to house numbers etc, but I suspect they originate a long time back with nasty old paint with dubious contents)

New_User

Thanks for all the replies.

Not sure about the type of paint used.
(A previous neighbour did it for free, but he has died now.)

There are loads of layers of paint on the surrounds.
All the other houses in the street seem to have the same problem.
No one else seems to have their stone exposed, so can't ask them for advice. Everyone just seems to keep on painting...

Any suggestions as to best way to remove the paint?

Also, some areas of the stone have been "repaired" using, what I presume, is some kind of mortar. Not very well done.
So I was considering asking for some quotes to repair properly.

Presumably, they would need to remove the mortar used to repair and then replace with a Bath Stone based mortar (if such a thing exists?)

Wanted to get a bit of background knowledge first.
I've found a bit on online.

Anyone know best sealant to use?

Thanks.

justintime999

Doozergirl wrote: »

Strip them! Why paint over something of value and character.

Exactly what I was thinking.

Davesnave

I don't believe you can seal Bath stone with anything that doesn't breathe. Moisture trapped within the stone turns to an aggressive chemical over time, attacking weak areas, hence the pock-marking of some Bath buildings that were formerly painted.

Bath stone is cleaned by specialist companies and most of the city's old buildings have now had the grime washed off. Many were black with pollution back in the 70s & 80s, and when I say black, that's what I mean!

The stone may be repaired with a putty mix made from ground Bath stone, lime and possibly a little cement, but I can't remember the formula now. I know that my repairs using the mix lasted over 20 years, whereas those done by people who used ordinary mortar with a bit of colourant, cracked off pretty soon.