| Introduction |
WHY
HOLKHAM LINSEED
OIL PAINTS?
LONG LASTING
Holkham Linseed Paints
last up to 3 times longer than modern paints. Not only will the subtle
paint colours decorate your woodwork beautifully, but the linseed oil
in the paint gives protection and nourishment to the wood itself.
Holkham Estate house, Wighton, North Norfolk renovated
in 2002. Windows painted in "Barley White", doors in "Holkham
Green", and render in "Parchment". (Photo taken 2002) |
COST EFFECTIVE
With their dramatically
longer life span, Holkham Linseed Paints will yield significant cost
savings over time.
ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY
Holkham Linseed Paints
are made from natural 100% pure linseed oil, derived from renewable
and sustainable resources. We use natural paint pigments and
no added solvents.
TESTED
BY SEVERAL GENERATIONS
Linseed oil paint has been used in Scandinavia since the 18th century.
Initially only valuable buildings like churches and mansions were painted
with linseed oil paint. In addition to exteriors, linseed oil
paint has been used both in interiors and furniture, internal doors,
windows and even floor boards.
The Millennium Almshouses, Burnham Market, built in 2000/01 to house
retired Holkham Estate employees. These were painted with
our solvent free Barley White Holkham Linseed Paint in August 2001. |
BEST ALTERNATIVE
EVEN TODAY
In addition to renovation projects, the natural appearance is also suitable
for new buildings. When selecting a paint one should also consider
durability, coverage and the probability of when repainting might occur.
A cheap paint may prove to be more costly after a few years if it has
to be removed before repainting or if the wooden parts are rotted and
damaged by the use of impermeable paint and need to be repaired.
When a painter/decorator quotes
to repaint the exterior joinery of a house, the cost of the paint is
typically between 8% and 15% of the total cost. The rest is labour.
It therefore pays to choose the right sort of paint so that you are
not having the painters back again for costly repainting four or five
years later.
BEST RAW
MATERIALS
Genuine Linseed Oil Paint is made in the traditional way from cold pressed
and boiled linseed oil and colour pigments. People often think that
"oil" paints smell strongly of and contain solvents.
A genuine linseed oil paint, however, contains no solvents but smells
of delicious linseed oil. You can almost smell the goodness in
linseed oil paint. A traditional linseed oil paint contains no
plastic or alkyd binding medium.
LINSEED OIL PAINT WORKS
NATURALLY WITH WOOD
A surface painted with Linseed Oil Paint breathes; therefore the wood
does not decay or rot under the paint. Repainting is easy as Linseed
Oil Paint can always be applied on top of previous coats of linseed
oil paint without difficult and expensive paint removal.
Modern pine door dipped in warm Raw Linseed Oil bringing
out richness of colour in the wood, then sealed with casein. |
Linseed usage has declined considerably
during the last decades as the petro-chemical and paint industry giants
have combined to drive prices down and spend millions on marketing their
modern paint. Modern polyacrylate dispersion paints have replaced
them to a large extent. Their sole advantage is a rapid application
rate and short drying time hence why they are favoured by painters and
decorators who can often apply two or three coats in one day and get
into the next job. But for outdoor use polyacrylates have turned
out less favourably due to their diffusion resistance to water vapour
and poor adherence to the surface to which it is applied, particularly
to wood.
In the outdoor paint market an increasing volume of
well-formulated linseed oil paint is expected. The main drawback of
such paints is that a good result requires the application of three
thin layers with intermediate drying and ideally a prior application
of our purified raw linseed oil. In modern times with cheap materials
and expensive labour costs, linseed oil paints are not the first selection
of the cost orientated builder. However, we try to encourage decision
makers to use Life Cost Analysis as selection criteria when making their
choice of paint as we have here on the Holkham Estate in North Norfolk.
Adjacent cottages with oak bargeboards before and after "feeding"
with warm raw linseed oil. NB the cast iron pipe painted in "Holkham
Green" linseed paint, and the windows restored in 2002.
 |
WHY THE HOLKHAM ESTATE HAS SWITCHED TO
LINSEED OIL PAINTS
The Estate owns roughly 300 properties, all of
which are painted on a six-year cycle. This equates to roughly
50 houses a year, which becomes a pretty expensive exercise. In
addition the modern paints we have been using over the last forty
or so years tend to crack and flake after three to five years
allowing water ingress so that when we come to repaint in year
six there are often expensive joinery repairs to be undertaken
as the wood has rotted under the paint or the putty has no longer
been protected by the paint, has hardened, cracked and fallen
away from the glass.
Our aim, using linseed oil and Holkham Linseed Paints, is to move
to a 14-year painting cycle that includes a single coat of Raw
Linseed Oil or our Maintenance Oil at year 7. We have calculated
that despite spending more than double what we normally would
have spent on repairs and repainting (because we are completely
overhauling all windows that need it and painting inside too)
that we will start saving money on each property after 10 to 12
years and that as time goes on those savings will be increasingly
significant because each time subsequent re-paintings will only
require one coat of linseed oil or paint.
Elsewhere on this website you will find photographs of windows
painted in Sweden with the same paint sixteen years ago and still
in good condition, or at the very worst needing a little attention,
but no joinery repairs.
Linseed oil paints have higher initial costs but good length of
life and very low renewal costs. Over a ten-year period linseed
oil paints are more competitive.
Our recommended time scale for treating exterior joinery that
has been painted with Holkham Linseed Paints is as follows.
Year 1
A single of warm raw linseed oil followed by three thin coats
of Holkham Linseed Paint (no need to purchase primers, undercoat
and top coat)
Year 7
Give the window/wood a very gentle brush down and then apply one
coat of warm raw linseed oil. This rejuvenates the pigment
in the paint which may have started to fade and brings back the
lustre of the colour. It also nourishes the wood.
Year 14
Give the window/wood a very gentle brush down and then apply only
one coat of Holkham Linseed Paint in the original colour.
Year 21
One coat of warm linseed oil etc etc
Disclaimer: Obviously there
are a number of factors that affect the longevity of the paint
ranging from quality of preparation, workmanship, climatic conditions
and the aspect. Holkham Linseed Paints cannot be held responsible
for paint failing as a result of defective workmanship. |
|
Typical problems associated with modern alkyd paints: cracking,
flaking and allowing water ingress. Last painted
in 1996.
Restored with Holkham Linseed oil, putty and Barley White paint.
 |
|
Click
colour spots for information
White
Old White
Barley White
Buttermilk*
Parchment
Sea Mist
Lichen
Wild Sage
Spruce Green
Holkham Green
Custard
Antique Gold
Ice Blue*
Linseed Blue
Midnight Blue
Iron Primer *
Brick Red
Chocolate
Houghton Brown*
Black
* New Colours
Some colour reproduction on this website may not exactly match the actual
colour of the paint. |
HOLKHAM
LINSEED PAINTS
