Lithomex
- Thread starter nicol
- Start date
- Status
I agree.Its a very friendly product but I had an enquiry which they needed a sample for my colour match. I chipped off some stone work and sent it off. when it came back I did think that it looked a different shade but hey what do I know!
Having gauged it up and applied it still thinking it might dry in to match I left the job.Had a call back to find it looked like a sore thumb sticking out.
I phoned up the manufacturer and said what was the problem.
He needed yet another sample to match up.
Clock was now running and my good name & the price was looking grim.
It came back later than promised and still not the colour match as promised.
They refunded me but be we're of this as the house which I was working on was in the £11 million bracket and it cost me a gd job which the material failed and let me down
For now artisans
Gazzer63
Hi Gazzer, using 1 colour, either matched or a shelf colour will almost always stick out like a sore thumb next to weathered stone. We either finish the Litho as a new repair, colours depending on the stonework next to it, or more often age it ourselves. Hiding Lithomex repairs on a carbon stained sandstone building is very easy to do.
Always go darker in colour than you may initially think as factors such as how you dress the finish / lime bloom / weather conditions will always lighten the colour.
Don't finish ashlar faces surface with a trowel / sponge /wood like render or it will look just like render.
Silicone carbide block then finer sandpaper while still green(following day)
Try to go as close to the surrounding stone's colours - then age it using pigment / tooling etc
There's a few issues we've come across with Lithomex, but they are mainly bossing/blooming.
Trouble with stone restoration is
Masons: Crap plastering / trowelling skills
Plasterers: Used to working with wet mortar, no stone tooling skills when the material sets hard, - this is where Lithomex is made to look like stone
Hope this helps mate
DRplastering89
Member
just done the course on lithomex. good render. got my first lithomex job starting next week looking forward to it
D.R Plastering - Call now on 07875390281
D.R Plastering - Call now on 07875390281
DRplastering89
Member
Mountain Stoneworks are experts in the use of Lithomex, it's probably not the way we would have did that repair, but those two guys are red hot. They have much better examples on their website. Lithomex is good but not perfect ,expensive, and a bit volatile regarding conditions. I've never done any Lithomex courses or of the MM courses and can see a ticket/ certificate
sticker / headed notepaper coming shortly, maybe even a charge for the right to buy it :rolleyes)
A few jobs we did recently using Lithomex
It's always better dressing a full face if possible rather than the patch in pic 4, but with a bit of work the join can be hidden
Note: Old effect dabbing in pic 5 ends up with lots of stuff on the floor, block out with lime render
sticker / headed notepaper coming shortly, maybe even a charge for the right to buy it :rolleyes)
A few jobs we did recently using Lithomex
It's always better dressing a full face if possible rather than the patch in pic 4, but with a bit of work the join can be hidden
Note: Old effect dabbing in pic 5 ends up with lots of stuff on the floor, block out with lime render
DRplastering89
Member
warriorupnorth
Private Member
Nice. Never heard of the material before. Is it poly modded ?
Not as far as I know, nhl lime, a few different aggregates, some kind of cement to set it off, natural cement maybe. Don't think it would be Portland cement as this stuff is all about letting the substrate "breathe". How long it lasts is unknown for me yet. The distributor here told me they may be looking into stronger ratios meaning more cement and less lime, for chimneys etc. It's way too expensive for my liking at 2 m2 per 25kg bag at the 5mm minimum fair mounts up. Some of the work being done with it by the larger masonry firms is shocking, painting it on with 10 bob paint brushes
warriorupnorth
Private Member
What sort of cost per bag ?
It costs me £39.99 + vat, that's for a 25kg bag of plain(white) with bag of colour pigment to mix through myself. These colour packs are designed to give you a colour of sandstone commonly found, Corsehill, Lazonby, Giffnock etc but that's new stone, not weathered. Hence the sticking out like a sore thumb, which is true. Pre blended- they mix it for you which cost a bit more, colour matched custom colours even more still.
That's what they charge me cash, account would be better but still expensive no matter how you look at it. At 5mm minimum thickness it doesn't feather away too well. On flat ashlar work the amount of stuff you can go through may rocket. Also lot of firms will c&c & paint it with silicate paint for a fraction of the price, especially up high
Cheers
That's what they charge me cash, account would be better but still expensive no matter how you look at it. At 5mm minimum thickness it doesn't feather away too well. On flat ashlar work the amount of stuff you can go through may rocket. Also lot of firms will c&c & paint it with silicate paint for a fraction of the price, especially up high
Cheers
warriorupnorth
Private Member
Is wallcrete not an option
It may do a job in certain circumstances, if the work is paid for by grants etc, Eng Heritage / Historic Scotland and applied over sandstone, though they will insist on this. Its all lime(I hope it wasn't the wee green ones they meant) & breathability issues now. All the old cement render must be removed beforehand to get rid of the barrier
Don't get me wrong it's excellent to use and finish, but getting a true sandstone texture normally requires it to set then be scraped back and polished, so you tend to loose a fair bit more than finishing the mortar wet. The surface skins over and needs to be broken when set or it looks like render.
The stamping method of wallcrete used on Lithomex would probably have to be left on overnight to get this, which can make getting certain finishes time consuming. Used properly though it's hard to tell it's not stone
Cheers
Don't get me wrong it's excellent to use and finish, but getting a true sandstone texture normally requires it to set then be scraped back and polished, so you tend to loose a fair bit more than finishing the mortar wet. The surface skins over and needs to be broken when set or it looks like render.
The stamping method of wallcrete used on Lithomex would probably have to be left on overnight to get this, which can make getting certain finishes time consuming. Used properly though it's hard to tell it's not stone
Cheers
warriorupnorth
Private Member
Wallcrete does not necessarily have to be stamped , ive scraped it, rubbed it up , sponged it even used the old knife n fork on it and according to the manufacturers is breathable and has a high lime content etc
But I get what your saying about English Heritage
But I get what your saying about English Heritage
Most of the stone repairs we do are on 100 yr old plus sandstone buildings warriorupnorth, all brick,block, render / roughcast after that & more recently stone cladding. The big areas that eat up the gear for us are the fixing repairs that were done during the stonecleaning boom here 70's/80's, where 3/1 mixes of c&c were slapped on top of soft sandstone everywhere, then either left grey or covered in Linotol, trapping the water behind. It can be a b4stard to get off. The decayed moulding work is mainly due to lack of maintenance. We don't do any new build stuff at all, seems to be all precast or cladding. I'm well impressed with the stuff on your site mate, especially the tinting & ageing stuff :RpS_thumbup:
Question: do you use texture rollers on vertical surfaces with wallcrete or anything else?
Cheers
where
warriorupnorth
Private Member
Not often rollers but various type off skins ranging from slate, limestone , Yorkshire stone etc etc etc can be quite effective
- Status