How To Guides
Selecting the Right Paint and Primers
Beeck Mineral paints are fully vapour permeable, environmentally friendly, have low VOC's and are the only brand to offer active silicate paints, which creates an incredibly durable and breathable finish.
While acrylic paints effectively glue themselves to the surface, mineral paints soak into the surface and form a strong mineral bond through a process called silicification, adhering to the silica in the substrate itself. Acrylic paints and their bond with the substrate slowly breaks down over time and they eventually start to discolour, flake or lift off. Mineral paints by comparison due to their physical bond don’t break down over time, are extremely lightfast and hard wearing, and aside from natural weathering, offer unsurpassed durability.
Selecting the Right Lime Mortar
We manufacture and supply a variety of ready-mixed performance mortars, supplied ready to use or in powdered form. Our Lime Mortars are convenient to use, coming premixed with a range of binders and sands to suit your application. So how do you choose the right Lime Mortar for the job you’re undertaking.
Insulated Limecrete Floors
Breathable, insulated and limecrete floors have become quite common in the UK and hopefully you’ll find that this guide helps you understand how to apply a limecrete floor in your old building. The need for ground floors in older buildings to be breathable is essential. Why is this the case for older buildings? In modern construction the damp proof membranes run under the walls as well as the floor. When impermeable membranes have been used in the refurbishment of old buildings these membranes finish at the walls resulting in concentrations of dampness in these areas and rising damp where it had not previously existed.
Insulating Older Buildings
Older buildings were typically built using materials to hand, with solid walls of stone or brick bound with a lime mortar. They were often built without a cavity and certainly no insulation. The lack of insulation and poor thermal properties of the materials used meant they retained very little heat, and even with modern insulated doors and windows older properties are still noticeably colder than more modern buildings. While insulating the walls of an older building will make it significantly warmer and reduce heating costs, it is important to use the right materials. Any insulation applied must be breathable or your walls will become saturated.
Choosing the right Lime Plaster
We manufacture and supply a variety of ready-mixed performance plasters, supplied wet and ready to use or in premixed powdered form. Our Lime plasters are convenient to use, coming premixed to suit your application needs, we also sell ancillary products to support your application.