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Saturday: Windy but bright so I am painting the observatory walls with
the mineral treatment. The grooved plywood darkened quite quickly. Which
nicely took the edge off the rather bright panels. It will darken
further on exposure to sunshine. I half finished the entire building
exterior before it rained.
Sunday: Still painting. It is much faster to use a larger brush than the skinny 2" I started with. Though the 4" uses up a lot more of the liquid.
This stuff is quite unlike any normal paint. 5 grams of magic powder per liter of tap water doesn't thicken the water at all. There is also a slight delay before the wood darkens. It comes in a small paper packet of 25g for making 5 liters. I found it on eBay[UK] after seeing it mentioned on a YouTube gardening video. It is widely available under different trade names.
The treatment is supposed to resist fungus growth by affecting the natural metal salts in the wood. Chelating is mentioned in the literature. I like the naturally weathered look. It is claimed to be perfectly safe for children's wooden toys and organic vegetable boxes. I must admit to having splashed myself repeatedly without any ill effects. It does not stain the skin. Wasps chew right through the "earthen" finish when collecting wood pulp for their nests.
Because the mixture is so thin there are terrifying purple grey splashes and runs below the area being painted. It feels as if each board has to be completed before daring to start on the next. Though there really is no need to worry about any marks remaining. Once the splashes and wet wedges are painted over everything vanishes intro the uniform grey-brown.
It seems too obvious to mention that care should be taken not to splash nor drip the muddy fluid onto any wood which you do not want to be treated. It will instantly stain it! So be warned.
It seems too obvious to mention that care should be taken not to splash nor drip the muddy fluid onto any wood which you do not want to be treated. It will instantly stain it! So be warned.
Rather than worry about wet edges and splashes I found I could start at the top and work right across a 4x8 cladding board from a stepladder. Followed by the lower sections while sitting comfortably on a beer crate. This saved me from kneeling or crouching on the rough gravel.
By lunchtime I had painted the entire ground floor outside walls. That just leaves the upstairs observatory walls at the rear to do. The stained effect is more subtle in today's overcast. The bare wood looking far more orange in sunshine. The colour changes to darker and a more even earthy brown over time.
The plywood cladding boards are made by Selex in 9 & 12mm thickness with a lap joint on the long edges only. I chose to use 12mm for extra "stressed skin" strength to stiffen up the octagonal building.
It is claimed to be Radiata Pine and is almost completely free of knots and cosmetic faults on the face. However, the internal plies are of inferior material and most boards have dark and rough knots showing in the bottoms of the machined grooves.
These Selex boards sell at discount DIYs chains for about 1/2 to 2/3rds the price of those available at regular timber merchants. Ironically, the latter's products are often infested with surface knots all over the face veneers.
Presumably all of these boards are intended to be painted rather than clear stained. Nor are the rear faces intended to be seen as they are often covered in ugly knots. They are popular for carport cladding and the gable ends of buildings. I clad my shed in these grooved boards and it has survived for years without ever being painted.
Arranging a short ladder to bridge between the obs. and the shed roof allowed me to reach the obs. wall panel on that side. The outside painting is finished. I removed the fencing on the shed sides ready for clipping to length with bolt croppers. I had left these panels long in case I decided to use the remaining fence panel.
The fence posts are not available separately. That would have allowed me to join the fence panels to the obs. wall on the shed side. Which would have been a bit tidier. I have been using fencing staples because this area is almost invisible form the ground. The reinforcing to the veranda walkway joists was well worth doing. It feels very firm now instead of springy in places.
Later I took down the white tarpaulin and put up a couple of smaller green ones in its place. Certainly much less obvious from any distance. It was difficult and time consuming to arrange the tarpaulins in the wind. They kept lifting and sliding off sideways! I still need to slide a smaller green tarpaulin under the slit side for tonight's promised rain. Job done.
The plywood cladding boards are made by Selex in 9 & 12mm thickness with a lap joint on the long edges only. I chose to use 12mm for extra "stressed skin" strength to stiffen up the octagonal building.It is claimed to be Radiata Pine and is almost completely free of knots and cosmetic faults on the face. However, the internal plies are of inferior material and most boards have dark and rough knots showing in the bottoms of the machined grooves.
These Selex boards sell at discount DIYs chains for about 1/2 to 2/3rds the price of those available at regular timber merchants. Ironically, the latter's products are often infested with surface knots all over the face veneers.
Presumably all of these boards are intended to be painted rather than clear stained. Nor are the rear faces intended to be seen as they are often covered in ugly knots. They are popular for carport cladding and the gable ends of buildings. I clad my shed in these grooved boards and it has survived for years without ever being painted.
Arranging a short ladder to bridge between the obs. and the shed roof allowed me to reach the obs. wall panel on that side. The outside painting is finished. I removed the fencing on the shed sides ready for clipping to length with bolt croppers. I had left these panels long in case I decided to use the remaining fence panel.The fence posts are not available separately. That would have allowed me to join the fence panels to the obs. wall on the shed side. Which would have been a bit tidier. I have been using fencing staples because this area is almost invisible form the ground. The reinforcing to the veranda walkway joists was well worth doing. It feels very firm now instead of springy in places.
Later I took down the white tarpaulin and put up a couple of smaller green ones in its place. Certainly much less obvious from any distance. It was difficult and time consuming to arrange the tarpaulins in the wind. They kept lifting and sliding off sideways! I still need to slide a smaller green tarpaulin under the slit side for tonight's promised rain. Job done.
Click on any image for an enlargement.
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