# Paint & Varnish Advice Required



## hopefulgeek (Oct 8, 2014)

Hola!

We are about to decorate our Spanish house for the first time.

We need to buy white paint for the interior walls, varnish for natural wood doors and a metal paint for rejas etc. I should point out that our house is very old and need to consider allowing the walls to breathe.

We are looking for recommendations for paints and varnishes.

Thanks in advance.


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## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

First of all then, do NOT buy plastic paint as it does not allow the walls to breathe.

For all paints etc. buy the best you can afford - there is little point in buying cheap.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

For the interiors we use this one, which we get from Leroy Merlin. It's expensive but it doesn't drip, you can use the lid as a roller-tray, and you only need one coat.

http://www.leroymerlin.es/fp/13556095/pintura-blanca-para-interior-blanco-puro-mate


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

Sorry to hijack this, but we get a lot of mold in the winter, has anyone any experience of anti-mold paint?


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

Just wash it off with diluted bleach as soon as it starts to appear.


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Alcalaina said:


> For the interiors we use this one, which we get from Leroy Merlin. It's expensive but it doesn't drip, you can use the lid as a roller-tray, and you only need one coat.
> 
> Pintura blanca para interior BRUGUER BLANCO PURO MATE Ref. 13556095 - Leroy Merlin


...which is plastic paint. 

When you say one coat do you mean direct on to unpainted render?


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## jimenato (Nov 21, 2009)

Do you really mean varnish - it goes off quickly if any sun hits it.

Best to use xylazel or xyladecor which are basically the same but one is much cheaper that the other (can't remember which). They come in all sorts of colours from clear to black through all the wood colours and soak into the wood to protect it.


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## Alcalaina (Aug 6, 2010)

jimenato said:


> ...which is plastic paint.
> 
> When you say one coat do you mean direct on to unpainted render?


Oh! didn't realise. But we don't have a damp problem.

No, it goes over existing paint which has gone a bit yellow.

So the OP needs to look for "transpirable" - breathable?


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## The Skipper (Nov 26, 2014)

Simon22 said:


> Sorry to hijack this, but we get a lot of mold in the winter, has anyone any experience of anti-mold paint?


My guess is that you need to consider more ventilation. We had a lot of mould in our bedroom/bathroom/dressing room and I cured it by installing a powerful extraction fan.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

A lot of what used to be put on was what we used to call distemper and is similar to the Cal which they apply to the outside.

What the OP needs to do first, is address the moisture ingress. This can be achieved by hacking off the top surface of the exterior (to get rid of the Cal and to provide a keyed surface for the new render) and apply Capa Fina and once set, paint with Pintura Plastica. 

The inside you will have to leave for some time to allow the wall to dry out completely. Once the wall is dry,scrape off the old distemper and paint the inside of the wall with PVA (Cola Blanca) which will form a plastic skin to the wall, then paint with your choice but would recommend using Pintura Plastica since this will add to the damp protection.

We had the same problem when we bought this house 10 years ago. We treated it as above and haven't seen any more damp.


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

The Skipper said:


> My guess is that you need to consider more ventilation. We had a lot of mould in our bedroom/bathroom/dressing room and I cured it by installing a powerful extraction fan.


Yeah, we control it with a bathroom fan and running the dehumidifier, I just wondered if there was a paint that would help.


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## VFR (Dec 23, 2009)

A little info here ................ http://cornishlime.co.uk/information/breathable-paints-explained/


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## Simon22 (May 22, 2015)

VFR said:


> A little info here ................ http://cornishlime.co.uk/information/breathable-paints-explained/


Wow, it's not simple is it, I guess we try to find an expert here and see what they say.


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