Outside in: Gordon cutting in the edge of the whitewash

Whitewashing the Walls

Andrew Kerrby author page

114 comments Construction

Sunday April 24

Prep Talk

My brother Gordon is a painter. He tells me: everyone thinks painting is easy, but it’s the preparation that takes time and skill to get right. I didn’t fill the nail holes before we whitewashed the ceiling, or sand the plywood: I didn’t see the need. My brother thought I should have. To him it wasn’t a finished surface yet, unworthy of paint. I might fill the holes, someday…

Macauly Caulking

The prep work for the walls took a couple of hours over a couple of days before the whitewashing. The first job was to fill the shadow line between the wall and the floor. We had purposely left a 6mm gap – a tolerance to allow for any undulations in either the plywood or the concrete floor. It turns out the floor was one of the flattest ever recorded – less so the plywood panels that took much longer to fit.

 

Gap it up: sealing the shadow line between the wall and the floor

Gap it up: sealing the shadow line between the wall and the floor

 

I used the caulking gun to run a bead of white Sikaflex along the gap between the ply and the floor; then scraped away any excess before running a screwdriver wrapped in a rag along the edge to finish the line. It wasn’t textbook but proved effective. What I didn’t realise until later was that the whitewash wouldn’t stick to the ply where the Sikaflex had been in contact – it was like invisible ink.

Mind the Gap

I used the same technique to finish the change in material between the timber and concrete floor, except first I had to repeatedly cut the edge of the floorboards to create the shadow line. Greg the builder had done an admirable job of fitting the boards to the edge of the concrete but there was still a lip and I felt it needed a release detail: cue the Sikaflex, this time in black.

 

A thousand cuts: slicing the end of the timber floorboards to make the shadow line

A thousand cuts: slicing the end of the timber floorboards to make the shadow line

 

Be the positive change: the slight height differences between the two floor materials is evened out by the release detail

Be the positive change: the slight height differences between the two floor materials is evened out by the release detail

Like Putty in Your Fingers

Greg suggested I fill the nail holes in the walls that were at eye height. I don’t see the point in only half doing a job so I got carried away and filled them all. It was easy enough: rub the putty in your fingers to warm it up; push it on with your thumb or finger – done. Well, not quite because some left a smear the size and colour of a small Pacific island, at about the same height above sea level too. But I quickly got the hang of it. All of the nail holes, now filled with putty, needed sanding. I had already decided to give all of the walls a quick sand  because they are closer and people will potentially touch them. I didn’t have the vacuum hose attached to the orbital sander so dust went everywhere and the next day I swept up two pans of dust.

 

Push it: filling the nail holes with putty

Push it: filling the nail holes with putty

 

Extreme: for the extra big gaps... Where I decided to relocate a light switch

Extreme: for the extra big gaps. Wood filler putty can only do so much (this hole is from where I decided to relocate a light switch)

 

Dust maker: sanding the walls

Dust maker: sanding the walls

Mr Fixit

I hadn’t been entirely happy with the shadow line between the wall and the ceiling. Gordon said he could fix it. A quick run with some gap filler followed by a couple of coats of full strength paint had the edge looking respectable.

 

Problem solved: Gordon filling the gap between the plasterboard and the plywood

Problem solved: Gordon filling the gap between the plasterboard and the plywood

 

Finishing touches: painting the second coat to the shadow line

Finishing touches: painting the second coat to the shadow line

It’s a Whitewash

We used the same ratio of 50:50 white ceiling paint and water for the mix. Just like the ceiling (See ‘Finishing the Ceiling’) Gordon rolled it on and cut in the edges with a brush while I followed behind him with a rag and wiped the whitewash along the grain of the plywood. It was difficult to get the coverage even – especially the edges and joins – because the whitewash dried so quickly. Gordon said: don’t worry – the grain will save us. And it does: the natural differences in the grain distract the eye from the sometimes imperfect whitewash job in some places.

 

Work quick: Gordon rolling on the whitewash before it gets wiped off with a rag

Work quick: Gordon rolling on the whitewash before it gets wiped off with a rag

 

Overall I think the effect looks pretty convincing. I was aiming for the warmth of timber but with the lightness of white. Obviously the whitewash ply walls contrast with the black form ply of the kitchen, but the white goes well with the lime mortar and the white bricks. Vindication came a week later when someone unfamiliar with the project stepped inside and said: I like the Scandinavian look.

 

Warm: the whitewash walls and ceiling and recycled brick wall

Warm: the whitewash walls and ceiling and recycled brick wall

 

Light: the whitewash walls make the space look brighter

Light: the whitewash walls make the space look brighter

 

Over the wall: looking from the living area into the bedroom

Over the wall: looking from the living area into the bedroom

 

Contrast: the white ply and black form ply - with splashes of colour

Contrast: the white ply and black form ply – with splashes of colour

 

Costs: Sikaflex – $11; paint – $90 (the same tin that was used for the ceiling)

 

Disclaimer: Any advice contained within this blog is of a general nature only and cannot be relied upon. Details provided are in good faith and relate specifically to this project. Any author will not be held responsible for advice or information presented.

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114 Comments

  3. Hi, I’ve just discovered your site & love it. I love these walls and have been thinking about it for my own project….in hind site do you think it would have been easier to apply the whitewash before the ply was fixed to the walls?

    Reply
    1. Andrew Kerr

      Hi Sarah, thanks for your comment and following of the blog. You certainly could pre-paint or white-wash before fixing the ply lining, but you run the risk of scratching or marking them when installing. It’s not much more effort to paint them once the sheets are up and you can get in the joints and cracks. I would advise to sand them first – much easier on the flat, wish I had done it myself! Cheers

      Reply

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