The Red House - Renewal

Both Jan and I were working outside today. She put a huge amount of work into weeding and planting in the garden, while I was painting 18 planks.
The south facing gable end of The Red House has been in fairly dire condition for a few years and it’s time to renew the ancient wood which has dried and warped. When I think about it that wood must have been protecting the house from the weather for 50 years, so it’s done a pretty good job.
So, new wood was bought last summer and has been drying in our kayak tent for just under a year. It is a lot easier to paint it before it goes onto the house and today the base coat went on, using the main paint but thinned slightly (10%) with water.
We are using “falu red”, a traditional Swedish paint that has been in use since the 1600’s. Originally it was a by-product of the production of copper, in Falun. The company that made my paint has been in business since 1764 and the paint is produced today “essentially using the same method and the same recipe” as then!
There aren’t so many products that have been in production and use for 250 years!  The paint is a preservative, water permeable so it lets moisture into the wood, but more importantly it lets moisture out again.
Once the second coat is on the new planks I’ll be taking down the old wood and seeing what is underneath. That will be an exciting moment but we’ve other things going on so it’s a few days away.