Church Paint Inspection: All Saints Church, Northampton
November 2019

A site visit has recently been carried out to determine the cause of Classidur paint flaking on interior walls of a church. Church paint inspection is one of the main enquiries we receive. Due to the age of churches, there are many issues to be faced when owners look to renovate.

Below are the findings of a Church Paint Inspection at All Saints Church in Northampton. Their decorators had painted the inside of the church without sufficient preparation. The lack of preparation lead to the paint failing.

If you have a church building with this kind of issue, Promain can help. We can provide you with advice on how to correctly get your church looking fresh and feeling warmer.
The Church Paint Inspection

All Saints ChurchFirstly, we found evidence of areas of flaking paint to all interior walls at differing levels.

The church is in a semi-rural location. Drainage is good as the church is at the top of a hill.
Subsequently, our surveyor took damp meter readings at low level. The damp meter readings are within the normal range for a solid wall building.

Paint samples were removed from the wall in the Knave and the back of the samples were found to have an old coating on.
The old coating was easy to remove with a scalpel and turned to powder. This powder appears to be the old paint coating. From information supplied the previous coating is lime wash and my findings would indicate that this is the case.

Low wall areas in the church where timber cladding had been removed and re-rendered Classidur was applied directly to the new render. Subsequently, in these areas the Classidur has shown excellent adhesion to the new surface.

There are areas where the old coating have become lose when the Classidur has been applied and are noticeable.
Subsequently, insufficient preparation was carried out before the application of the Classidur.

In conclusion, would you like to find out more information in regards painting the internal or external of churches? Therefore, contact our technical team today on 01462 421333.