Painting the Town Red
After so many nights and weekends toiling in Jason and Angela's basement cutting, drilling, sanding, and surforming, I was elated to have finally finished all the woodworking on the wall slats! Nevermind that the roof ring and roof rafters were still in progress, because it is time to paint the wall.
Traditional Mongolian yurt frames are typically painted either bright red or orange. I'm fanatical about the color orange, but to my surprise I preferred the look of red yurts from my online research. When I began to investigate the different kinds of paint available, milk paint caught my fancy. I don't know what kind of paint is used in Mongolia, but milk paint is a simple paint with a long history. Ancient cave paintings were done with a form of milk paint. Up until WWII, milk paint was widely used in America for painting furniture, toys, barns, etc. Milk paint was made at home with milk protein, clay, lime and whatever color pigment you could find or make. The paint is very long lasting, almost odorless to paint with, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic once dry. I'd love to try making my own milk paint some day, but I'm on a tight schedule today so I chose to buy my paint.
Painting is one of the few yurt-building tasks that can be well-tackled by a small crowd, so I recruited Adriane, Amos, Matt, Sam, and Suzi to help out. I brought my camera that day, but in all the supervising commotion I neglected to take any photos of my wonderful helpers and I doing the painting! It was fun though, with witty banter all around and a delicious lunch spread from New Seasons.
Even with our numbers, it still took about 3-4 hours. Probably the witty banter slowed us down. Anyway, the wood is first wiped with a damp cloth to clean the saw dust off and give the paint a clean surface to grip. Then we used foam brushes to liberally coat all sides of the wall slats. Since the paint is water-based, clean-up wasn't too bad. Above you can see most of the full-length wall slats painted and drying. The red came out in a perfectly lovely shade that makes me very happy. I was also happy as all get out at the generosity of Steve and Natalie to yield their front yard (and later their garage, driveway, basement, and back yard) for my yurt project. I have been unendingly fortunate to have all the help, space, and support I needed for this project fall in my lap just as I needed it.
Lastly, hats off to Alton the dog (who lives with Steve and Natalie). Alton was a dear and never ate my stuff. Just imagine the self-restraint required of a puppy who is surrounded by a hundred sticks with which he cannot play. Alton is made of tougher stuff!
Traditional Mongolian yurt frames are typically painted either bright red or orange. I'm fanatical about the color orange, but to my surprise I preferred the look of red yurts from my online research. When I began to investigate the different kinds of paint available, milk paint caught my fancy. I don't know what kind of paint is used in Mongolia, but milk paint is a simple paint with a long history. Ancient cave paintings were done with a form of milk paint. Up until WWII, milk paint was widely used in America for painting furniture, toys, barns, etc. Milk paint was made at home with milk protein, clay, lime and whatever color pigment you could find or make. The paint is very long lasting, almost odorless to paint with, environmentally friendly, and non-toxic once dry. I'd love to try making my own milk paint some day, but I'm on a tight schedule today so I chose to buy my paint.
Painting is one of the few yurt-building tasks that can be well-tackled by a small crowd, so I recruited Adriane, Amos, Matt, Sam, and Suzi to help out. I brought my camera that day, but in all the supervising commotion I neglected to take any photos of my wonderful helpers and I doing the painting! It was fun though, with witty banter all around and a delicious lunch spread from New Seasons.
Even with our numbers, it still took about 3-4 hours. Probably the witty banter slowed us down. Anyway, the wood is first wiped with a damp cloth to clean the saw dust off and give the paint a clean surface to grip. Then we used foam brushes to liberally coat all sides of the wall slats. Since the paint is water-based, clean-up wasn't too bad. Above you can see most of the full-length wall slats painted and drying. The red came out in a perfectly lovely shade that makes me very happy. I was also happy as all get out at the generosity of Steve and Natalie to yield their front yard (and later their garage, driveway, basement, and back yard) for my yurt project. I have been unendingly fortunate to have all the help, space, and support I needed for this project fall in my lap just as I needed it.
Lastly, hats off to Alton the dog (who lives with Steve and Natalie). Alton was a dear and never ate my stuff. Just imagine the self-restraint required of a puppy who is surrounded by a hundred sticks with which he cannot play. Alton is made of tougher stuff!
posted by yurt boy at 9:38 PM
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