Tar painting Anderson’s kitchen
Webcam viewers will notice that, having dried after early April rains, the Anderson kitchen now sports a coat of paint. The decision to use tar paint is a practical one. Used throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, tar paint offers a protective coating that is easily made and applied.
Carl Lounsbury, an Architectural Historian here at Colonial Williamsburg, has collected references to its use, and has found that it is very common to hear that a building has been tarred. Tar paint has been found on wood surfaces at the John Blair (east) house, as well as the St. George Tucker, and the Robert Carter houses. Analysis of these surfaces has been instrumental in giving us the mixture that was being used.
The mixture we use is a combination of three parts pine tar, two parts linseed oil, and one part iron oxide pigment, which is red brown. This is a common mixture in the 18th century, and it is likely that a building like the Anderson Kitchen would have been painted using tar paint with these ingredients. We heat the tar and linseed oil until it is approximately 90°F and then stir in the pigment. The mixture continues to heat until it reaches 190°F, at which time we hold the temperature for approximately 30 minutes. The tar paint is then ready to use.
The newly painted kitchen from the south
One question that remained for us was whether the tar paint should be applied hot or cool. Willie Graham, another Architectural Historian at Colonial Williamsburg, had seen references that it was applied hot. Our own experiment last week seemed to confirm that hot was the way to apply the paint. As always, this is a learning process for us. Check out the results on the webcam, or the pictures above.
-Contributed by Matt Webster, Director of Historic Architectural Resources
what is the location of the roving camera now? the view is interesting.
Hi Margaret,
The current roving webcam view is of the excavation near the Mary Stith “tin shop.” Archaeologists have been looking for evidence of tin manufacture. So far, no (obvious) tin, but you’ll notice that the hole is quite deep. It seems we have encountered an edge of a ravine into which all of the Armoury trash has been tossed. It has been an interesting experience, and has provided necessary details about some of the products of Anderson’s many shops (blacksmith, gunsmithing/stocking, tinsmithing, etc.) Once construction of the main Armoury building picks up, we’ll reposition the camera, but for now, archaeology is the best show on the site! Thanks for watching.
Watching the roving camera I assume we are observing the the interface of the 18th and 21st century? The footers for the walls and the forges? What type of footing was used in the 18th century and will the floor in the forge be packed clay?
Jeff,
From archaeological excavation we know that the footings for Anderson’s 18th century Armoury were brick. It’s difficult to say how deep they were laid due to later damage, but you can be certain that Anderson did not have the 3-4 foot base that you see at the Armoury today. Clearly we mean for our Armoury building to last longer than the 2 years Anderson’s was in operation!
As for the floor, it will be brick, just as it was in the blacksmith shop. In fact, some of those blacksmith shop bricks will be reused in the new Armoury.
ryan says
Thanks very much. Great info and advice. Keep it coming! The historic trades and building practices are still sound and practical and CW is doing a wonderful job keeping it in the public’s eye.
Can’t wait to see those fireplace photos!
Ryan.
Please check back tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. I’m working in the field today but have planned to stay inside tomorrow in order to post before 10. Thanks for keeping me honest!
Rick Brouse says
nevermind…..there’s the fourth forge.
Rick,
Phew! You had me worried! When I looked at your post on Friday at noon I had to go check on the number of forges. Glad to know the fourth one hasn’t gone missing! FYI there will also be an “outdoor forge” just south of the reconstructed shop, which will bring the total on this property to 5 forges.
As for the tight fit between the Armoury and kitchen, you’re absolutely right. I would have to seriously curtail my gingercake consumption to be the siding installer!
Rick Brouse says
Greeting all, I’m in the mid. of my morning coffee / web cam / blog (they all go together!) A few ?’s. I see the footing & poured foundation framing for the new main Armoury Buildg. The framing in the center I’m assuming is for the forges - yes? Are there 3? The sketch from a few blog updates ago shows 4 chimney’s. Also, is that Armoury REALLY “that” close? You’re going to need some little tiny person to put the siding on the Armoury adjacent to the Kitchen chimney…..Meredith, your job? ;o)
Scott L. says
Having done our replica 18th Century military Battoe with “boat sauce”: 1 qt raw linseed, 1 qt turpentine, and 1 cup of Stockholm tar, I’m considering doing a garden shed with your formulation. With the added turpentine, our mixture was more like a stain, and really penetrated the pine and white oak. We put it on hot as well, not boiling hot, but just hot enough where you could only hold your finger in the mix for a second. It has the most incredible smell!
Ryan, FYI: modern boiled linseed has chemical driers added to speed the drying process, but it effects the absorption into the wood. If you actually boil raw linseed, the boiling process changes the drying characteristics, but not the absorption (much). If you do decided to boil it, make sure you do it in a double boiler, outside, because the stuff is highly flammable!
CW: How did you find the mix, more like paint in consistency or stain?
Scott,
Thanks for assisting Ryan with his questions. Matt Webster is queueing up some more detailed information from this end, but I will tell you that the tar paint is definitely more like a stain than a paint in consistency (and I agree about the smell! ) Thanks, too, for reinforcing the need for a double-boiler and an outdoor venue. Making tar paint can be very dangerous!
Ryan says
Boiled or raw linseed oil? And are the “parts” figured by weight or by volume? (Some of us are actively doing this stuff in our home shops and for our own buildings, you know!)
Ryan,
Again, I had to call on Matt Webster (we’re keeping Matt busy these days!): “We use boiled linseed to help the drying process. Linseed oil drys by cross linking and boiling helps facilitate this. We mix by volume, 3 gallons tar, 2 gallons linseed oil, 1 gallon pigment. If you make this, be very careful. You should do it outside using safety glasses, gloves, have a fire extinguisher ready, and be very careful. You should also use a double boiler to avoid burning the mix. One last thing, the tar paint has an interesting smell. Everything around this process will smell this way for awhile.”
Ryan says
Beautiful color. Is this related to the ubiquitous “Spanish Brown”? I was under the impression that Spanish Brown actually used clay or earth as the pigment, and could therefore be a wide variety of colors, depending on the local “dirt”.
Ryan,
Matt Webster says: “Spanish Brown brown tends to be a generic term for any color that is in the brown range. You are correct though, the actual pigment has a range from almost black to pink and is made from clay that is rich in iron. The color of the kitchen is also impacted by the color of the tar.”
WOW, painting riven siding with 190 degree “paint”. Hats off to the painters. It had to be one devil of a job, but it looks good and is as “correct” as it can be.
Rick and Dave,
I probably phrased the “heated” part of this more strongly than I meant to.
In order to mix/combine the paint ingredients, they were heated to 190 degrees. According to Clyde Kestner, an attempt to apply the tar paint at this temperature (to some test strips)did not work well….it simply ran off of the wood. So, after all the tar paint was mixed and cooled (there were a few rain days between preparation and application) it was reheated to a temperature of about 100 degrees, and applied at this temperature. It did cool while being applied (no attempt was made to maintain a constant temperature). The paint was, however, warmer than ambient temp. And actually, it went on remarkably quickly, so I don’t think there was considerable cooling.
Rick Brouse says
It does look great. And I too would think that hot would be the way to apply just in terms of the molecular reactions being things expanding in heat and retracting in cold. Thusly, I think, the tar paint would adhear better with a heated application then bonding better during cooling. Although I’m no scientist, just thinking common scensely (if that is a word). My question would be, what did the applicators do to keep the paint hot/warm? Surely it must have cooled rather quickly in those paint cans since the air temp. was approximately in the 60’s. ??
Looks real nice, thanks for the explanation about the paint. Again it is great we have the technology enabling us to analyze, in this case paint, to determine the ingredients. The project keeps moving right along, great job.