Rehabilitation of an old house in Saint-Georges-de-Montaigu

Jérôme Duret was born in Saint-Georges-de-Montaigu, in Vendée. Now living in England, he decided in 2012 to buy a house in his hometown to come and spend a family holiday. Without even visiting it, he sets his sights on a building in the very center of the village, opposite the church. Built in 1909 for the baker of the time, the house goes unnoticed. Its grayish facade does not attract the attention of passers-by. However, its future owner is seduced by its garden surrounded by walls and perceives the potential of its three levels of 70 m2 each. As for its dull facade, it begs to be awakened by a little more color.

Renovation in stages

As soon as he bought the house, Jérôme Duret entrusted his father, who had recently retired from the building, to renovate the ground floor and the first floor. A year and a half later, these two levels are made habitable. This is the time to get down to the development of the attic. The slate roof is in poor condition, it shows some leaks. The entire cover needs to be redone. And since scaffolding has to be installed, why not take the opportunity to renovate the facade? On the street side, the plaster is in good condition. It was redone several years ago, just repaint it. But on the rear facade and on the two gables, the degraded coating must be replaced.

Colorimetric research

The owner uses Lift Face. This company from the neighboring town of Montaigu has been carrying out thermal insulation and facade plastering work for almost half a century, both new and renovated. Its 17 employees work on sites in Vendée and Loire Atlantique.
A Sto partner for many years, the company has been Pro-ITE® certified since 2011 for the application of Sto exterior thermal insulation systems. It is committed to the quality and durability of the implementation of Sto systems. In return, Sto commits to the quality and reliability of its systems and provides the company with visibility, support and tools for prospecting and sales.

Inspired by the sometimes daring colors of houses across the Channel, Jérôme Duret asks Florent Brecheteau, project manager and works manager for the company Lift Face, to simulate different shades from photos. After having discarded the most daring colors such as red, blue or yellow, and in agreement with the town hall, it is a sustained gray which is retained, considered more noble and highlighting the facade modenatures: " the frames of the openings and the stone corner chains will be cleaned, sanded and coated with a mineral paint patina in a shade close to the dominant shade of natural stone ”, describes Florent Brecheteau.

Mineral mat appearance and sustained color

Once the traditional lime plasters have been applied to the gables and the garden facade, the three company associates have moved on to the street facade. It is then a question of carrying out a painting which is as close as possible to the coating in terms of color.

The company turned to Sto, who recommended a class D2 facelift, ie a decorative painting. The StoColor Solical product offered by Sto provides the desired plaster appearance. This mineral facade paint, based on silica sol and potassium silicate, was launched by Sto in 2017. It is generally appreciated by Architects of Buildings of France (ABF) for the enhancement of ancient heritage because it offers a matt mineral appearance. Intended for hydraulic supports, of which it retains the initial structure, it is very resistant to bad weather, plant contamination and very permeable to water vapor. Its mineral pigments provide the shade with a very long hold, even in the dark gray chosen here (RAL 7004).

In addition, thanks to the X-black technology developed by Sto, which reflects the infrared radiation of the sun, the thermal heating of intensely colored facades is reduced, thus limiting the risk of cracking of the support. "We appreciate the responsiveness of Sto, which responds quickly to our requests," adds Florent Brecheteau. To match the color of the product, we simply deposited a sample with Sto which was perfectly reproduced. "

A facade out of anonymity

The support - a traditional hydraulic scraped coating - is prepared to receive the paint by cleaning and repairing surface defects. One-off fillings and the resumption of part of the base are carried out.

Then, according to Sto's recommendations, the StoPrim Silicate background regulator is then applied before rolling two coats of StoColor Solical. “This topcoat is easy to apply,” says Florent Brecheteau. This is the fifth time that we have used it on a renovation site. "
The client is also very satisfied with the result. “I completely trusted the Lift Face company with which I communicated remotely,” emphasizes Jérôme Duret. I salute his professionalism, his choice of products and the quality of our discussions. The result lived up to my expectations: an original and elegant facade, but not shocking. "

Today, the house opposite the church no longer goes unnoticed. Having become a reference site for Lift Face, it even gives passers-by ideas. A customer asked the company to reproduce the same shade for his house.

Information

• Type of building: individual house
• Location: 85600 Saint-Georges-de-Montaigu
• Client: Jerome Duret
• Applicator company: Lift Face, Pro-ITE certified company since 2011
• Construction date: 2019 autumn
• Solution used: StoPrim Silicate background regulator and StoColor Solical gray paint (RAL 7004) with X-black technology to limit heating. Class D2 renovation