Swedish house with traditional picket fence

[janner]

I've always seen the Swedes as the English of Scandinavia, which might be taken as a compliment...

 

Great work, Michael, as always

[Michi]

I was told when visiting the Falun mine that the red paint is made of their waste heaps of earth still containing iron oxide that is available for nothing (it yet has to be picked up and processed to make paint) and a good protection against rot and corrosion by moisture and other environmental influences. Therefore red was the cheapest paint and of rather good quality too.
A visit most recommendable by the way!

[Dolmot]

I was told when visiting the Falun mine that the red paint is made of their waste heaps of earth still containing iron oxide that is available for nothing

Even their sausages are bright red. Coincidence?

[Michi]

Even their sausages are bright red. Coincidence?

I noticed that in Denmark too, but they do not run mines there...

[maxxon]

It's "punamulta", common earth color in scandinavia.

It's made from clay containing hematite (iron oxide). You can readily find it near topsoil too, but if you already dug it up as waste in mining then that's a bonus. It's cheap because you can make it pretty easily yourself.

Here's the Wikipedia article... in Finnish:

http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punamulta

For some strange reason farsi is the only other language for this article...

[Dalauppror]

Thanks ! Glad you seems to like my Swedenized houses.

Yes indeed the paint was made at the Falun copper mine and are therefor known as "Falu röd färg"  (Falun red paint) and you can read about it here, seems to be a similar article as the finish one in the above post, but this one is in english.

Best regards Michael

[maxxon]

Yep, the same thing. Apparently the cross-language article linkup in Wikipedia needs some work...

Interestingly the article in Finnish mentions items dyed with this color have been found in Finland that date back to 2000 BC and older.  

As for the white tips on the fences: As this color is not waterproof, it may be a good idea to seal off the ends of the planks with another paint to prevent the wood from soaking in too much rainwater (wood sucks water in with the grain much more easily than across the grain).

The same applies to window sills: If you can afford it, you want to use something else on anything water is likely to pool on.

[Dalauppror]

Yep, the same thing. Apparently the cross-language article linkup in Wikipedia needs some work...

Interestingly the article in Finnish mentions items dyed with this color have been found in Finland that date back to 2000 BC and older.  

As for the white tips on the fences: As this color is not waterproof, it may be a good idea to seal off the ends of the planks with another paint to prevent the wood from soaking in too much rainwater (wood sucks water in with the grain much more easily than across the grain).

The same applies to window sills: If you can afford it, you want to use something else on anything water is likely to pool on.

Good thinking about the white, I indeed agree !

Best regards Michael