Intercommunication / Replies: Painting Tin Roofs.

The Manufacturer and Builder 1, January 1872

[278] Painting Tin Roofs.
The amount required for every thousand square foot, (that is, a roof of say 20 feet wide and 50 feet long,) is 3 gallons of linseed-oil and 20 pounds of the red mineral paint, (a fine clay colored by oxide of iron,) if tin is put on by one who is not a painter; an expert in house-painting, however, economizes the paint by putting a much thinner coat, and for such a one, little more than half the above amount is sufficient; if, then, two coats are put on in place of one, it is much better, as all painters agree that two or three thin coats of paint produce not only much neater work, but are also much more durable than one single very thick coat. An expert painter also puts on two coats as fast as another of no experience can put on one coat. In any case we advise, in order to save time and labor, to use for painting roofs a common broad whitewash brush.