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Where Artistry Begins
Metallic plaster and pearl glaze that moves with the light, trowelled on by our own applicators who travel from Birmingham.
Liquid metal in Manchester is about one wall doing something special. On the walls we install it is polished lime plaster or pearl glaze carrying mica and metal toned pigment, so the surface reads as brushed bronze, pewter or gold and shifts as you walk past. Zavoré is based in Birmingham, and our own applicators travel to Manchester to trowel it on by hand. Choose it on a sample board first.
Manchester has a busy evening economy, from the bars and restaurants of the Northern Quarter and Deansgate to hotels and members spaces in converted warehouses and mills. These are rooms judged in a glance from the door, lit at night by lamps and wall lights. That is the kind of light a metallic plaster wants. A bar front, a reception desk, the face of a counter or one feature wall in a dining room can carry the whole mood.
The same finish suits homes. In the big Victorian and Edwardian villas of Victoria Park, Didsbury and Whalley Range, a chimney breast or an alcove in a reception room catches light from a window on one side and a lamp on the other. A bronze or pewter metallic there turns a fireplace wall into a focus without touching the rest of the room. In a city apartment the wall behind a bed or a bath does the same.
Two different things get sold under this name. One is cold cast metal, real bronze or brass powder in a resin binder, sprayed on and then patinated. That is a foundry adjacent trade and we do not supply it. If a designer has specified genuine cast metal, tell us early and we will say so.
What we install is mineral. Veneziano Metallico is our polished Venetian plaster with the shimmer through the body. Stucco Suede Metallico is the softer, cloudier version. The other route is a plain tinted base with a pearl or metallic wax burnished over it, which gives more control over how much metal shows. The mica flakes lie flat in the direction of the stroke and throw light back together, which is why the wall looks bright from one side of the room and deep from the other. Read more on the liquid metal finishes page.
Metallics want light that moves. A wall near a window, or one washed by an uplighter, will do something different all day. In flat, even light it just looks like a shiny colour. One surface is almost always enough, because a whole room in metallic plaster stops being a finish and the second wall cancels the first. Keep everything else matt and let the metal be the one thing working.
We would avoid metallics on long hallway walls and stairwells, where shoulders and bags land and the sheen shows every mark. We would avoid them behind a hob, where heat and grease sit on the surface. And they cannot be patched invisibly, so choose a wall that will not be knocked about. Day to day they want a soft dry cloth, nothing abrasive and nothing with bleach in it.
Metallic finishes are unforgiving about the wall behind them. Every hollow reads as a dark patch and every proud edge as a bright one, so at survey we check flatness and prepare the background before anything metallic goes near it. Then it is two thin coats, worked tight with the trowel and burnished, and the whole wall goes on in one go by one pair of hands. Stop halfway and come back tomorrow and the join will be there for good, because the strokes will not lie in the same direction.
That is part of why Manchester jobs, being some distance from our Birmingham base, are planned in blocks of days. The team stays on site until the wall is finished. The material is tinted before it leaves Birmingham to the approved sample, and dates are agreed once the sample and price are signed off. The detail is on our metallic finishes installation page, and you can order a sample board in your colour and finish.
If your own plasterer is laying it, metallic Venetian plaster, metallic stucco suede, gold pearl and silver metallic wax are available in the shop with tracked delivery. Interior designers and contractors who specify regularly can ask about a trade account.
Metal does most as the single bold surface in a scheme, with quieter finishes around it. See polished plaster in Manchester, concrete effect plaster in Manchester, marmorino in Manchester, tadelakt in Manchester, clay plaster in Manchester, limewash in Manchester, microcement in Manchester and decorative specialists in Manchester. For the classic polished lime finish, see Venetian plastering in Manchester.
No. Metallic paint is pigment in a film, rolled on, and the shimmer sits in that thin skin. Metallic plaster is mineral, trowelled in coats, with the mica lying through the material, so it moves with the light and has depth rather than glitter.
Cold cast metal, real bronze or brass powder in a resin binder, is a separate trade and we do not supply it. What we install reads as brushed metal in movement and light. If a designer has specified genuine cast metal, tell us early.
Usually a chimney breast or an alcove, where light comes from the side and from a lamp. One wall is almost always enough. A long hallway wall is a poor choice because the sheen shows every mark.
On walls away from direct spray, yes, sealed properly, for example behind a basin or a freestanding bath. Inside a shower enclosure we would steer you to tadelakt, which is built for standing water.
Ring 07592 929191 (Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm) or email sales@zavore.co.uk with photos, rough measurements and your Manchester postcode. If you would rather start with the material in your hand, order a sample board.
Order a sample board tinted to your colour, or send photos and rough measurements of the walls in Manchester and we will come back to you with the right finish and a clear quote.
For a quote, email photos and measurements of your walls to sales@zavore.co.uk or call 07592 929191, Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm.
See every area we cover.
We also supply the trade by post, wherever you are. The shop ships tracked across the UK, and the Academy teaches the finishes in Birmingham.
Providing luxury finishes for the most prestigious addresses in the world
Venetian plaster, limewash, microcement, tadelakt, metallics, sculptural plaster and gold leaf, supplied and installed by our own team, with Venetian plaster taught at our Birmingham studio.
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