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Where Artistry Begins
Mica and pearl carried in lime, trowelled on and burnished so one wall catches the light. Supplied by tracked delivery, or laid by our own team.
Liquid metal in Surrey is mostly about one wall that earns a second look. That might be a bar front in a village pub, a feature wall in a restaurant or country hotel, a salon reception, or a chimney breast or dressing room at home. It is a polished lime plaster or pearl glaze carrying mica and metal toned pigment, so it reads as brushed bronze, pewter or gold. Zavoré supplies the plasters and our own team, who travel from Birmingham, lay them. Order a sample board and see it in your room.
It is trowelled on, never rolled, and the flakes lie flat in the direction of the strokes to throw light back.
Surrey has a lot of hospitality. There are village pubs and restaurants in the lanes of the Surrey Hills, hotels and country house venues, and restaurants and bars in the larger towns. Salons, shops and offices add to it. Many of these spaces rely on lighting after dark, which is exactly when a metallic wall comes alive.
The right spots are the ones people approach side on, such as the face of a bar, a reception desk, the wall behind a booth or the back of a feature alcove. We plan work around your programme, including fit outs ahead of opening, and we work with designers and main contractors.
At home the logic is the same. A chimney breast in a living room, an alcove, the wall behind a bed or a bath, a dressing room or a cloakroom can each carry one metallic surface. One wall is almost always enough. A whole room in metallic plaster stops being a finish and becomes a fairground, because nothing quiet is left for it to play against. Keep the rest matt.
Light decides everything. A wall near a window or washed by an uplighter does something different all day, while a wall in flat even light just looks like a shiny colour. In a bright glazed extension, put the metal where the light crosses it at an angle.
Two different things get sold as liquid metal. Cold cast metal, real bronze or brass powder in a resin binder, sprayed and patinated, is a separate trade and we do not supply it. What we sell is Italian lime plaster or pearl glaze loaded with mica and mineral pigment. Veneziano Metallico carries the shimmer through the body. Stucco Suede Metallico is softer and cloudier. A plain tinted base with a pearl or metallic wax over the top gives you more control over how much shows.
Our liquid metal finishes are wrong for busy hallways and stairwells, where bags and shoulders mark the sheen, and for walls behind a hob, where heat and grease sit. They also cannot be patched invisibly, so a real gouge means relaying the wall corner to corner. Keep a labelled sample board with the job.
We survey first, because the wall behind a metallic must be flat and primed. Every hollow reads as a dark patch and every proud edge as a bright one. We say plainly if it needs skimming. The sample board comes next, and you should look at it in the real room, morning and evening. The colours are those listed on each product.
The wall goes on in two thin coats, worked tight and burnished, and in one go by one pair of hands, because a join left to set will show for good. Because we travel from Birmingham, a Surrey job is planned in blocks of days. See the metallic finishes installation page for more.
If you have laid polished plaster before, a metallic is the same trowel work with less forgiveness. The shop sells the metallic plasters, gold pearl and silver metallic wax. For a first attempt, learn on a board and not on your living room. Trade customers can ask about a trade account.
Metal works well beside quieter walls such as marmorino in Surrey, clay plaster in Surrey and limewash in Surrey. For a mirror finish without the shimmer, see polished plaster in Surrey. Wet areas call for tadelakt in Surrey or microcement in Surrey, and a cool grey backdrop is concrete effect plaster in Surrey. The whole list of crafts is in decorative specialists in Surrey, and the classic lime plaster is under Venetian plastering in Surrey.
Yes, a bar front or reception desk is a natural use of metallic plaster, because people approach it from the side and light crosses it. We seal it for the wear it gets and plan the work around your opening date.
No. Genuine cast metal in a resin binder is a separate trade that we do not supply. Ours is lime plaster or pearl glaze with mica and mineral pigment, which reads as brushed metal in movement and light.
On walls away from direct spray, yes, sealed properly. Behind a basin or a freestanding bath is a common request. Inside a shower enclosure we would use tadelakt. Send us a photo and we will say which walls we would do.
We would advise against it. Shoulders, bags and the hoover mark the sheen, and a repair will show. A chimney breast, alcove or the wall behind a bed is far kinder.
Tell us which wall you have in mind and where the light falls. Call 07592 929191 (Monday to Saturday, 9am to 6pm) or email sales@zavore.co.uk with photos, rough measurements and your postcode. You can also order a sample board and start from there.
Order a sample board tinted to your colour, or send photos and rough measurements of the walls in Surrey 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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