Why are Barns painted red?

[Kenneth in Texas]

Dont know about now days but long time ago used to be very few colors available. Same with brick, most old brick buildings are dark red/maroon.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

never painted our barn

 

[tcreeley]

"Many barns in the northern United States are painted barn red with a white trim. One possible reason for this is that ferric oxide, which is used to create red paint, was the cheapest and most readily available chemical for farmers in New England and nearby areas. Another possible reason is that ferric oxide acts a preservative and so painting a barn with it would help to protect the structure. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barn

In school we read about a man who made his fortune on this paint...and subsequently lost it satisfying his wife and kid's desire for a big house and entry into good society. The Rise of Silas Lapham - By William Dean Howells

Reinforces the idea of "lucky stars"!

 

[Jstpssng]

Dont know about now days but long time ago used to be very few colors available. Same with brick, most old brick buildings are dark red/maroon.

Up here it's because that's the natural color out of the kiln.

 

[PILOON]

I was involved in the artist paint industry.
Pigments vary greatly in cost with the bright reds being the most costly and the earth colors the cheapest.
Red oxide is in the low $ range close to the earth colors while Cadmium red is at the high end of the $ scale.

Early whites were white lead and faded (yellowed) and today not used. (old master paintings were all faded due to lead white pigments)
Today white is mainly titanium white.

Get a car painted in bright red and the paint $ will shock you compared to the more somber colors.

 

[MH8675309]

Red is more durable - Said by the reverend Playfair from the Quiet man.

 

[DFB]

Red is more durable - Said by the reverend Playfair from the Quiet man.

Good advice...great movie! :thumbsup:

 

[SweBota]

I can tell you why they are red in Sweden. 250 years ago the first affordable paints were made from dry pigment (burnt iron ochre) which was a byproduct of copper mining in Falun. Farmers could by this in bags and mix their own paint at a very low cost. Since then almost all barns and many other types of buildings in the countryside are red. A million swedes emigrated to the US so some of this tradition was surely brought along, especially to Minnesota and Iowa where most swedes settled.

The mine is closed since 1992 but the paint is still manufactured in Falun.

The start |

/Marcus

 

[mike46]

I was told that there was some sort of mineral in the pigment that made the paint job last a long time. Iron Oxide??????

I have the answer for Quebec, no doubts! I come from Champlain near Trois-Rivieres (a farming area) and exactly were we lived the woodland used to be owned (1920 app) by Sherwin-Williams, the painting company. At the beginning of the century they were extracting dirt, a red oxided pigment that was then used as a base for many paints. I remember, a digged area, there was a cedar grove and the soil was swampy. There was a shop nearby at Red-Mill, a small village (still existing) where they proceed to the first transformation before train shipping to probably Montreal and USA. Every barn around were white at the base and red pinion and doors. All farmers had a bag of that red powder in the shed and it was cheap. To be used, you had to add linseed oil, get the desired thickness and spread with a rough painting brush. Some of those red farms still remains. In the great depression (1929), many canadians moved over to eastern states finding jobs in weaving mills. Could some of them brought the idea? or was there some other extracting sites in US...

 

[jonnmero]

Maybe a better explanation can be found here: Falu_red ? Notice also how it is traditionally made, which may be the reason for its wide usage, also in North America. See my Swedish mate beat me to the post ;-)

 

[stuckmotor]

I I saw a similar explanation somewhere. It continues to puzzle me as to how they make the paint a darker red than the clay. Maybe the old homemade paint was a lighter shade.

I have always heard that it came from farmers making a home made paint. They would take skim milk and mix red clay with it and somehow it stuck, and the clay was quite weather resistant. So that started the tradition. It would be interesting if someone volunteered to try this and reported back on it.

 

[jonnmero]

I I saw a similar explanation somewhere. It continues to puzzle me as to how they make the paint a darker red than the clay. Maybe the old homemade paint was a lighter shade.

Here in Scandinavia you can buy that kind of paint ready-made, although using it is quite a process. falu-rodmaling. And when one liter (a quart) only covers 2 -3 sq m, it takes a lot of paint. But when done it is supposed to last for at least 20 years. Had plans on doing it to my house (which is at least 120 years old, maybe from the 1860's), but after seeing the price of the paint, combined with the preparations, I have settled for 'ordinary' house paint.

 

[stuckmotor]

When I think about it, most of the old barns around here don't seem to have been painted at all. Farmers were lucky to be able to paint their houses.

 

[riptides]

I looked around where I am at. Most (including mine) are white. My neighbor, though, while not "technically" a barn, has most his "buildings" red.

Personally, white "looks" newer, fresher.

 

[jonnmero]

I looked around where I am at. Most (including mine) are white. My neighbor, though, while not "technically" a barn, has most his "buildings" red.

Personally, white "looks" newer, fresher.

Huh, REAL BARNS are red!

 

[cqaigy2]

Huh, REAL BARNS are red!

Ha, i was just going to say that.

 

[frottoir]

You dopes. Farmers are Cincinnati REDS fans. Red like a rose -- Pete Rose. You can bet on that. And besides that red light wakes you up quicker. I am painting my new barn Green because I won't go see major league baseball anymore -- too Hollywood. Now I am a Dayton Dragons minor league fan. And everybody knows Dragons are green.

 

[tomwo]

I read, and it makes sense to me. Barns were originally painted with some type of oil, often linseed oil to protect the wood. To add some color farmers added what was the cheapest and easiest to obtain. Namely rust. Yes, they simply added rust from a bucket of nails etc. to give color to their work.

 

[jonnmero]

I read, and it makes sense to me. Barns were originally painted with some type of oil, often linseed oil to protect the wood. To add some color farmers added what was the cheapest and easiest to obtain. Namely rust. Yes, they simply added rust from a bucket of nails etc. to give color to their work.

If you check out particle-size in rust in a bucket of nails and the quantity you'd need, you'll find that your idea doesn't stand scrutiny. Some places had ochre which is also an iron oxide, containing silicates and zink, which was ground to get much finer particles. Have a look here to get a general idea, if you're interested: falun-red-paint

 

[DFB]

I told you guys my well water runs thru ochre that stuff stains everything...especially a white toilet bowl :laughing:


Good thing mine's platinum grey

Here's a interesting Native New England history link

Stone Structures of Northeastern U.S. - Prehistoric - Colors