How to Limewash Your Brick Home

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Do you have a drab brick home needing a little refresh?  We did too!  That was until we learned how to limewash our brick home giving it a whole new vibe.  It’s easier than you think!

When you think of limewashing a home, you might be thinking of the traditional way of doing it.  Someone would typically coat the brick, then wipe it back off in random areas to give it an antiqued look.  That technique is beautiful on most homes, but we had a different goal for ours.  We were wanting a clean, slightly more modern finish.  Solid white painted brick to contrast with our already black painted trim was the vision.

I did a lot of research to figure out how to paint brick without it chipping or having other problems down the road.  Most of the research said you have to be sure and use a product that still allows the brick to breathe and doesn’t trap in moisture.  Ok, great.  What kind of paint can I use that doesn’t create a seal?  Then I remembered something…  We had 5 gallons of limewash tucked away in the garage.  

Kevin and I hit the jackpot several months ago when we happened to catch several buckets of Romabio Classico Limewash in the shade of Avorio White sitting on the clearance rack at Lowe’s for under $5 each.  What!?  My guess is they were getting rid of the last of it since they no longer carry them.  We didn’t have a project in mind at the time, but knew we couldn’t pass up that kind of deal.  Now, we had the perfect project in mind and I could hardly wait to get it done.  If you’re looking for Romabio Classico Limewash, Home Depot has it available.  I’ve linked it here for you.  Romabio also makes an actual exterior paint for masonry surfaces called BioDomus.  That would have been ideal, but we chose to use the limewash since we already had it on hand.

Ok, on to how we actually applied it.  Keep in mind we are no professionals, but decided to go for it after a little research and courage.  To start off, all of the trim and windows had to be covered and taped off.  Then, we painted the metal siding that’s up underneath the peak of the roof on each end of the house.  We used HGTV Home by Sherwin-Williams WeatherShield Exterior Paint in Dark Kettle Black.  The trim and gutters had already been painted this same color in a previous project.  

Note:  If you plan on painting your exterior trim, as well as limewashing your brick, I recommend doing the limewash first, then going in with a brush for the trim afterward.  This would leave you with less cleanup in the end.

We moved straight into limewashing the brick after the paint on the metal siding was dry to touch. Using an airless sprayer for both the black paint and the limewash was a life saver.  I had originally used a masonry brush to test the limewash in a small section and immediately started dreading the amount of work it was going to take.  Luckily, a friend of ours allowed us to borrow his sprayer.  That made things move along SO much faster!  I highly recommend using a sprayer for any project like this to save time, effort and sanity!  Any major hardware store should have them for purchase, as well as Amazon, like the one linked here.  I’m sure you could rent one from certain stores as well.

There really wasn’t an efficient way to tape off the metal siding to avoid any overspray of limewash, so we simply wiped off the overspray with a wet rag.  That’s one of the coolest things about limewash.  It allows up to 5 days to be scrubbed or power washed off of a surface.  So if you get it in areas it’s not supposed to be or even don’t end up liking it on your house at all, no problem!  Just power wash it right off!  It’s a forgiving product, so don’t be afraid to try it out.  I’ll also point out that we had a severe thunderstorm come through about 5-6 hours after we finished and it didn’t harm the limewash one bit.  However, we were still able to power wash it off the driveway the next day.  It’s like magic!

Have you limewashed your brick home?  Tell me about it in the comments below!  Do you plan to take on a limewashing project in the future?  I want to hear how it goes and would love to see some pictures!  Also, please feel free to ask any questions.  We’re just your everyday DIYers, but I’ll do my best to help you out!