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When I first moved into my home, I knew I wanted the exterior brick to be white. I just assumed there was a certain kind of paint I needed and I would spray it on. However, as I began researching how to paint it, I learned that the paint I needed would be very expensive. During my research, I also discovered that I could limewash it instead for a much more affordable price. I knew right away this was the route I wanted to go because I love the look of a European style brick home. I didn’t want to perfectly cover every inch of the brick anyways, but rather create a more aged look to it. Limewashing is the perfect route to go if that is the look you want to go for and you want to save some money. In this post I will go over how to limewash your brick home, what supplies are needed, and of course a beautiful before and after.
What You Will Need
First off, I couldn’t believe how affordable this project was. When I look at the front of my house and see the beautiful transformation, I can’t believe it only cost me around $40 in supplies to make it happen. I purchased two bags of lime powder from Home Depot for under $30. I only ended up needing one. You can find this near the bags of concrete. I also got a masonry brush like this one. Every other supply I needed I already had on hand, such as a 5 gallon bucket, paint stir, and another smaller, cheap paint brush. Some other things you may need are plastic to lay down or tape to go around windows and doors.
How To Apply It
First things first, power wash the brick a day or two beforehand and plan to paint on a day where the weather is not too hot or cold. From there, I had no idea how simple this process would be until I got started. I mixed equal parts lime powder and water in my bucket, using the paint stir. To do this, I used another smaller bucket I had on hand to make sure it was 1:1 ratio. Then I simply dipped the masonry brush into the mixture and started applying. I will say, it seemed a bit watery at first. However as I started applying it onto the brick it covered it just fine. I would go over certain areas multiple times in multiple directions to really fill in the cracks. It was a bit messy at first and would drip or splatter to the sides. Part of that was my own fault for applying it anxiously and excitedly. Thankfully, mine dripped down onto my white landscaping rock so I wasn’t too worried about it. But, if you are painting over a porch or something you don’t want to get the limewash on, be sure to lay down plastic or a painters tarp. You can also prep windows and doors with tape and plastic if you feel that is needed. I used the masonry brush on most of the brick, and then a smaller brush in harder to get to areas. I worked for about 2.5 hours at a time and was finished in three days. So all in all, I would say it took me about 8 hours of labor to cover the section of brick I have on the front of my house. I did not even use half of one bag of lime. If your entire home is brick, I would recommend starting with two bags of lime. and allow at least a weeks worth of painting if two people are working together on it. I also found it very easy to rinse out my bucket each day and clean off the brushes. The little bit of lime I got on my clothing also washed right out. The lime was such a great product to work with in my opinion. Easy to apply and easy to clean.
How It Turned Out
It has only been a few weeks since applying the limewash, so I will have to swing back around with another blog post down the road to give an honest review to say how it has held up over time. But… THE LOOK of it is BEAUTIFUL. I truly love how it transformed the front of my home. After it sat overnight and dried onto the brick, it got even brighter. I only applied one layer and then went back and touches up the areas that I felt needed it. A neighbor stopped by and said it “brightened the whole neighborhood”. I couldn’t be more pleased with the simplicity of this process and the results. As you can see in the photos, I also had my soffits and gutters painted white which also really gives it a clean and bright look. Next, I plan to paint my front storm door and wrap cedar around my columns. Do the projects ever really end?
Benefits of Lime Wash
Through my research, I learned that limewash is actually GOOD for your bricks and helps to protect them. Limewashing is environmentally friendly and does not contain harsh chemicals. Other benefits are that it is easy to apply, is very affordable, dries quickly and will not peel off, and it is easy to clean up.
Cons of Lime Wash
I personally think the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to DIY limewash. But, there are a few cons to consider. It is said that the limewash will begin to fade after about 5 years and will need to be touched up. Also, once it is on, there is no going back. There are other brands of brick paint out there that can be power washed off within a certain amount of time if you were to apply it and then change your mind. Other than that, I don’t see many other downsides to limewashing your brick home.
Thank you for taking the time to read this post on how to limewash a brick home. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out and ask. If you’d like to check out the inside of my home and the renovations I have done thus far, you can start in my kitchen.
All the best,
Hilary