Have you wanted to Limewash your home, but have been hesitant to start? Today, I’m joining Jen from West Out West to share our 10 Tips for Limewashing Your Home.
When we set off to transform the exterior of our home, I had the joy of connecting with a fellow blogger, Jen from West out West, who was also lime washing her Arizona home.
It was such a joy to be there for each other as we took on the task of tackling our brick homes with Romabio’s Classico Limewash.
We were able to share our experiences and challenges with each other to complete the process. I used Avorio White and Jen used Cristallo White.
And today, we are joining forces to share our 10 Tips for Limewashing Your Home.
I will focus on what it’s like to Lime wash your home here in the humid south, and Jen is sharing her experience Lime washing her home in the arid desert climate.
Here are my 5 tips.
Watch Your Heat and Humidity
Lime washing our home here in Birmingham is different than what we experienced with our Tennessee Home.
There is just enough variation in climate and humidity and we could tell when we started Lime washing.
According to Romabio’s instructions, you wet the brick prior to application. This helps with the calcification process as the Lime wash hardens to the brick. With our heat and humidity, we noticed the brick needed to be wet more often.
Take that into account if you are in a hot and humid environment. What we found to be most successful was working in smaller sections, rewetting the brick as needed.
Make sure to adhere to the temperature limitations as specified. Don’t apply under 50 degrees and over 90 degrees.
Check if you have Absorbent Brick
We noticed about halfway through the process that we were running low on our Classico Limewash.
I called and spoke to Romabio about it and was told that some brick is more absorbent than others.
Here’s how to test it: Spray your brick with your garden hose. If you notice the brick is dry within moments, you have highly absorbent brick.
Even though we calculated our linear square footage properly (multiply the height and width of each wall and add them all together), we needed to order more to complete the job.
This could also be why we needed to wet the brick more often!
Also, if you have larger grout lines, that is another ledge of surface that needs to be covered, and can cause you to have to order more.
Know when to ask for help!
We have completed our entire home with the exception of our chimney stack.
The pitch of our roof is very steep with large drop offs and neither I nor my husband feel comfortable climbing that roof.
Unfortunately, here in the height of summer, we missed our window with the temperatures, so that means we’ll have to wait for fall to hire this out.
Luckily, this chimney isn’t seen from the front of the house!
How to achieve the lightly distressed look
Romabio’s Classico Limewash is meant to weather and patina over time.
For our last home, we applied the lime wash in a solid, opaque finish with the hopes of watching it weather overtime, not knowing that we would be selling our home just a few months later.
This time, we opted to start the distressing with a light rinse off.
What’s great is that you can distress it to your liking – there’s no right or wrong way!
Pressure Wash Technique
We started with a heavily distressed look, but it seemed to be too much.
We found that with our absorbent brick, we needed to start distressing about 20 minutes after application.
Earlier than than resulted in too much being washed off, and any time later the lime wash was already calcified.
So we found that if we used our pressure washer – very lightly – worked on the calcified brick.
That being said, use caution because you can take too much off. Our pressure washer has different gauges of PSI and we used the lowest one.
Now for Jen from West Out West’s tips!
Do you live in an arid climate? Or do you have slump block instead of brick? Maybe you’re considering spraying your limewash on instead of using a masonry brush. Jen is sharing all her tips over on her blog, so hop on over and check out the second half of the post.
And if there are any questions you have that we may have missed, feel free to leave a comment below! We’d love to help you out!
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Hi Ally! Certainly! We used a color from the Young House Love Collection with Romabio. It’s called Misty Eyed and is a great soft blue gray!
Hi Lisa – I’m so glad you took the time to leave a comment. I appreciate your opinion, but wanted to offer a bit more to help with the education process. Limewash has been around for ages, dating back to the Pharoah’s in Egyptian times. In fact, when one city burned during the Medieval era, the houses were ordered to be limewashed after noticing the only buildings left standing were those that the Limewash had been applied. The calcification process acts much like a stain being absorbed into and becoming part of the brick, unlike paint which just sits on top of the brick possibly causing damage to your most important investment. Many historical homes today are applying limewash to conserve the integrity of the brick.
I agree, everyone needs to do their homework before taking on a task as large as updating their exterior, but this fad has been around since B.C. and I don’t think it’s fading away anytime soon. Thanks for bringing up such a great talking point!
Like most trends, this will eventually go out of style & you’ll be left with a dated home. Before anyone jumps into limewashing or painting their home, they need to do some homework on what the cost/consequences of this decision. And most importantly, know what YOUR style is and don’t follow a trend just to be current.
How fun! Send me a pic of your home once you’re done – we’d love to see it! I got those light from Lamps Plus a little over a year ago.
The house looks great! We’re reviving a 70s colonial and did the Romabio lime wash on our brick. I’m writing to ask about your exterior wall lights by your front door. Can you share where you purchased them from? thx.
Can you tell me the paint color on the front door on the 5470 house? Love it
It really depends on many factors, like dilution rate and environment, as well as how much you distress it. For example a heavy distressing in a wet environment like the NW will see weathering quicker than an almost solid application in the dry, hot south.
But I’ve heard of homes that still look great 15 years later! Hope that helps!
Hi Jennifer,
How long does the lime wash last? My husband read that it has to be redone about every 5 years.
I hope not, love how your house looks and I want to do that to mine!
Thanks
Nora Olive
Hi Heidi! Thanks so much for reaching out! That’s a great question! We have limewashed 2 homes and used the masonry brush both times. If you search on my website, I’ve chronicled our limewash application for both houses. You can check those out if you are looking for more tips. And you can always email me or send me a message on social media. I’m happy to help!
Here is a link to all my Limewash posts:
LIMEWASH
My husband and I want to tackle Lime washing our home. Did either of you spray the Limewash on or use a masonry brush? I have started researching and need as much advice, suggestions, dos and donts before we start. Thank you for the helpful article!!
Thanks for asking Cindy! If your concrete isn’t sealed, the limewash should adhere. You may want to test an area first to make sure. In regards to application on a walkway, it isn’t typically recommended. Those areas get high foot traffic and will cause the limewash to wash away very quickly. Hope that answered your questions and thanks so much for reaching out!
Hi Melody! I’m so glad you enjoyed this post! In regards to your algae buildup, yes you want to make sure that is completely removed before applying. A good pressure washer should do the trick followed up by the algae remover. Hope that helps!
Hi April! That’s a great question! The main thing you want to look at are your non-changeables. For instance, if you aren’t planning on changing your roof for some time, take that into consideration. If it’s a warmer tone, you will want to choose a color that compliments that. Will you be painting your trim, shutters, or front door? If not, try a swatch next to those areas to see which one you like best. I hope that helps in finding a color to fit your home!
Hi, how did you know what color lime wash to use. On your house? That’s the problem I am having
Thank you
April
That was a fun blog hop! I really enjoyed reading about the differences in application techniques, and I also appreciated the before-after photos, which allows us to imagine how our own design sensibilities might affect the final outcome. Love what you’ve accomplished, and am inspired to get started on my own project, now.
I’m going to lime wash the bricks around my flowerbeds and am wondering what you’d suggest about the algae buildup in the shaded areas. I plan to use an algae remover, first. But does it have to be 100% algae-free before I apply the product.
I love this look. I wish I knew it worked on concrete. t
1. I would do or walkway.
2. I would use it on our foundation which is poured concrete.
Our decor is French Country. Would be so happy.
You did a fantastic job
Cindy