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Why We’re Limewashing Our Brick Home

Looking for an easy way to update your brick exterior? I found an incredible solution and am sharing why we’re limewashing our brick home! A special thanks to Romabio for sponsoring this post.

Why We're Limewashing our Brick Home with Romabio Paints Classico Limewash


Our Almost Farmhouse.

I snapped this pic the day we put an offer in on our home.

It was a fixer for sure, complete with Hershey’s kiss shrubs, yellow trim, and orangey brick stamped with leaves and critters footprints.

We’ve been here four years, living with this ugly exterior.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

Over the years we’ve made huge progress on the interior of our home, but the exterior was put off again and again until we could finally attack the daunting task of making this over.

It’s not a very good feeling to pull up to your home saying “Blech!” until you cross the threshold.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

This year that’s all about to change!

I found inspiration at Lauren at Blesser House with her brick she lime washed last year.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

I couldn’t get over how beautiful her home looked!

After reaching out to Romabio, I ordered some samples to try on our brick. What I found out was exactly what I had been looking for!

Why We’re Limewashing Our Brick Home

Limewash isn't just for bricks! Try these creative decor ideas!

Why We're Limewashing Our Brick Home with Romabio Paints Classico Limewash

The amazing thing about painting a sample patch is that the finish is completely removable within 5 days!

So if you change your mind – it’s easy to wash off. But that wasn’t the only selling point that convinced me to give it a try.

Romabio offers a product that is user friendly, as well as environmentally friendly. Lime wash is known for becoming part of the masonry surface it is applied to, unlike paint which sits on the surface of the brick.

After wetting the brick, the lime wash is drawn in and calcifies the longer it sits. Which is why we’re lime washing our brick home. We wanted a technique that was easy to apply, offered coverage and didn’t harm the brick.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

I ordered Romabio’s Avorio White and Nube Gray and applied them next to our garage doors to see which coloring we liked.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

And one appealing element of lime wash is the weathered look you can achieve in application, so I painted each color in solid and then a second patch in the weathered look.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

The weathered look is created with a thinner dilution rate and strategic removal with water, and I LOVED how that looked.

Until I saw this!

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

That chalky solid color from Clare and Grace Designs had me swooning!

Since our main goal is to cover that ugly orange brick that is mottled throughout my exterior, I opted to completely cover it rather than try and memorize the dark bricks and try to have just those exposed. An impossible feat!

So our final choice was Nube Gray in a solid application.

Our Color Scheme

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home
  • Brick: Romabio Nube Gray
  • Dormers and Siding: Collonade Gray from Sherwin Williams
  • Trim, Soffits and Fascia: Origami White from Sherwin Williams
  • Doors and Shutters: Tricorn Black from Sherwin Williams
Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

We’ve started with addressing some repairs needed to the fascia.

We hope to wrap these areas one day, but for now, we are painting them.

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

Also, we’ve started painting the dormers and it’s neat to see the transformation slowly happen!

We have quite the workload ahead of us and a few of those tall peaks are quite daunting, but we are ready to get Romabio’s incredible masonry brush working overtime!

So, if you are living with a house that makes you want to keep on driving by, follow along with this transformation we’re embarking upon.

And be encouraged that this is a DIY-able task that you can take on – which is why we’re limewashing our brick home ourselves!

If you want to check out Romabio’s product – they are now available in select Home Depot Stores, and also online!

To see the reveal of our Almost Farmhouse, head over to this post!

UPDATE!

This has sparked something new in us. Since we moved to Birmingham, we limewashed another home.

But a door of opportunity opened up. We are now starting our own limewashing business.

We understand that DIYing isn’t for everyone, and we want to help you create a house you love coming home to!

If you are in the Birmingham, Alabama area, and are looking to have your exterior updated, then please reach out to us for a free quote.

So while this post is about Why We’re Limewashing Our Brick Home, almost 2 years later, we are now extending our knowledge to others!

We are happy to help! I will even assist if you have trouble selecting colors.

You can find us on instagram. Just send us a message and we’ll be in touch soon.

Pin This For Later!

Do you hate the look of your exterior brick? We have found an easy solution and are sharing why we're limewashing our brick home

Romabio Paints Classico Limewash in Nube Gray

Check out our other Limewash Posts

LIMEWASHING YOUR HOME FOR CURB APPEAL
10 TIPS FOR LIMEWASHING YOUR HOME
LIMEWASHING YOUR HOME – DIY OR DIFM?
LIMEWASHING TERRA COTTA PLANTERS

HOW TO INSTALL AND LIMEWASH A BRICK VENEER WALL
LIMEWASHING A PAINTED BRICK FIREPLACE
HOW TO LIMEWASH A BRICK HOME

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40 Comments

  1. Thanks Rose! We lived in NV for about 7 years and the one thing I missed was seeing brick homes. Thank you for your encouragement!

  2. WOWZIE, FANTASTIC AND HOW COOL YOU STARTED A BUSINESS TO HELP OTHERS! Almost wished we lived there! Ha, but alas we live in Nevada nd don’t have a brick house 😆 Thanks for sharing!

  3. Hi Jaime,

    Thanks so much for asking! The limewash is 100% natural and is not flammable. But it isn’t a stain blocking product, so if you splash spaghetti sauce on it, it may stain. 😉

  4. Hi! I need to do this on a brick backsplash near gas burners, will this be ok? Is it not flammable? Thank you!

  5. Ha – no worries! I’m more than happy to help! Yes, you can spray the limewash, but it needs to be an airless sprayer with a large size titanium tip. It’s also recommended to remove the filters at the intake valve as well as the gun to help prevent clogs. Hope that helps!

  6. Oct. 30, 2018 Jennifer Waddell said they were going to spray their house but I did not see an update. Can you spray on lime wash? I hate painting anyway and thought it would be easier. Yea, I’m retired and lazy. Lol.

  7. We used the Classico Limewash, but didn’t read the directions properly. They don’t last well on the steps. For our current house, we decided to mortar wash the steps and they are holding up much better. Here’s a full tutorial if you want to check it out!

  8. What color did you do your stairs in? I currently have brick and we hate them so I want to change them without painting them.

  9. It looks great,but I think the bricks were fine it was just a poor choice of shutter, siding, and wi dow colors to enhance the original bricks. Oh well, whitewashing is in. True farmhouse.

  10. 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! We are one year in with our current home and it still looks the exact same as when we applied it.

  11. Hi Jennifer
    I heard that had to reapply lime wash about every 5 years?
    Do you know?
    Thanks
    Nora

  12. If anyone is interested in trying out this product, I was just in a Home Depot and the $30 quarts are on clearance for $3!! Select stores only. Can’t beat that, I purchased a few to save for my summer project.

  13. We haven’t had any fading or weathering just yet, even though, I sort of want to see it! 😉

    Romabio has a great FAQs page that perfectly describe which weather conditions you need to watch out for. And as far as the 5 days goes, that’s a great out if you decide to change your mind and it can be removed with a pressure washer, but by 5 days, normal rain won’t wash the limewash away. Hope that helps!

  14. It looks great but have you had any fading ? You stated that you could wash it of before 5 days. Do u need to make sure that the weather is going to cooperate ?

  15. Hey Jenny! Thanks for reaching out! Yes, the smallest sample is the $30 container. But there are lots of other things you can do with the leftovers. I limewashed some terra cotta pots and they were beautiful!

  16. We are contemplating using the Romabio masonry paint on our home. When you say you “ordered some samples”,, are you referring to the $30.00 container, or are there smaller sample sizes I can get somewhere? Love your transformation!

  17. Great question, Lisa! Actually, we were wrong to apply it to a horizontal surface. It is meant to weather and patina, so it has worn away. To slow this process, you can apply a mineral hardener they sell.

  18. How has it held up on the steps?l

  19. That’s an excellent question, Courtney! If you look closely, you can see slight distressing here and there. We actually had every intention of distressing our house much heavier than we did, but it felt too forced when we tried it. So we opted for a very light distressing here and there and plan to watch our house age and patina over time!

    If you are loving the solid look – than I definitely recommend their Masonry Flat Paint! It has a 20 year warranty with a 2 coat application, guaranteed to not chip or flake.

    Hope that helps – feel free to reach out to me here or on Instagram if you have any other questions!

  20. Your home looks beautiful!! Can I ask why you went with Limewash vs masonry flat? I’m researching for our home & I also want full covered vs the distressed look so I’m thinking the flat paint makes the most sense, but I’m curious to hear your thoughts! Thank you!

  21. I suggest you look at their warmer hues, like their Cristallo White or Riposo Beige. Hope that helps!

  22. I have a taupe beige vinyl siding but have portion of brownish brick that I’m looking to do! What color do you recommend

  23. LOVE this and your blog!!! I’d love to do this to my house, but hubby isn’t on board just yet I must show him this!!! Thank you for the tips and all the info!!!

  24. For this home, we used four 4 gal buckets. It took us about a week to complete the exterior painting, but waited another week for to hire out the tall spots we weren’t comfortable reaching.

  25. How much product did you have to use? Also how long did it take?

  26. Yes, the brick can still breathe – which is why I stand behind this product so much! It’s made from the earth and has been a technique used since the Roman times.

    The great thing about Romabio is their customer service. If you have any questions, they would love to help!

  27. So the brick can still breathe with the Limewash as opposed to paint? I wanted to paint my ugly orange brick but didnt want to begin its process of decay. This is a great alternative if it allows the brick to evaporate any moisture it gets for what ever reason. And I have white vynil siding I want to disappear with limewash brick color as well.

  28. It looks amazing. I too hate the look of our brick. It’s a salmon pink, I kid you not. So this product has given me hope for our exterior. May I ask how much of the product you used?and a ball park figure for the overall costs?

  29. That is good to know – thank you so much for sharing that! We used Crushed Ice in our entire downstairs of our last house and loved it!

  30. Romabio and/or your local paint distributor can tint the limewash to almost any color. We’re having ours tinted SW Crushed Ice and it is a perfect match to the paint color

  31. gorgeous job, turned out perfect! thank you for sharing your progress

  32. I found the two colors to be an almost exact match! We loved how the collonade gray looked with the Nube Gray!

  33. How exciting! Send us a pic of your before and after so we can applaud your transformation!

  34. I was told you can spray the limewash through paint sprayer, You use a large oraface and small fan sprayhead, You do two coats they said at the company, Going to paint my house next week, so excited!

  35. We want to limewash our ranch house and I,m looking for a good gray. Does the Nube Gray match SW’s Collonade gray very well? We have siding that I would like to paint to match the Nube Gray.

  36. I love it! Fabulous color you selected. I would be so afraid to do this, for fear I would not like it, but you truly selected the correct color, a it’s gorgeous.