Lime Wash & Masonry Paint

“Your Satisfaction is Our Motivation”

With so many exposed brick homes in the Greater Lexington area, and so many being transformed with various painting options and colors, we are often asked if the brick can be safely painted and last a long time.

A complete answer to that question includes offering a customer more than simply painting the brick with standard exterior acrylic house paint such as Duration made by Sherwin Williams. A full answer must include the options of mineral paints such as lime wash and masonry paint. What are all these options? And what are the differences between them? What are the advantages and drawbacks of each?

Painting Bricks

Many painters paint bricks, but not all do it properly. If brick is painted without the proper masonry primer, it may look great for a year or two, but in time the paint will begin to crackle and peel. Brick homes in Kentucky get very hot in the summer and very cold in the winter. The extreme changes in temperature, as well as moisture trying to escape from behind and within the bricks, cause the paint to improperly bond to the bricks and to eventually peel. Once this situation begins, there is no way to slow or prevent it. The only way to treat this mistake is to strip all that paint off and start over. A very costly mistake.

If you are considering painting your bricks yourself, or hiring a professional to do so, make sure you or they use a proper masonry primer which will bond to the bricks in the conditions mentioned above. Then, you are not really painting your exterior bricks, per se, you are painting the primer. This is how painted bricks will last a long time looking great.

One of the advantages of painting bricks over using mineral paints is that the acrylic paint comes in various finishes such as satin and semi-gloss to give a nice shine to the bricks. Mineral paints only come in a flat finish.

See below a Before and an After picture of a beautiful home we properly primed and then painted on Chinoe in Lexington.

Exterior Lime Wash

Lime wash has become one of our specialties.

Limewash is a paint made with just two ingredients: lime and water. It’s thinner than paint, as is masonry paint, so instead of sitting on top the brick’s surface like regular acrylic paint does, mineral paints penetrate into the brick. Lime wash and masonry paint are much healthier for the bricks, allowing them to breathe and weep water (not trap it like acrylic paint does), and are healthier for the environment, as well.

Below are Before, During, and After pictures of just a few of our lime wash projects. You’ll see that lime wash comes in various white and off-white colors only. See colors here:

See Color Options
White Wash Bricks Lexington Kentucky

We are RomaBio Certified & Recommended

My Three Sons Painting is the only RomaBio Certified and Recommended professional in our area to apply this products correctly.

Lime wash is a one-coat application and is meant to create a washed-off effect on some of the areas to reveal some of the natural brick beneath. This is called Patina. Lime wash will patina a bit more over time. For those who love and want to create this look, lime wash is the way to go.

We use mineral paints (lime wash and masonry paint) produced by a company called Romabio. In fact, we are listed on their website as the only certified pro in Lexington to apply their products. On their website, they list the advantages of mineral paints over acrylic paint as:

  • Breathability
  • Durability
  • Luminosity & Color
  • Naturally Mold Resistance
  • Odorless & Toxin Free
  • Fire-Resistance
  • Sustainability.

You can read more about RomaBio mineral paints and their differences and advantages to regular acrylic paints here:

See the RomaBio Difference
See the RomaBio Look Book

Interior Lime Wash

We also apply lime wash to interior bricks such as fireplaces. See examples below.

Masonry Paint

What is the difference between lime wash and masonry paint?

Though the products are quite similar in mineral content, they are designed to create different effects and appearances. Limewash is a one-coat application which is intended to be partially washed off once the limewash is applied and begins to dry. The purpose of this is to expose some of the natural brick to create a weathered or antiquing appearance.

Masonry Paint is a two-coat application that is intended for full coverage – nothing is washed off. My Three Sons Painting & Remodeling is an accredited specialist for the application of the limewash and masonry paint products produced by a company called Romabio. My Three Sons Professional Painting & Remodeling is listed as the only local pro applicator on their website for the Greater Lexington area.

Are the lime wash and masonry paints always white?

Limewash is available in white, which is the natural hue of limestone, or in shades of white, light gray, or light taupe, which are created by adding natural pigments. Limewash can be applied to brick indoors (such as a fireplace pictured above) and outdoors. Masonry Paint can be tinted to many colors of your choice though white is a very popular color in our area.

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