Example Limewash Projects in Austin

Scope of work

Washing the stone with a garden hose and soft brushes; a water test on several stones; protection of the windows, frames, trim and shrubs; dampening before each coat; a thinned first coat and a fuller second coat worked into the joints; ladder work on the tall chimney; rinsing glass and frames at the end.

Project overview

In this example, the front of the house is chopped cream limestone, but years of sun and rain have left some pieces darker than others, so the wall looks patchy from the street. The owners want it calmer and lighter while it still reads as stone, which rules out masonry paint.

Raw limestone usually soaks up limewash well, so the first coat is thinned to pull the colors together, and the second goes on fuller only where pieces still stand out. The front gets the afternoon sun, so every coat is brushed in the morning while that wall is still in shade.

The goal

The goal is a calm white front where each chopped stone keeps its shape and shadow, and the chimney matches the wall instead of standing out.

Process

1. Two weeks before Water drops on several stones to check they absorb, and a thin and a full sample brushed low on the chimney.
2. Day one Stone washed down, windows, frames and shrubs covered, and the wall left to dry.
3. Day two Wall dampened in the early morning and the thinned first coat brushed on before the sun reaches it.
4. Day three Fuller second coat on the darker pieces, then the chimney from ladders, again in the morning.
5. Day four Covers off, glass and frames rinsed, and a look in late light, when the joints show any missed spots.

Planning right

• Stone in full sun gets far hotter than the air. We coat each wall while it is in shade, not only on cooler days.
• If water beads on a stone instead of soaking in, it has been sealed or is too dense, and limewash will not bond there without more preparation.
• Turn off sprinklers that reach the wall until the limewash has had the dry period its maker asks for.
• Exterior limewash thins slowly over the years. A new coat later goes straight on, with no stripping.

Scope of work

Confirming work hours and elevator use with the building; protection of the concrete floor, window and furniture; taking down the wall-mounted TV and rehanging it afterwards; cleaning and dulling the paint; the primer the product needs over latex; two brushed coats; clean-up at the end of each day.

Project overview

In this example, the condo has white walls, a gray concrete floor and a tall window, and the living room feels cool and bare. The owners want one wall with warmth and some movement in it, without wallpaper seams.

Limewash cannot hold onto latex paint by itself, so the wall first gets the primer system the chosen product calls for, then two coats of clay beige brushed in crossing strokes. The building sets the timetable, so work stays inside its allowed hours.

The goal

The goal is a warm clay-beige wall with soft clouding that anchors the living room and sits well with the concrete floor and walnut console.

Process

1. Before work Boards in clay beige, warm sand and greige held against the wall and the concrete floor, morning and late afternoon.
2. Day one Work hours and elevator confirmed, TV taken down, floor and window masked, paint dulled and primed.
3. Day two Two coats brushed corner to corner without stopping mid-wall, then masking off, clean-up and the TV rehung once the wall is dry to the touch.

Planning right

• Ask your association about work hours, elevator use and contractor insurance before you book.
• Pick where the color ends before work starts. An inside corner gives a clean edge; a stop in the middle of a wall looks unfinished.
• Limewash is not scrubbable. Where hands or a sofa back touch the wall, a washable lime product or a topcoat is worth asking about.
• Sun from a tall window shows brush marks at a low angle, so the stroke direction is planned for that light.

Scope of work

Protection of the oak floor, rug, built-in shelves and mantel shelf; cleaning the smoke stains; samples on spare bricks; dampening and two thin brushed coats, the first partly washed back while still wet; clean-up. The inside of the firebox and the top of the raised hearth stay bare brick.

Project overview

In this example, the brick is a strong red that pulls every eye in the family room. The owners want it much lighter, but not a flat white block: some of the red should still show through in patches.

The plan uses a wash-back. The first coat is brushed on and, while still wet, partly wiped off the brick faces so red comes through, and a second thin coat evens out any patches that went too far. How long a coat can still be washed back depends on the product, so it is tried on spare bricks first.

The goal

The goal is a chalk-white fireplace with warm red showing through in patches across the bricks, light enough to sit with the rest of the room.

Process

1. Before work Spare bricks brushed with one and two thin coats, one of them washed back, and compared in daylight and lamplight.
2. Day one Floor and mantel protected, smoke stains cleaned, brick dampened, first coat brushed on and partly washed back.
3. Day two A second thin coat where the red is still too strong, then clean-up.
4. Afterwards The color dries lighter over several days. The fireplace can be used again once the product’s cure time has passed.

Planning right

• Smoke stains bleed through pale limewash. They are cleaned off first, not covered.
• We leave the inside of the firebox bare. Fire chars lime and coats it in soot.
• The wood mantel shelf is masked so it keeps its own finish. In this example the raised hearth stays bare red brick; a hearth that is limewashed and used as a seat gets a clear coat the maker approves 10 to 14 days later.
• A washed-back look is decided on a sample. Once the coat has dried, the brick cannot be uncovered the same way.

Scope of work

Work after closing on three nights; tables and chairs moved, floors covered and a scaffold tower set up for the tall walls; masking the wood wainscoting, the pass-through counter and the hood; cleaning grease around the pass-through opening; dulling the eggshell paint; the primer system the product needs; two brushed coats, each wall finished in one pass; the room reset before each opening.

Project overview

In this example, the restaurant’s tall white eggshell walls look flat above the wood wainscoting, and the owners want a warm ochre that works in daylight from the big street windows and under the pendant lights at dinner.

The dining room cannot close for days, so the work runs over three nights after service: one for preparation and primer, then one for each coat. The walls rise well above head height, so they are brushed from a scaffold tower, and grease around the kitchen pass-through is cleaned off before priming.

The goal

The goal is warm ochre walls with soft movement that look right from lunch to dinner, with the wood wainscoting taking the knocks from chairs below.

Process

1. Before work Ochre boards viewed in daylight from the street windows and under the evening pendants.
2. Night one Furniture moved, floors covered, scaffold tower up, wainscoting and counter masked, grease cleaned, paint dulled and primed.
3. Night two First coat, one wall at a time, and the room reset before opening.
4. Night three Second coat, tower down, masking off and reset.

Planning right

• Plain limewash is not grease-proof. Inside the pass-through, the tile and stainless stay as they are; limewash stops at the opening.
• Choose the color under both kinds of light. Ochre looks different in daylight than under warm evening bulbs.
• Each wall is finished in one go, so the size of the crew is set by the biggest wall, not by the hours available.
• If you lease the space, check whether the landlord has to approve a change of wall finish.