BTW,

Here's a link showing a picture of what I have in mind along with an article describing the White Washing Technique and Formula.

http://www.askthebuilder.com/366_Whitewashing_Brick.shtml

Make sure you like it since once it is done it is nearly impossable to remove.
Looks aside, it changes a very low maintenance brick exterior into one that requires a lot more maintenance to preserve the appearance.
You are in a low freeze zone, so the chances of brick damage by trapping moisture and freezing in the bricks is relatively low.

I think it looks WONDERFUL!
I'd do it in a heartbeat!

I'm not so sure on the high-maintenance aspect if you're willing to let it wear off. Patina is a good thing --

any chance you can post a picture of your house as it is now?

Here's our home PRIOR to tearing off the current front porch and building a proper, well proportioned full front porch. BTW, the new front porch will be 8' deep and have a black standing seam metal room.

Let me know what you think.

Thanks!

I am a huge fan of painted brick, but I would take a deep breath and wait before painting that beautiful home. Take a look at this shutter link. I think changing the shutters to "real" ones would make a huge difference in the appearance of your already beautiful home.

Here is a link that might be useful: real shutters compared to vinyl

Actually right now our home has NO shutters. We removed them and actually like the look.

I know we should consider this carefully, but we REALLY don't like the brick. In person it's very cold looking... we've just refaced our fireplace with stone and LOVE it. We've considered moving and building, but anything we like with stone / siding / limewashed brick is 200K more than our home and we'd give our our 2 acre lot!

Lastly, we built this home new in 1989, so we're ready for a change...

Does anyone have more pictures of limewashed houses?

Is this the look you are going for? I also found a link to lime washing with directions. Let me know if you need that one.

Here is a link that might be useful: whitewashing brick

corgilvr,

Yes, this is the same link I posted up top (see my 2nd post).

This is exactly the old-world look I"m after.

Sorry about that. I have painted brick on the rear of my home. Most, if not all, of the brick homes in my neighborhood were painted at one time. They are late Federal and early Victorian homes. Then, the unpainted brick came into fashion and many of the homes were sandblasted including the front and sides of mine. The rear wall remained painted. Frankly, the painted brick looks more finished to me and we have had no problem with it peeling. I would repaint the rest of the house in a minute if my husband would agree.

The original "paint" for our brick was more of a wash and gave a flat finish. As that paint/wash wore off it probably gave the look you are after. One section of the house across the street has that appearance and I can understand why it would appeal to you.

It would be difficult to find someone in my area to do the sort of faux aging you want. "Faux" usually means the price doubles here. The directions in the article look like you could give it a try. Your home looks huge! Are you up for it?

I am just about to experiment with whitewashing/limewashing our red brick house. Our house if from the 1930s and has worn/fading white paint. We have just added an addition to match and need to paint the new brick to match. The masons didn't want to attempt this as they thought it was more "art". I just bought a bag of lime this morning to try to experiment to get the right look. From my research, if you use lime whitewash there are no ongoing maintenance issues and no trapping of moisture.
On the other hand, I think your house looks great the way it is.
Alison

Have ou made a decsion as to whether to go ahead with the whitwash old world look? We are considering the same on our southern two story brick. Other metjhods and options yo may have come across would be helpful.

No offense but NO WAY would I paint that brick. Years ago we considered a 1930s colonial painted white. I actually liked the look but my father just could not get past the painted brick and almost talked us out of the house. I would have preferred red brick but was fine with the white. We lost the bid and sure enough the first thing the new owners did was remove the white paint. I am sure it cost a fortune and the house never looked exactly right.

I just would not do it, your house looks fine the way it is and anything you do will probably decrease rather than increase the value. Sounds like you are just sick of the look and want a different style but your house already has a style

I registered on this site only to ask that you not white wash this absolutely beautiful house. It may be too late now, but I hope I was able to reach you in time.

Have you had any luck finding anyone to apply a whitewash finish to your house?

I am in the greensboro area and would like to apply a similar look to my brick house. I have not been able to find anyone that has applied a whitewash before and would like to know who you used.
I would love to see pics if avaliable!
Thanks

Ok guys, sorry for the delayed reply (out of the country and traveling heavy on business).

We haven't yet done this to our home yet, but we still love the look. After much research what I learned is that white wash or more accurately, lime wash is a cheap (when prepared at home) coating that has historically been used to protect buildings throughout Europe, Asia and other regions since pre-AD times!

The look is very "old world", but be forewarned, while it can be made inexpensively, for those not interested in the "mess" of making this stuff (see recipes IÂve catalogued below) the commercial pre-made stuff is not cheap. ***IMPORTANT** through my research (YMMV) I learned that it is common that white wash or lime wash must be reapplied every so many years (5-10??). Remember, this was intended to serve as a cheap protectant in olden days. It will eventually wear off and require recoating.

So..... I went in search of more modern technologies that created a similar benefit (cosmetically as well as environmentally) and IÂm pleased to let you know I found one very interesting, if not compelling product call Silicate Dispersion Paint developed in the 1800Âs by the Germans. Remember me saying modern technology? Well, all things are relative. White washing or lime washing was developed literally before the time of Christ. So on a relative basis, the Germany discovery IS a very modern coating technology.

Below are my shorthand notes from speaking with Jeff at Eco House this past Fall. After my discussion with Jeff I was satisfied that I finally found the right product for transforming my brick home. YMMV.

Below are my notes with Jeff at Eco House and below that are links to descriptions of White Washing as well as commercial white / lime washing products.

Enjoy, and hope this helps!

PS: If ANYONE uses these products please report back your experience!

Thanks  bradesp, raleigh, nc

Eco House  Silicate Dispersion Paint
http://www.eco-house.com/silicate_paints.htm

My Notes from my chat with Jeff at Eco House

877-ECO-HOUSE

1. Product must be applied in 46 degrees or warmer - needs four hours in 60 degree weather to fully dry-out

2. Apply Primasil first as base "coat" Then apply one coast of Salizur.

3. Will need to mix pigments to deisred color and translucency.

4. http://www.eco-house.com/silazur.htm

5. Eco House can't ship if temperatures are going to freeze.

6. Products can easily be sprayed.

7. Will need to custom mix and keep mix "suspended" during spray.

* * * * Other Educational Links on White / Lime Wash * * * *

Wikipedia on Whitewash or Limewash:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewash

Home Made Whitewash recipes:

http://fiascofarm.com/recipes/whitewash.html

http://www.northcoast.com/~tms/wash.html

Commercial White Lime Wash Products Available in the U.S.:

http://www.usheritage.com/whitewash.htm

Commercial Products Available in the U.K.:

http://www.mikewye.co.uk/chart.htm

http://www.francescaspaint.com/intro.html

I'm not a huge fan of brick in as much as it was never in the running for my new [and 'forever'] home.

But I really like the look of your house as is. Red is a very warm color, so I'm having a hard time understanding why it feels 'cold' to you. Virtually any color you put over the top [with the possible exception of canary yellow or hunter orange] will make it colder still.

Now, if you said it seemed 'hard', I'd probably agree. This is a very emphatic looking brick, but has some nice variation within the pallet [IMO]. An overwash could soften the look somewhat, even though the color will [I hope!] be colder. Of course, this will dampen the variation between dark and light bricks

But this is going to be such a permanent change, I'd photoshop the heck out of it before commiting to it..

Whether to paint brick or not is always an interesting issue on THS. Some people are very opposed to painting brick. I've seen older homes in my area, transformed into nice looking homes with paint. I am very interested in white washing an older home we own. The home was built in the 70s and has a yellow tinted brick. I'd originally planned to paint the brick until I stumbled upon the white washing idea. I can't wait to do it. As far as wikipedia as a source-anyone can post whatever on there, so I never even bother to refer to it. I'll check into your other info. though. Good luck. Can't wait to see what your changes look like!

Hello! I was looking for pictures of brick colonial homes that had been painted since we are considering doing this to our Georgian Colonial home in Charlotte, NC. I hate the color of our brick as well and was thinking of painting it a chiffon yellow with white trim and black shutters. I thought it would look positively gorgeous, like the original Georgian colonials from a hundred years ago. So, did you paint the exterior of your home? If so, what paint did you use and what preparation did you do before painting. I would love to see your after pictures. Susan Vaughn

I found a link which suggest diluting latex masonry paint, rolling on, allowing to dry for several hours, then spraying down areas to thin with hose. I am rehabbing a house in Cary, NC for resale, and considering this method. I doubt I can convince my contractor to attempt lime/salt method for reasonable amount. Has anyone tried diluted paint method? Check out the link

Oh my goodness - I cannot even imagine taking that beautiful house and putting paint on it!
When I see the painted brick houses around here that people are paying thousands of dollars to have restored back to the brick, I always wonder what on earth possessed the owners to paint them in the first place. The same goes for that dreadful faux stone that people clad the houses with. Getting that off is even worse.

I think the whitewash looks nice on an older house with the kind of style which would lend itself to that kind of finish. An old farmhouse springs to mind, or French or English style cottage. I think you may end up with a house that looks like it is in need of major renovation. Such a shame when it looks so wonderful to begin with.

I guess if it's your 'forever house' then you can paint it in Zebra stripes or pink spots if you want, but I just can't imagine doing what you are suggesting to a house that looks as good as yours does.

I wouldn't paint anything until you see how much the porch changes the look of the house! You might be shocked by the transformation....

I don't like the "hard look of brick" but I like painted brick even less, sorry. Check out the transformation with the porch, plants, additional landscaping, different colors for shutters and door etc...

SPY 10021
could you post some of those photos you have collected...this white wash or mortar wash is a look that I find very intriguing but agree that the style of the home has much impact on whether or not the whitewash can be the real answer to a new look
Alison who posts on the building a home forum has had a texture coating applied to the new house she built couple of years ago--like a mortar wash--more beige -- I love the way it went on her more brown, not red, brick--and her house is kind of French style--not the English look of the OP...

just wondered if you ever painted that home of your's and how it turned out. I'm thinking of doing the same.
If you are satisifed, let me know techniques and methods you used.
Thanks

I have a 1988 Georgian colonial in Virginia. I had originally wanted to paint it to provide a more classic look and feel. I was told by a very good painter not to do it. I then looked into whitewashing. I am also very curious as to what kind of finish you finally decided on. I'd also love to see how the porch looks, as our houses are very similar. I find it very interesting to read the extreme range of reactions to the idea of painting brick. People either love it or hate it!

Has anyone actually whitewashed their brick and can they post photo and details of how? We're about to do ours and any help/advice would be appreciated!

Hi Dmaull and ptaylor,

Unfortuantely we never got around to whitewashing our house, but, I did an enormous amount research on the subject and discovered that you do NOT want to paint brick. Why? Because the paint doesn't allow the natural breathing to occur with brick. Brick is partially pourous and paint changes the game...

Instead if you are going for that aged look then you want to use a product that simulates lime washing. Lime washing is the actual technique used in the 1700 and 1800s to protect buildings (including brick). Some still practice this today, but it is messy and potentially dangerous (your working with slaked limeor calcium hydroxide a natural chemical. The reason however you want this kind of finish is that it allows the brick to "breathe". Unfortunately the lime wash eventually wears off so you have to reapply ever few years.

What I did find however was the ultimate solution I planned to use (until we deferred the project). It's a modern product that produces a finish identical to lime washing but is PERMANENT! It works at the molecular level and the minerals in the product permanently bind with the brick. What this means is that you do it one time and one time only! Additinoally the brick can literally be power washed later with NO ill effects on the white washed finish since it is permanent!

Below are the notes I made to myself for later reference when I was ready to proceed. You'll want to contanc this firm and research the product yourself, but I am 100% confident that this is the BEST way to achieve a permanent, old world, white wash finish on your brick!

Hope this helps!

bradesp

Jeff at Eco House

877-ECO-HOUSE

Must apply in 46 degrees or warmer - needs four hours in 60 degree weather to fully dry-out

Apply Primasil first as base "coat" Then apply one coat of Salizur.

Will need to mix pigments to desired color and translucency.

http://www.eco-house.com/silazur.htm

Eco House can't ship if temperatures are going to freeze.

Products can easily be sprayed.

Will need to custom mix and keep mix "suspended" during spray.

Any advice for how to proceed with existing whitewash?

We are trying to decide between power washing, whitewashing, or painting bricks on our 1930s colonial.

The existing white wash is an unknown technique. We have several spotty areas and do not like the pink' brick look.

We have recently added copper flashing to the front door and bay window roof is now copper. We would like a color to complement the copper + green shutter look.

Any suggestions?

I have to say that one of my favorite houses in the whole world is white washed. . .and its something I've given a tremendous amount of thought to for my own home. My house has old red brick on the first floor of the main portion of the house and white painted cedar shingles on the rest.

I'd be very interested to see how things turn out for you! Keep us posted!

I have updated pictures of our project underway:

www.whitewashedbrickcolonial.shutterfly.com

I am not very confident in re-applying a whitewash. I am also concerned about decreasing the value of the home by having painted bricks.

I am now thinking of just trying to get as much white paint off as possible.

We are in the process of power washing using a mild bleach/mildew treatment. This is what I refer to as "Round 1"

The contractor is suggesting applying acid for Round 2 to treat the difficult painted areas.

We are thinking of getting slightly larger shutters to hide the heavier painted areas around the windows. The ones hanging now are just cheap vinyl we painted green a couple years ago.

We may never get 100% of the paint removed. Is this a bad thing?

Has anyone heard of Dye Brick from England? I just found this during my research.

Thanks!

Whitewashing is inexpensive and easy to apply. The best thing about it - maintenance free. It consist of hydrated ivory lime, table salt and water. It is maintenance free and lasts if applied correctly 20 or more years. (they knew how to make things back then) Paint on the other hand peels over time. You are going to be scraping and repainting. Costly! There are different finishes for whitewashing. Example if your looking for an "English cottage" look, vary the thickness of the whitewash when applying. If a contractor is trying to charge an arm and leg, he's ripping you off. You apply it just like paint and with a brush for the best result. This is something you can do yourself. The main thing you need is a little elbow grease. The pink house mentioned above can easily be fixed by applying a couple more coats of whitewash. Good luck

We also have a white washed brick home from the 1930s and aren't sure if we love the look or not, so many people say they love it! We have decided to add a portico the the front (its a center hall colonial) and paint the front door, trim and shutters. Any suggestions on what color to go with? Our house is more white than red and the shutters and trim are dark grey and the door is BRIGHT red, its a cute dutch door....not sure what will help spruce it up, its looking pretty dreary right now. Anyone have any pictures or suggestions? We were thinking black shutters, darker red door? What color for the trim, there is significant trim around the front door.

Thanks!!

Here is a link to a site that has many inspirational pics of whitewashed or painted homes. Many have info on the process. I love them. I would do it in a heartbeat if my development's covenants would allow it. It is like painting wood, how many of you. especially men, balk at the thought of repainting stained wood? Be it an old dresser to update it or woodwork in an older home?

I love the look the whitewash or painted brick can bring to a home. Most are doing it for a change in style like Georgian to French.