Old Canaan Building Materials

Limewash is whitewash's more refined cousin. Where whitewash is utility — the barn wall, the cellar, the rough stone — limewash is finish. It is used on interior plaster, on dressed brick and stone, on the smooth masonry faces of formal buildings. The preparation is different, the application is more controlled, and the result is a surface with more depth and variation than any film-forming paint.

The character of limewash is translucency and variation. Unlike paint, which covers the substrate, limewash lets the substrate read through. On plaster, you see the slight irregularity of the float finish. On brick, you see the individual bricks through a veil of white. Multiple coats build depth without opacity. The color has a quality that latex paint cannot reproduce, because the depth comes from layers of translucent material rather than a single opaque film.

Limewash is made from lime putty — hydrated lime that has been soaked in water for a minimum of several weeks, developing a creamy, plastic consistency. The putty is thinned with water to a translucent consistency and applied in multiple thin coats to plaster, brick, or stone. Pigments for limewash must be alkali-stable — earth pigments (ochres, siennas, umbers) are the traditional choice. Limewash is available commercially from Portola Paints and Romabio, which produce pre-mixed limewash products appropriate for both interior and exterior applications.

Limewash breathes — it is highly vapor-permeable and does not trap moisture in the substrate the way film-forming paints can. On old plaster walls with inherent moisture movement, this is the correct finish because it accommodates the wall's behavior rather than fighting it.

Limewash is the historically correct interior finish for plastered walls in New England buildings from the Colonial period through the mid-19th century. On historic buildings undergoing restoration, it is the appropriate re-specification. On new traditional buildings, it produces an interior character that latex paint — however carefully colored — cannot replicate.

From specialty suppliers: Romabio (imported Italian limewash products), Portola Paints, or traditional lime putty and earth pigments from masonry suppliers. Application requires preparation and technique — thin coats, damp substrate, specific brush types.