Red brick house wall near Aurora, IL, the kind of brick a stain can shift toward brown or grey

New colour in the brick, not on it

Aurora Limewash: Brick Staining in Aurora

The finish to choose when you want different brick, not white brick.

Aurora and ten towns within 20 miles
Written price before work starts
Licensed, insured local contractors
Historic district rules covered

Aurora Limewash arranges brick staining for homes around Aurora through local masonry and painting contractors. A brick stain is a penetrating colour that soaks into the brick and changes its colour without covering its texture. It is how an orange brick becomes a brown one, or a mismatched addition is made to match the original house.

Staining brick runs about $1 to $4 a square foot and keeps it breathing; paint it with acrylic to change the colour instead, and you take on repainting every few years and $1.50 to $9.50 a square foot to strip it if you change your mind.

$1 to $4 a square foot

A national cost guide puts brick staining at $1 to $4 a square foot, slightly below its range for painting brick. Colour matching across several brick tones, a two-storey house, or a stain applied brick by brick to blend repairs push it toward the top of the range.

Get a price: (630) 528-2808

Signs a stain is the right fix

An addition or repair used brick that does not match the original
The brick colour is the problem, but you like its texture and mortar lines
You want darker or warmer brick, not lighter brick
The brick is bare and absorbs water

What a stain does to brick

The stain soaks into the brick and bonds there, so the surface texture, the mortar joints and the brick's natural variation all still show. The national cost guide describes it as permanently dyeing the brick without altering its texture or breathability. That is the main difference from paint, which forms a coloured layer on top.

Staining versus limewash

Limewash moves brick toward white and grey and softens its colour. Stain can move brick in any direction, including darker, and it keeps the brick looking like brick. If the goal is a lighter, softer house, limewash is the tool. If the goal is a different brick colour, stain is.

Not sure what your brick will take? Describe the house, the brick and the look you want, and get a straight answer on coats, prep and a typical price.

Call (630) 528-2808

Matching additions and patches

The most practical use of stain is blending. A rear addition, a filled-in window or a rebuilt chimney often uses brick that will never quite match the original. Stain applied brick by brick can close the gap so the repair disappears. It is slow, careful work, which is why blending jobs are priced at the top of the range.

Approval and testing

In St. Charles, the city's project table puts staining already stained masonry under staff review and staining masonry that has never been stained in front of the full commission, so a house inside its historic districts needs a plan before the stain is chosen. Outside a district, as in most Naperville subdivisions, the test is practical: a sample on a hidden area, dried, in daylight.

Choosing a stain colour

Brick stain is chosen by matching, not by a colour chart. A contractor mixes on site and tries it on a spare brick or a hidden corner, because the same stain reads differently on each brick in a wall. On a multicolour blend, some bricks may be stained and others left alone, so the result looks like a natural mix rather than a coat of colour. Daylight, not a lamp, is the light to judge it in.

Questions people ask

How much does brick staining cost?

A national cost guide puts it at $1 to $4 a square foot, with colour matching and height pushing it higher.

What are the signs stain is better than limewash for my house?

You want darker or different brick rather than lighter brick, or you need a repair or addition to match.

Is brick stain permanent?

Yes. It soaks into the brick and bonds there, so plan on living with the colour.

Does staining brick trap moisture?

A penetrating stain keeps the brick breathable, unlike a film-forming paint.

Can stain make brick lighter?

Only a little. To lighten brick significantly, limewash or a mineral paint is the usual route.

Often done together

Exterior brick limewash

A breathable lime finish over the whole brick exterior, from a faint wash to near-solid white.
Mineral paint for brick

For the owner who wants painted brick, without the peeling that ordinary paint brings.
Brick front limewash

The brick front that makes a newer house look dated, softened to sit with the siding instead of fighting it.

Talk it through before anyone opens a bucket

Say what the brick is, whether it has ever been painted or sealed, and how much of it shows from the street. You will hear what the job usually involves, what it tends to cost, and whether your town needs a sign-off first.