Two-story red brick house in Aurora, IL with its front wall limewashed chalk white and its side wall still bare red brick, a ladder against the side

Whole houses, all four sides or just the street face

Aurora Limewash: Exterior Brick Limewash in Aurora

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

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

Aurora Limewash arranges exterior limewash for brick houses in Aurora and the nearby Fox Valley towns, applied by local painting and masonry contractors. This is the full-house job: every brick face that shows, washed in two coats of mineral limewash, with the preparation that decides whether it lasts.

A whole-house limewash at $4,000 to $12,000 can be refreshed later by re-wetting and recoating; skip the absorption test and brush it over a sealer, and you pay $2 to $4 a square foot more to strip it off and start again.

$4,000 to $12,000 for an average brick home

An exterior limewash on an average brick home around Aurora typically runs $4,000 to $12,000, or $4 to $8 a square foot, as published by a limewash applicator working the Chicago suburbs. Large estates with brick on every side run $10,000 to $25,000 or more. Two storeys of ladder work, extra coats for near-opaque coverage, and any stripping or mortar repair push a job up the range.

Get a price: (630) 528-2808

Signs your brick exterior is ready for limewash

A splash of water darkens the brick and soaks in instead of beading up
The mortar joints are full and hard, not sandy or recessed
The brick has never been painted, sealed or treated with a water repellent
You like the texture of the brick but not its colour

How two coats change the look

One coat of limewash gives a translucent, weathered look where much of the original brick still shows. Two coats give fuller coverage. Some owners want a third for something close to solid white, though that gives up most of what makes limewash look like limewash. Every coat adds labour and product, so decide on the look with a test patch before the price is final.

Limewash dries much lighter than it looks wet. A patch that seems too strong on day one usually lands where you wanted it by day three.

The preparation that decides whether it lasts

Gloved hands brushing chalk-white limewash onto damp red brick on a house in Aurora, IL

Limewash bonds by soaking into absorbent masonry and hardening there. Anything that stops water getting in stops the limewash too. That means old paint, clear sealers, water repellents and heavy grime all have to come off first, and loose mortar has to be repaired, because limewash will not hold a crumbling joint together.

Romabio's instructions call for the masonry to be dampened thoroughly before the first coat, but not left overly wet, and for the first coat to dry 2 to 8 hours before the second. On a large south-facing wall in summer, keeping the brick damp is most of the skill.

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

Trim, windows and everything that is not brick

Limewash is caustic while wet, with a pH of 13 on Romabio's safety data, so windows, painted trim, metal, plants and the drive are covered before the first coat and rinsed if splashed. Limestone sills and lintels can be washed to match or left natural, which is worth deciding before the crew arrives.

Chimneys and second storeys

The chimney is usually the hardest part of the job to reach and the part most exposed to weather. It can be included in the whole-house price or done on its own, which the chimney limewash page covers. Two-storey walls need ladders or scaffold, which is the main reason two houses with the same square footage of brick get different prices.

Houses around Aurora that suit it best

Older brick houses with soft, absorbent brick take limewash beautifully, which makes the river towns a natural fit. Geneva, St. Charles and Batavia all have older brick centres, though each also has a historic district with its own rules. Newer houses with dense, smooth face brick take it too, after a test confirms the brick still absorbs.

Questions people ask

How much does it cost to limewash the outside of a brick house in Aurora?

Typically $4,000 to $12,000 for an average home, or $4 to $8 a square foot. Large estates can run $10,000 to $25,000 or more.

What are the signs my exterior brick will take limewash?

Water soaks in rather than beading, the mortar is sound, and the brick has never been painted or sealed.

How many coats of limewash does a brick house need?

Usually two. One coat gives a light, weathered wash; two give fuller coverage; a third approaches solid white.

Can it rain after limewash goes on?

Romabio says normal rain will not affect the finish after 3 to 4 hours of drying, but not to apply it when heavy rain is likely.

Does limewash protect brick?

It is breathable, so moisture can leave the wall, which is the main reason it is gentler on old brick than acrylic paint.

Often done together

Brick front limewash

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

A breathable finish for the one piece of masonry that takes the worst of the weather and the heat.
Tuckpointing

Limewash will not hold a crumbling joint together. This is the masonry work that has to come first.

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.