“I expected a sales pitch about limewash. Instead Areli put a square on the dining room wall and told me to look at it for a week. By the second morning I knew.”
Katherine S.Homeowner, Marquette
Mineral paint and limewash · Madison, Wisconsin
Paint that becomes part of an old plaster wall
Four Lakes Lime & Mineral coats plaster, brick and stucco with limewash and mineral paint, finishes that bond to the wall instead of sealing it. Before we price a room, we paint a test patch on your own wall.
The explainer
Three coatings, one old wall
What each does when it meets plaster, brick or stucco that has been standing for a century. None is wrong everywhere; they are right in different places.
| On an old wall | Latex paint | Limewash | Mineral paint |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it holds | Latex paintDries to a plastic film that sits on the surface | LimewashCures into lime as it takes carbon dioxide from the air | Mineral paintReacts with the mineral surface and becomes part of it |
| Moisture | Latex paintMostly closed: moisture can collect behind the film | LimewashOpen: water vapor passes through | Mineral paintOpen: water vapor passes through |
| Over old latex | Latex paintGoes over sound old paint after cleaning and priming | LimewashNeeds the old film taken off first | Mineral paintNeeds bare mineral surface, or a product made for sound old paint |
| The look | Latex paintAny sheen, even coverage | LimewashSoft, cloudy and brushed; no two walls alike | Mineral paintDeep, even matte |
| As it ages | Latex paintChips and peels where the bond lets go | LimewashWears and chalks; another coat goes on top | Mineral paintTends to wear away instead of peeling |
| Where we use it | Latex paintDrywall, wood and trim, which we leave to others | LimewashLime plaster, brick and stone | Mineral paintBrick, stucco, masonry and plaster |
Why old walls fail
Where film paint lets go on an old wall
Most of the walls we are called to are not failing plaster. They are sound plaster with a skin of paint that has stopped holding.
- 1
The film lifts
Latex dries to a skin. When moisture works through the wall, the skin blisters and flakes.
- 2
The plaster underneath
Under the skin the plaster is often fine. It needs the loose paint off, not replastering.
- 3
Cracks painted over
Hairline cracks get painted over again and again. We fill them before any coating, and a crack that keeps moving gets a different conversation.
The test patch
A square of wall, then a decision
Nothing is ordered until you have lived with the patch.
- 01
Step 1: Walk the wall
Areli visits, taps the plaster, scrapes a corner to see what is on it and asks the year the house was built.
- 02
Step 2: Patch day
We coat a square about the size of a door panel, in a spot you pick, in the coats the wall would get.
- 03
Step 3: Live with it
Look at it in morning light, at noon and under lamps. Wipe it with a damp sponge. Tell us what you see.
- 04
Step 4: Decide
If you like it, we write the estimate. If the wall will not hold it, we tell you what we would use instead.
The work
Four kinds of wall
Plaster walls and ceilings
Limewash or mineral paint on lime and gypsum plaster, with the repairs it needs first.
Plaster walls
Brick and stucco
Limewash or mineral paint on exterior brick, stucco and masonry, in the dry months.
Brick and stucco
Painted-over walls
Taking latex or oil paint off plaster and brick by the gentlest method that works.
Painted-over walls
Plaster repair
Cracks, loose sections and patches, matched to the wall around them before any coating.
Plaster walls
Finishes
What the finish looks like up close
Limewash, plaster and color, photographed on the wall.
Showing 8 of 8
Sample photos.
From walls we've done
What it was like to live with the patch
“Two painters told me the walls needed to come out. Ante tapped them, said the plaster was sound, and the old paint came off instead.”
Tod B.Homeowner, Tenney-Lapham
“The street side of the brick had been painted and was peeling in sheets. They washed it back, limewashed it, and the color moves with the light now.”
Lydia H.Homeowner, Greenbush
Sample reviews.
Dane County and around
Madison's old neighborhoods and the towns around the lakes
If your town is not listed, send the address and we will say.
- Madison neighborhoods: Marquette, Tenney-Lapham, Schenk-Atwood, Vilas, Greenbush, Nakoma
- Dane County: Mazomanie, Black Earth, Blue Mounds, Brooklyn, Deerfield, Cambridge
- Sauk, Jefferson and Rock counties: Sauk City, Prairie du Sac, Lake Mills, Fort Atkinson, Evansville, Edgerton
We don't take work in Milwaukee or the Fox Valley, or in Illinois.
Questions
Before you book a patch
Can you put mineral paint or limewash over latex paint?
Not directly, in most cases. Both need a surface they can bond to, and sealed latex is not one. Either the old film comes off, or we use a product the maker says will go over sound old paint. The test patch shows which your wall needs.
How big is the test patch and what does it show?
About the size of a door panel, in a spot you choose, such as the back of a closet or a low wall behind furniture. We apply it in the same coats the wall would get. It shows you the color in your light, and it shows us whether the wall takes the coating.
How do you price a job?
In writing, after we have seen the walls and, when you want one, after the patch has cured. The price follows the surface, the preparation, the number of coats and the height of the work. How pricing works has the full list.
What if my house was built before 1978?
Federal rules apply to paid work that disturbs paint in homes and child-occupied buildings built before 1978. Tell us the year when you book. The firm's EPA lead-safe certification number is under Credentials, and on those houses we use lead-safe work practices: plastic containment, wet methods and a HEPA vacuum, never dry sanding, a heat gun or an open flame.
Will it look like latex?
No. Limewash is cloudy and brushed by nature, and mineral paint is a deep, even matte. If you want a uniform satin finish that scrubs clean, latex is the right paint and we will say so before you pay for a patch.
Book a test patch
Tell us about the wall
What it is, where it is and what is on it now. Areli replies in office hours to set the visit.