The test patch
A square of wall, before you decide
Color in a catalog is not color in your house. The patch is the real coating on the real wall, in your light.
We choose a spot with you, clean it, and coat a square about the size of a door panel in the same coats the wall would get. We label the edge in pencil. Then you live with it.
What the patch shows
Whether the wall takes the coating, or sheds it
The color in morning light, at noon and under lamps
How the finish looks next to your trim and floors
What a damp sponge does to it
Step by step
From the visit to the decision
- 01
Step 1: 1. Walk the wall
Areli taps the plaster for hollow spots, scrapes a corner to see what is on it, and asks the year the house was built.
The year built, so we know whether the old-paint rules apply
What the wall is made of
Where damp has been
- 02
Step 2: 2. Patch day
We coat the square, usually within a few weeks of the visit. You do not need to be home.
Cleaning and any priming the wall needs
The same number of coats the wall would get
A pencil label on the edge
- 03
Step 3: 3. Live with it
Most people look for a week or two. Look in the morning, at noon and in the evening.
Check it beside your floors and trim
Wipe it with a damp sponge
Text us a photo if you like
- 04
Step 4: 4. Decide
If the patch is right, Areli writes the estimate. If it is not, we say what we would use instead, or whether paint is the wrong answer.
A written estimate for the full job
A different color, tried the same way
Or a plain no, with the reason
Before patch day
What to have ready
- 01
A spot you can live with
Choose a wall or section that is out of the way: the back of a closet, a wall behind furniture, a stair landing.
- 02
The year
If you know when the house was built, tell us. If you do not, say so and we will find out.
- 03
A few colors
Bring a sample, a swatch or a photo. We can mix to a sample, and we can try two colors side by side.
- 04
Questions
Ask them at the visit. Areli answers every one before anything is coated.
Questions
About the patch
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.
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.
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.
The test patch
See it on your own wall first
We paint a square of mineral paint or limewash in a spot you pick, in the coats the wall would get. Look at it for a week, in morning light and under lamps, then decide.