Exterior painting
Painting and limewashing brick homes around Atlanta
Coated brick is hard to undo, so before anyone picks a color we work out what the wall needs to keep breathing and how you want it to look as it ages.
Phones answered 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
- Phones answered 24/7
- Scheduled from Tucker
- Exterior painting
Updated October 2026
Short answer
On an Atlanta house, painting brick comes down to three coatings: mineral paint that bonds into the brick and lets it breathe, limewash that wears softly with time, and masonry acrylic that forms a film. We clean the wall, fill cracked mortar and test a hidden section first, then match the coating to the brick and the look you want.
What changes once brick gets a coating
Brick and mortar soak up rain and dry back out through the face. A coating that seals that face can trap moisture behind it, and on a damp wall the brick face can spall or the paint can peel in sheets. That is why the product matters more on brick than almost anywhere else on a house.
Before any coating we wash the wall, let it dry, check for efflorescence (the white salt bloom that shows water moving through masonry) and fill cracked mortar. A wall with an active water problem, such as a gutter dumping onto it, gets that fixed first.
Choosing between options
Mineral paint, limewash or masonry acrylic for your brick
All three can turn orange brick white, gray or a deep color. They differ in how they age and how hard they are to undo.
| Compare | Mineral paint | Limewash | Masonry acrylic |
|---|---|---|---|
| How it bonds | Reacts with the brick | Soaks in and cures | Forms a film on top |
| Breathability | High | High | Moderate |
| How it ages | Holds its color | Wears softly, brick shows through | Can peel if moisture builds up |
| Over old paint | No | No | Yes, with primer |
| Reversibility | Very low | Partly, while fresh | Very low |
| Look | Flat, solid color | Chalky, variable | Even, slight sheen |
What drives the price
What a brick paint or limewash job costs
Brick takes more material and prep than siding, and the coating you choose changes the labor.
Published range: $3,500 to $10,500 to paint a brick house, or $1.40 to $4.20 per square foot. Source: HomeAdvisor, national data, June 2026. A planning figure, not our quote.
Coating type
German smear and multi-coat limewash take more hand labor than paint.
Brick texture
Rough, grooved brick drinks more material and takes longer to cover.
Mortar and efflorescence
Joints to fill and salt deposits to clean add prep days.
Old paint
Previously painted brick may need scraping or stripping first.
Height and access
Chimneys and two-story walls need taller ladders or staging.
Mineral paint on brick
Mineral paints use potassium silicate as the binder. Instead of sitting on the brick as a film, they react with the masonry and become part of the surface, leaving the pores open so water vapor can escape. The finish is flat and solid, much closer to painted brick than limewash, and mineral pigments resist fading. It needs clean, uncoated or properly prepared brick to bond, so we test adhesion on any wall that has seen sealer or paint. It is our pick when you want a full color change that still breathes.
Limewash and German smear
Limewash is lime and pigment brushed onto dampened brick. It soaks in, cures into the surface and weathers slowly, letting some brick color show back through over the years; another coat refreshes it if you want it crisp. German smear is different: a wet mortar mix is pressed over the brick and partly wiped away, leaving heavy coverage in places and bare brick in others. It is thicker, more rustic and far harder to reverse, so we try it on a small, hidden section before committing a whole wall.
Painting previously painted brick
If the brick is already painted, the choice is mostly made: limewash and mineral paint need an absorbent surface and will not bond to old latex. The question is how well the existing coat holds. We tape-test several spots and look for peeling at the base, around downspouts and under sills, where water lingers. Loose paint is scraped and washed off, sound paint is cleaned and spot-primed with masonry primer, and a breathable masonry acrylic goes on in two coats. If the old paint is failing everywhere, stripping may cost less over time.
On brick we mostly use Romabio and KEIM mineral and lime products, with Sherwin-Williams Loxon or Benjamin Moore masonry coatings over brick that is already painted.
- Romabio
- KEIM
- Sherwin-Williams
- Benjamin Moore
- Portola Paints
- Behr
- PPG
- Valspar
- Prosoco
- Kalklitir
Around Atlanta
Red clay, rain splash and the bottom courses of brick
Around here the ground itself stains brick. Rock under the Piedmont weathers into saprolite, the red clay of Georgia, colored by iron oxides, and the Cecil soil series, with its red, kaolinite-rich clay subsoil, is mapped across more than 10 million acres of the Piedmont. Every hard rain splashes that clay onto the lowest courses. We clean the base of the wall before coating, and on light colors we suggest a darker band near the ground or mulch in place of bare soil.
How the job runs
How we take a brick wall from bare to coated
Test and decide
A small sample on a hidden wall shows color and coverage before you commit.
Wash and dry
Low-pressure washing, then time for the brick to stop holding water.
Repair
Cracked joints filled, efflorescence cleaned and loose paint removed.
Apply
Coats worked into the mortar joints, or limewash brushed onto dampened brick.
Review in daylight
We walk each side with you and adjust limewash areas while they are fresh.
Questions
Brick Painting & Limewash questions we hear in Atlanta
Rarely without chemical stripping. Limewash is the only option that can be partly washed back while fresh.
A film-forming paint can trap water. Mineral paint and limewash let brick dry, which is why we start there on bare brick.
It wears gradually, which is the point. Exposed walls lose color faster, and a fresh coat restores it.
Yes, with heat-appropriate products near the firebox and breathable coatings on the face.
Usually not until the sealer wears off or is removed, because limewash has to soak in.
Warm whites, soft grays and deep greens are common. We sample on your brick, since mortar color changes how a shade reads.
Same kind of work
More exterior painting
Exterior House Painting
Siding, trim and brick for ranch and two-story homes.
Wood & Fiber Cement Siding Painting
Fiber cement, cedar and hardboard lap siding.
Vinyl & Aluminum Siding Painting
Vinyl-safe colors on faded vinyl and aluminum.
Stucco Painting
Hard coat and EIFS with crack-bridging coats.
Ready when you are
Ready to change the color of your brick?
Ring us at any hour and say whether the brick is bare or already painted. We will set a time to test a sample on a hidden section.