Limewash and Traditional Paints, London

Q: Can you limewash over modern paint?

Rarely. Limewash needs a surface it can bond to and breathe through, so plastic-based paint usually has to come off first, and that is often the largest part of the job.

Limewash and Traditional Paints

A sitting room with a grand piano and a window seat in a Passive House in North London, its walls in a warm clay paint — Clay paint on the walls of a sitting room, in a Passive House in North London. Photograph: Matt Clayton

Limewash is lime thinned with water and coloured with earth pigments; it soaks into plaster and dries to a soft, cloudy matt. We apply limewash, distemper, clay and linseed paints in London, across the south of England and on selected projects around the UK, in listed churches, period houses and new buildings, including St Stephen Walbrook.

Across six storeys of a Grade II* townhouse in Belgravia, every room was limewashed by hand, the brush worked with a different movement from one room to the next. We mix the colours on site, sample them on the wall and judge them dry, because limewash dries lighter than it looks wet, and we go back over the years to keep the finishes in good order.

Led by Chris Britain, Master Decorator, and Cathy Britain ACR, Icon-accredited Conservator-Restorer and a former Chair of the Traditional Paint Forum, with an experienced team. Chris has worked in the trade since 1974, the third generation of his family; he and Cathy founded Britain & Co in 2015.

Breathable paint in a Wren church

The coffered dome and Corinthian columns of St Stephen Walbrook after the restoration — The nave of St Stephen Walbrook under Wren’s coffered dome, after the restoration.

St Stephen Walbrook, Wren’s Grade I church of the 1670s beside the Mansion House, reopened in June 2025 after a restoration by Daedalus Conservation with Caroe Architecture. In the nave we repaired the cracks, touched them in and gave the plaster a coat of permeable matt paint. At the top of the tower stairs the walls went back in grey limewash, in four coats.

Lime plaster, soft brick and old timber are porous. A modern film paint seals them, so moisture stays in the wall, and that is how damp patches and blown plaster begin. Limewash and distemper let the wall take up moisture and give it back.

Traditional paint

Sand and clay from the site

Pool hall of a Surrey country house, brick walls in ochre lime slurry and the boarded ceiling in glazed lime paint — An Edwardian country house in Surrey: the brick in tinted lime and the ceiling in glazed lime paint between the oak trusses.

On new buildings we sometimes use the site’s own materials. For a new coach house and pool building at an Edwardian country house in Surrey, the lime paint was glazed with sand dug on the estate, redder than any bagged sand, and the pool-hall ceiling was glazed in one continuous run so that no joins would show.

In a Victorian villa in North London, retrofitted to the Passivhaus standard, the walls are painted in clay from the garden. The clay was turned into paint on site and coloured by hand. The house has since been featured in Livingetc and Dezeen.

In detail

Close view of a deep green limewash sample with fine cross-hatched brush marks running both ways — A deep green limewash sample for a Kensington townhouse, cross-hatched by hand in both directions.

Close detail of pale warm grey lime paint with soft criss-cross brush marks in a Mayfair townhouse — Lime paint brushed criss-cross in a Mayfair townhouse, the marks left as part of the finish.

A narrow corridor in deep blue-green limewash, looking through an arch to a hand-painted wallcovering, in a new classical house in Wiltshire — Deep blue-green limewash, built up in cloudy layers, in a new classical house in Wiltshire.

A room with walls and ceiling in a deep Venetian red clay paint and a reclaimed boarded door, in a Passive House in North London — Clay paint in a deep Venetian red, made from the garden’s own earth, in a Passive House in North London.

Close view of a warm ochre limewashed wall, the brush movement showing as soft overlapping clouds — Ochre limewash, the brush movement left as soft clouds, in a Grade II* townhouse in Belgravia.

A tub of grey-green tinted lime paint beside a brushed-out test patch on card and a pile of sample boards — Tinted lime paint and test patches, mixed and tried on site.

Selected work

St Stephen Walbrook, City of London. Wren’s Grade I church: the nave, crypt, chapel and working spaces in breathable paints, and the top of the tower stairs in limewash, for Daedalus Conservation with Caroe Architecture. The restoration won the Georgian Group Architectural Award for Restoration of a Georgian Building in an Urban Setting, 2025.

A Passive House in North London. Clay paint made from the garden’s own earth in a Victorian villa retrofitted to Passivhaus standard. Read the case study.

A Grade II* townhouse in Belgravia. Hand-applied limewash on all six storeys, with joinery finished in lime, wax and ink.

A country house in Surrey. A new coach house and pool building in lime paint glazed with sand from the site.

A townhouse in Mayfair. The upper floors in hand-mixed lime paint, looked after on return visits since 2019.

Common questions

Is limewash right for a damp wall? It lets a solid wall dry out, which is why it suits lime plaster and soft brick. It does not cure the cause: if water is getting in, that has to be put right first.

Can you limewash over modern paint? Yes, with the right primer. The choice depends on the paint underneath, so we test the build-up on the wall first. Where the old paint is failing it has to come off, and that can be the largest part of the job.

Will the colour match my sample? It will once it has dried and settled. We sample on the wall itself and judge it dry, because limewash always looks darker wet.

Does limewash need looking after? A little. Lime needs time to harden before anything goes over it, and touching in is hit and miss because new lime dries lighter than old, so a whole wall is often recoated rather than patched. One Mayfair townhouse has had us back regularly since 2019.

What affects the cost? The area, the state of the surfaces, whether modern paint has to come off first, the number of coats, and access. We price from a visit, or from photographs and drawings.

Do we need consent in a listed building? Stripping paint or changing a finish in a listed building may need consent. We work with your architect and conservation officer and can provide samples to support an application.

If you have a period building, or a new one that needs breathable finishes, call or email us to arrange a visit, or send photographs and drawings for a price.

Discuss your project