Please don't whitewash the brick. I love old brick homes, but hate the way whitewash (or paint) looks. And once it's done, it's really hard to go back -- removing whitewash is a pain (though still less of a pain than removing paint). So you're limiting the market for your house if you ever want to sell: if you leave it natural brick, a buyer who wants whitewash can easily whitewash it, but if you whitewash it, then it becomes very hard to sell to someone who wants natural brick.

Anonymous wrote:Wow, I didn't know what whitewashing was. The house in the link with just a few red patches here and there looks like it just hasn't been painted in years. If I saw this prior to knowing about whitewashing I'd just assume it was really shabby and poorly maintained inside.

Isn't the maintenance horrible, to maintain the whitewashed look?

My understanding is that it is much less trouble than paint. Think about it -- if a little of the whitewash flakes off, it doesn't change the look all that much. That said, our last house was painted brick in an historic district, and other than touching it up here and there once or twice, we only had it painted once in the ten years we lived there. The windows needed painting about every 3-4 years.

I don't get the people who are pushing paint rather than whitewash. I thought it was bad to paint brick -- makes the masonry retain water or something.

Anonymous wrote:I may have some helpful information.... Just today I drove through the new Phillips Park estates being developed off of Foxhall rd in NW DC, and saw that one of the completed homes has this exact finish. It is stunning. You may be able to contact the developers or some of the foremen at the site to determine what company was responsible for this work. GL!

Thank you!

I may have some helpful information.... Just today I drove through the new Phillips Park estates being developed off of Foxhall rd in NW DC, and saw that one of the completed homes has this exact finish. It is stunning. You may be able to contact the developers or some of the foremen at the site to determine what company was responsible for this work. GL!

Yuck! Most of those homes look like they are in dire need of a good paint job. Does not look like a deliberate design choice. Makes the house look run down.

With whitewashing, you can choose how much brick to expose underneath the white. I love the look of the last house at the bottom of the link above. Scroll all the way down the page.

Wow, I didn't know what whitewashing was. The house in the link with just a few red patches here and there looks like it just hasn't been painted in years. If I saw this prior to knowing about whitewashing I'd just assume it was really shabby and poorly maintained inside.

Isn't the maintenance horrible, to maintain the whitewashed look?

Thanks for the link. The painted brick homes are gorgeous. Do you know if any painting contractor can paint brick, or does it require special experience?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Don't do it! Don't do it!! Every time I see a white brick house I think "WHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYY?"



Whitewash is not the same as painting a house white.

http://fleamarketgardening.com/category/whitewashed-brick-homes/

Wow, if I saw that, I'd assume someone tried really hard to remove white paint from their bricks but gave up after a long battle.

I agree. I hate the look of whitewashed brick. I much prefer to see it painted well and maintained properly.

There are a lot of fugly brick homes in this area! I think painting or white washing will look really nice.

I love the look too!

Hate the fugly bricks - someone please paint them or something...

Love the whitewash, too!

We have a "faded" whitewashed brick house, and I love it. We bought it that way, so I can't help you with contractors.

I suspect that those who don't like the look are also the kind of people who don't like antiques because they're "used."

sometimes you have to just paint it. my house is 100 yrs old and had decorative enameled brick on the front. the enamel wore out and could not be repaired. we painted and it looks great. FWIW, we used primer and an exterior paint that was high coverage, two coats