BAUWERK Limewash paints are perfect for all masonry surfaces, like render, bricks, mud brick, and strawbale that’s where it works best as it is absorbed into the wall leaving a breathable surface that is protected by the natural properties of the paint. However, it’s also okay if your walls are already painted or are made of gyprock/drywall / plasterboard or plaster.

If your wall is already painted or is made of gyprock/drywall/plasterboard or plaster:
It is very important that your walls are correctly primed, as Limewash and Prep Coat will not mask what is on your wall, for example, inconsistent materials like the join lines where plasterboards meet, or any fillers or patches that are on the wall– to ensure that no ghosting of these inconsistencies comes through to your final finish.

Step 1. First apply 2 coats of a good quality water-based drywall/plasterboard/gyprock primer, to ensure an even absorbency across the wall surface.
Step 2. Apply 1 coat of our Bauwerk Prep Coat by roller, specially formulated to make limewashing easier and more durable on previously painted walls.
Step 3. Apply Limewash by brush 2-3 coats, however, you like it best. We find 2 coats is usually enough.

We have specially developed our Prep Coat as a bridge coat between standard paint and primers to make limewash more durable, and easy to apply. Bauwerk Prep Coat is not a primer. It is important to understand that Bauwerk Limewash and Prep Coat have no capacity to mask what is on your wall, it allows all the history and the materials of the wall to come through.

Natural walls, such as unpainted render, brick, stone, masonry, mud brick & limewash.
Do not require any undercoat or primer. Limewash can be applied directly to the wall.

Previously painted render, brick, stone, masonry, mud brick.
Carry out any surface repair and remove all dust and loose particles. No undercoat is required. Sand well if previous paint has any gloss level. Previously painted masonry internal walls with inconsistent wall finish or gloss finish–you can apply 1 coat of Bauwerk Prep Coat to create a more uniform finish.

For our paint we prefer generally a rougher (more textured) surface level finish anyway. Gypsum walls can be sanded back to the same standard as for conventional paints.

Alternatively you could consider a more textured surface finish, our paint will look beautiful on almost all texture finishes.