LIME Painting opened in Chicago in 2021; however, each of our artisans has decades of experience in their respective crafts. LIME Painting was founded in 2013 in Denver, CO. You can read more about our founder here.
For exterior projects, your VRC, or Virtual Reality Consultant, will arrive before your scheduled time to begin the assessment of your property. You are not required to be there for this portion, we just want to have a clear picture of everything before we get things underway.
During the assessment, we will walk the exterior, assemble our recommendations, identify what needs to be done from a prep and application standpoint, and get measurements. At the time of your appointment, we will walk your home together, and we will discuss the scope of work that we see to get maximum life out of your project. We will then send you a detailed proposal within two business days or quicker if necessary!
Interior projects have a similar process, except that we will talk through recommendations as you show us your scope and collect measurements as we go.
LIME painting recommends acrylic or latex acrylic paints. Both can achieve an equivalent substrate bond as well as oil-based paints, with proper preparation and a primer coat.
Latex and acrylic paints are more environmentally friendly, clean up easier, dry quicker, and have a milder odor. Acrylic paints can achieve a similar durability to oil-based paint with the newer formulations used today. The type of paint base we ultimately use will depend on where the surface to be painted is located, and what substrate is to be painted.
LIME Painting of Chicago is Certified Renovator for homes with Lead as outlined under 40 CFR Part 745.90. We follow all guidelines by the EPA to protect your family and pets, ourselves, and the environment.
This includes, but is not limited to, doing the proper preparation work by sealing off the work area for interior work, and sectioning off an affected area for exterior work, along with posting proper signage.
When we are done, we seal and dispose of all the contaminated materials used during the lead removal process, and then thoroughly clean the area to ensure there is no dust or paint chips left in the affected area.
Absolutely! Like any paint job, it is all in the prep. For laminate, we will need to scuff the cabinets first to ensure the primer adheres to the laminate. We also use a specific primer to ensure that there is a solid bond to the laminate. Finally, we can coat in the color of your choice.
We typically spray the doors and drawers in a separate area after removing the handles and hinges, and use a hand-roller to apply the coating to your cabinets themselves.
Paint and other coatings have manufacturer recommended guidelines and temperature requirements that make summer and fall the best time for exterior work. Not following the guidelines can drastically affect the durability of the coating.
We recommend booking your exterior projects well in advance, however, to ensure it is completed on time, as our schedule fills up quickly once the weather warms up!
Winter and early spring is the best time for your interior projects, with the exception of any work related to your windows, as the substrate of the window frame is often too cold during the winter months.
LIME Painting focuses on providing the best customer experience possible and uses the highest quality materials. We are the only nationwide franchise that was created for custom and luxury properties.
You will notice the difference immediately during the initial walk-through of your property. We look at the big picture and make recommendations that will ensure you get the best results out of your project. We also spend an extensive amount of time on the preparation process. The end results are completely dependent on how well the prep work was done.
We manage your entire project, even if multiple vendors are involved and are your one point of contact. We communicate with you consistently, so that you are aware of where we are in the process at all times.
We offer a standard 12-month warranty on your project and have an option for an extended warranty package through LIME Loyalty. Purchasing a LIME Loyalty membership extends your warranty to up to 3 years and is transferable to the new owner, should you sell your property. You will also get discounts on routine maintenance services, as well as many other benefits. You can get more information or sign up for a LIME Loyalty membership here.
LIME Painting of Chicago is a licensed General Contractor in Chicago and Evanston, IL, and will add licenses, as needed, for additional cities and counties in the area. We carry insurance, including general liability, workman’s comp, and umbrella. We are a company that is built to last.
LIME Painting uses premium paint products that offer superior coverage and usually only require one coat of paint. The exceptions that would require additional coats are color transformations and cabinetry. In both of those scenarios, we will specify a second coat in our quote to ensure complete coverage and a beautiful finish.
The vetting process for our crews is thorough. We look for professionals who are skilled craftsmen/women in their trade, keep a tidy job site, know and properly maintain their equipment. They must go about their work with efficiency and be able to cut straight lines. We study their portfolios extensively. Skilled craftsmen/women take pride in their work and it shows in the finished product.
Originally, lime paint was made from limestone that had been crushed, burned, and mixed with water to make a lime putty. This was then tinted with pigment and diluted with water when it was time to apply. In modern American history, lime paint has most commonly been used as a product for masonry coatings. It is seeing a recent resurgence for interior painting where the process can create aesthetic effects providing depth and character. The modern coatings still have lime as a base combined with more modern formulations and can be applied to multiple substrates including drywall.
Many people like to think in terms of dollars per square foot of their floor plan. However, for painters it is better if we look at the square footage of the area to be painted whether it is walls, ceilings, or trim. Depending on the condition of the substrates, products selected, and amount of surfaces to be painted your price can range from anywhere between $3.00/sqft of floor plan to above $6! And cabinet painting should be viewed as a separate scope.
Exterior painting is restricted by the temperature of both the air and substrates to be painted. Many coatings can be applied at temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit. However, more specialty coatings like those used on walking surfaces and metals are air and substrate above 50 degrees Fahrenheit. For Chicago, this means an exterior season of May through the end of October with overnight lows playing a big factor.
We recommend you begin planning in advance by getting in touch with LIME Painting to schedule your estimate and discuss your color scheme. During the busy season, we might be booked out for several weeks. The earlier you begin planning, the better!
Faux finish, or faux paint, is a broad category to describe any type of decorative finish that mimics the appearance of another material. Interior limewash, venetian plaster, Tadelakt, and French wash are examples of faux finishes. LIME Painting of Chicago has highly skilled artisans available, capable of achieving even the most complicated faux finishes.
Faux painting is great for accent walls and to make a statement.
Prior to considering this work, you need to know what year your home was built. Prior to 1978, spray-on asbestos was legal and used for popcorn ceilings. Once you are sure you don’t have any asbestos concerns, you need to set up your work area to collect all of the debris because there will be a lot. You then completely scrape the surface to remove all of the texture. Ideally, you can patch any imperfections in the drywall, light sand, prime, and paint. However, if there is still enough inconsistency in the surface you might elect to sand the surface smooth prior to patching or do a skim coat of the entire surface.
If you have concerns about asbestos and/or the scope of the work involved is more than you care to do on your own, call the professionals at LIME Painting of Chicago to assist you with your project.
It can be done, but we strongly advise against it. To do it, you need to coat the entire paper with an oil-based primer to ensure proper adhesion of your top coat. And even then, the additional moisture from applying primer and paint might cause the adhesion between the wall and paper to fail. This is why we always recommend removing wallpaper before painting and will not warranty our work if we are directed to paint directly over wallpaper.
Paint selection can depend on any number of factors including the substrate to be painted, condition, previous coatings, project goals, and environment. This is why we take a consultative approach to our estimates to ensure our recommendations align with your project goals.
LIME’s preferred paint brands are Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams. We use their top of the line coatings for all of our projects because of the superior coverage and the overall lifespan of the paint. Both brands also offer green options that are much less harmful to the environment.
The majority of paint used today is water-based resulting in lower odors (VOCs) and simpler cleanup. Interior products are also formulated for lower VOCs than exterior products, including sealers for stains.
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