Serious question: should you seal adobe walls or let them breathe?

I had a customer in the North Valley tell me I was ruining their 1940s adobe by sealing the interior walls with a latex paint. They said I needed to use a breathable lime wash instead, so I stripped it all down and tried it. Now I'm worried about moisture damage from the other side versus dust crumbling off unsealed walls. Has anyone else dealt with this choice in older Albuquerque homes?

3 comments

3 Comments

craig.john5d ago

Read a paper from UNM's architecture school that tested this back in the 90s. They found latex or any plastic-based paint traps moisture inside the adobe brick. That moisture eventually breaks down the mud and straw, and you get soft crumbly walls from the inside out. They recommended lime wash or just a clay paint if you want something that sticks. Your customer was probably right to push back.

reesel505d agoMost Upvoted

Latex on adobe? That's like putting a raincoat on a sponge.

grantw325d ago

@reesel50 nailed it - same logic as why you don't wrap a brick in plastic and expect it to last.