Hand-applied mineral finishes for the City of the 1000 Islands — Victorian heritage streets, riverfront homes and the spaces in between.
Brockville's heritage core is one of Eastern Ontario's best-kept secrets: blocks of Victorian brick and stone off King Street, tall-ceilinged rooms with original plaster, and a waterfront that fills the south-facing windows with moving light. Houses like these deserve finishes with the same integrity as their bones — lime, marble dust and mineral pigment, applied by hand.
St. Lawrence river light is part of the brief here. A flat painted wall reads the same at noon and dusk; a limewashed or plastered wall doesn't. The surface shifts with the day, which is exactly what these rooms were built to do.
Brockville's 19th-century walls were finished in lime long before acrylic paint existed. Hand-brushed limewash restores that breathable, softly clouded surface — flattering uneven heritage plaster rather than telegraphing every flaw the way modern flat paint does. It's mineral, VOC-free and conservation-friendly for solid masonry.
Victorian proportions carry formality well. Venetian plaster — burnished lime with the depth of polished stone — suits Brockville's dining rooms, entry halls and fireplace walls, and gives newer riverfront condos and renovations a single, quietly luxurious focal surface.
Adding a modern bathroom to a century home is a diplomacy problem: the new work shouldn't shout at the old. Microcement keeps it quiet — one seamless, waterproof surface over shower walls and floors, no grout grid, no glare. It's equally practical for riverfront properties that live with humidity swings.
We're based at 2183 Carling Ave in Ottawa (inside the Alteriors showroom) — about an hour up the 416/401 from Brockville. Quotes start from photos or a short video, free and usually same-day; for larger projects we come down with sample boards so you can judge colour and texture in your own light.
Boutique inns, restaurants and offices along King Street: we stage commercial work around your hours and occupancy.
Yes. Brockville is roughly an hour from our Ottawa studio, and we're on the 401 corridor regularly. There's no travel premium — quotes are free and start from photos you text or email.
Usually, yes. We handle the surface preparation decorative work requires — patching, consolidating and priming — and limewash in particular is forgiving of the gentle irregularity old plaster carries. Anything structural, we'll flag honestly first.
For living spaces, limewash and venetian plaster both handle river-adjacent humidity well — they breathe. For bathrooms and wet rooms, microcement is the workhorse: seamless and waterproof. We'll recommend based on the room, not the trend.
Send photos of your space for a free, firm quote — Victorian heritage, waterfront modern or somewhere in between.