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margaritalady_gw

Painted brick fireplace pics, techniques?

margaritalady
16 years ago

I've been considering painting my used brick fireplace a lighter (beigey) color. I've searched this subject, but was wondering if there were any others who have done this sucessfully and how it was done. I'm just a little bit afraid to make a mistake!

Comments (7)

  • reno_fan
    16 years ago

    I painted mine in my last house. Our brick had a very rough texture, so I used a big car wash sponge dipped in paint, and squeezed it into the texture of the brick. It was a *marked* improvement in our room. Our brick was horribly ugly, and clashed with everything.

    This is before we bought the house:

    And after paint and a new mantel:

  • lynnski
    16 years ago

    We had a variegated brick wall behind our woodstove and it was way too attention-grabbing. First, I tried sponge-painting the brick. Ugly. Then I tried painting the brick one color and the mortar another. Ugly + a lot of work. Then I tried painting it all one color, a deeper darker shade that related to the wall color (walls were gold, brick was pumpkin). OK, but I still thought it drew too much attention. Finally, I painted every bit of the brick with the wall color. Aaaah... Perfect. The brick subtly added some texture to the room, and having the color match the rest of the walls made it all blend in a soothing way. It made a wonderful difference.

    I used a roller with an extra thick nap on the roller cover, and it was an easy job once I finally got the color right. Lots of drips because of the thick nap on the roller cover and the differing depths of brick and mortar, so place your dropcloths well.

  • ladyamity
    16 years ago

    Wow Reno_Fan,
    That is one spectacular room and I love what you did to the fireplace!

    Margaritalady,
    My name should be 'Brick Painter Lady' because once I painted mine everyone I knew who saw it had me come to their home to paint theirs.

    Lots of folks don't appreciate painted brick but if you are hating it and hate living with it, then it's a very inexpensive fix.

    So many techniques out there that you will probably get all kinds of brick painting tips and tricks here but here's mine.

    I used left over Navajo White house paint (Satin Finish).
    I put some in a bucket and added water. 2 to 1. Mix well.

    Like Reno_Fan, I used a huge sponge.
    Don't know if it's the same kind of sponge because I got mine in the Tile Dept. at Home Depot but it's a big yellow sponge and worked great!

    My Tip: Start Light with the paint application.
    When dry, if it's not dark enough you can go back after it's dry and add another coat of paint but always start light.

    Dip sponge in bucket of water/paint, squeeze out, wipe sponge across brick.

    I wore the long Playex rubber gloves because I didn't want the paint running down my arm and into my arm pit, but that's just me. *smile*
    The cuff I folded on the rubber glove kept the paint from doing that.

    I didn't do the grout as I wanted to have the natural grout and the rough texture of the grout showing but you can always paint the grout in the same paint/water mixture or use a different watered-down color and a stiff brush to apply the color to the grout.

    Using the Satin Finish paint left the brick so easy to clean.
    Simple wipe with a damp cloth is all it needs a couple times a year.

  • pfmastin
    16 years ago

    I like natural brick, but mine was very red and felt heavy on that side of the room. Here's my before an after.

    {{!gwi}}

    {{!gwi}}

  • malhgold
    16 years ago

    Amity - when you watered down the paint and sponged it on, did it come out opaque on the brick? I have a brown brick fireplace with shades of a salmon color(sounds worse than it is), but would like to minimize the salmon color. I was wondering if I watered down paint and sponged it on, if that would do the trick. I wouldn't be touching every brick, so I wouldn't really want some of the bricks to look like they were painted and the others not. Not sure if this is doable. I guess I could test a couple of bricks in an inconspicuous spot. Thanks

  • ladyamity
    16 years ago

    Hi Malhgold,

    If you like the browns? then I would use a brown paint with some glaze....almost like putting an antiquing over the brick.

    It will tone down the salmon colors, turn them a bit more brownish, while just darkening the brown that is already there.

    But to answer your question, our fireplace was done with Navajo White over very ugly, used brick in all shades of red. Not pretty terra reds, but ugly reds, lots of pink in them so I didn't mind covering up that one bit.

    How about getting a Min-Wax waterbased stain/sealer in a mahogany shade (or any dark shade of your choice).

    Mix the Min-Wax with some water and try going over one brick that way and see if you like the color change.
    It will deepen the darker bricks, blend the salmon bricks in more and will leave you with a very soft sheen.

    It's just an easier way than figuring out glaze to brown acrylic paint ratio.

    Ooooh, I'd love to hear what you've decided to do and would love to see the end result when it's done, ok? *smile*