Have you ever painted your brick fireplace?

sfnative · ‎08-26-2015

Hi Everyone,

We're now in our new large condo which has a big livingroom with a fireplace at the mid-point of a 25 foot wall. The brick runs from floor to ceiling and is plain-jane. The opening is 18" off of the floor, is rectangular in shape and framed with an additional layer of brick. The brick continues up to the ceiling. There's nothing fancy or interesting about this fireplace. The previous owners painted it very light grey/white. I'm so not in love with this color treatment.

(The walls are presently dark butter yellow and the recently cleaned wall-to-wall carpet a dark dirty looking beige. Across from the 25' wall is another 25' wall, 18' of which are windows with an eastern exposure - morning sun.)

Having never painted a fireplace (I know I can google for info, but want the practical advice and hints from those who have), I'd really appreciate your input and anything you'd wish to share with me,

Thanks so very much in advance.

~Rebecca

GingerPeach · ‎03-12-2010

@sfnative I painted my fireplace (just the typical fireplace size) when I moved in about 25 years ago. It's made of some sort of adobe-like sandy colored brick-shaped pieces. I used just normal latex wall paint. It's lasted all these years with only some touch-ups when a friend made a fire that was too large for the fireplace. I didn't pre-treat or anything. I'm sure you'll get some more professional tips but this worked for me. I painted it off-white with some random beige stones here and there.

Similar to the material prior to painting:

[was Homegirl] Love to be home . . . thus the screen name. Joined 2003.

greamy · ‎04-27-2010

Yes, we painted our brick fireplace in our family room, agonized over the decision. Knowing it was not something we could change back, we have never regretted it and sorry we did not do it sooner🎈

gmkb · ‎07-29-2012

Many years ago we painted a brick fireplace and it worked very well. My advice would be to scrub those bricks with a brush, and Spic and Span or something similar so they are clean, do not use flat paint, and use a primer or paint with primer. Enjoy.

Mominohio · ‎08-08-2010

The house I grew up in had a brick fireplace that had been painted, so the only option was to keep painting it. They had also painted all the glorious woodwork (house built in 1928 when they knew how to do woodwork) so that ship had sailed as well.

Since it is already painted, I guess you can easily change the color to suit you, and have no guilt about messing up brick.

My only suggestions, from my somewhat limited painting experiences is that I was told years ago, that you can't put a Latex based paint over and oil based paint. It may not adhere. So since you really don't know what they used, either choose an oil based paint or see a paint supply store about a primer first.

In my experiences, oil based paints last much longer and seem sturdier. Just an observation based on my uses of various paints, and I have no science to back that up.

I wouldn't use a flat paint (and if it were me, I'd probably not go satin either, as cleaning those nooks and crannies of brick overtime could get tedious and you are going to want a finish that lets go of dust and grime easily, so I'd consider a semi gloss. Many people balk at semi gloss, but in my experience, it 'dulls down' if you will, rather quickly, but provides much easier cleaning ability than even a satin finish).

fthunt · ‎12-24-2010

YES - about 8 years ago. We burned a lot of wood every winter - red bricks had turned to half black. I found a company that sells special brick paint (Google) as you can't use any regular type paint.

It's a kit - with a base coat first - then you have choice of colors for the top coat (white/silver/tan - there are lots of examples from past customers) - - and then a hi-light paint for edges of bricks. Personally I didn't like the hi-light look, so covered it with the first or second color - can't remember. The edges only with a small brush.

The kit cost around $400 but it's the only paint I would ever use on my fireplace.

I didn't do any heavy pre-cleaning - vacuumed the surface first - just made sure it was dust free and dry.

Take your time - don't rush the job and I think you'll be happy with it. Sorry don't recall the company name but excellent product. Google to the rescue!

fthunt · ‎12-24-2010

BRICKANEW

FIRST SEARCH ITEM ON GOOGLE FIREPLACE PAINT

CANDLEQUEEN · ‎03-09-2010

My brother painted my Mom's fireplace brick from an ugly orange to cream color, and it looks fantastic.....It makes the whole room look better and bigger, he works part time at Home Depot, and therefore he knew the type of pain to use, it was a tedious job, but it looks great and my mom does not regret it one bit! I do remember hearing my brother say he had to use a special type paint for it though, so you may want to check in your local Home Store or paint store first! Good luck!

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

@gmkb wrote:
Many years ago we painted a brick fireplace and it worked very well. My advice would be to scrub those bricks with a brush, and Spic and Span or something similar so they are clean, do not use flat paint, and use a primer or paint with primer. Enjoy.

@gmkb

Hi gmkb,

Wow! I haven't heard of Spic and Span for ages. We used that to clean the kitchen floor when I was a kid.

Thanks for the tips. If I understand the implication, I should use semi-gloss or high gloss paint. Right? Thanks.

sfnative · ‎03-10-2010

@Mominohio wrote:
The house I grew up in had a brick fireplace that had been painted, so the only option was to keep painting it. They had also painted all the glorious woodwork (house built in 1928 when they knew how to do woodwork) so that ship had sailed as well.

Since it is already painted, I guess you can easily change the color to suit you, and have no guilt about messing up brick.

My only suggestions, from my somewhat limited painting experiences is that I was told years ago, that you can't put a Latex based paint over and oil based paint. It may not adhere. So since you really don't know what they used, either choose an oil based paint or see a paint supply store about a primer first.

In my experiences, oil based paints last much longer and seem sturdier. Just an observation based on my uses of various paints, and I have no science to back that up.

I wouldn't use a flat paint (and if it were me, I'd probably not go satin either, as cleaning those nooks and crannies of brick overtime could get tedious and you are going to want a finish that lets go of dust and grime easily, so I'd consider a semi gloss. Many people balk at semi gloss, but in my experience, it 'dulls down' if you will, rather quickly, but provides much easier cleaning ability than even a satin finish).

@Mominohio

Thanks for the various tips. These will help immensely.

The former owners painted the brick in flat latex, so based on what I've read here we can easily go with a semi gloss: just need to come up with color, once we've determined what color the walls will be.

(It was a sin to paint that glorious woodword in your house. DH and I would give our eye teeth to have a house with such woodwork in it.)