Best Paint To Use On Brick Fireplace – Bricks are great, but they often look old, dark and dirty. Instead of living with that brick gray color, learn how to paint brick to give your space a fresh new look.
When it comes to fireplaces, brick is the most popular material choice for surrounding walls. It’s low cost and non-flammable properties make it a practical option. But as brick ages, it decays, loses its color and holds dirt and grime. Give your brick fireplace a new look by learning how to paint.
Best Paint To Use On Brick Fireplace
Note: White is the most popular color to paint a brick fireplace, but the steps below apply to any color.
Painting Brick Fireplace White
Painting a brick fireplace doesn’t take all day, but there is a specific sequence to achieve the look of a perfectly painted brick fireplace. The following steps will take you from preparation to finished product.
Even well-maintained fireplaces get very dirty on the paint, so some preparation and cleaning is required. Start by removing around the fireplace, if there is one; This usually requires loosening a few screws in between.
Once the surround is removed and all the brick is exposed, take a wire brush and give the brick and mortar a light scrub. This will remove dirt, debris and loose mortar that will affect the paint job. Use a wet-dry vacuum cleaner to remove dust.
Once the dust is removed, it’s time to clean the surface to remove soot, chemicals, grease, and anything else that may be on the brick. Put on rubber gloves, a respirator and safety glasses and mix the trisodium phosphate solution according to the directions. Use a bucket and sponge to clean the brick.
Blue Fireplace Makeover With Chalk Paint
After removing all loose dirt, soot and soot, allow the fireplace to dry for several hours. Meanwhile, use tape and drop cloths to protect walls, ceilings, bricks, and other surfaces you don’t want to paint. Take your time with this step, because the brick needs to dry anyway, and the more effort you put in now, the less cleanup you’ll have to do later.
Before painting a brick fireplace, the porous surfaces between the mortar and brick must be sealed. Using a product specifically designed to seal masonry will ensure these holes won’t absorb paint, requiring fewer coats and getting better results. And the sealer will prevent staining and create a uniform base coat for a clean finish – especially important if your color of choice is white.
Place the tray liner on the paint tray and pour about ¼ liter into the tray. Use a brush to work the sealant into the mortar, pressing it into any cracks and crevices with the bristles. Use a paint roller and a ¾ inch nip cover to coat the brick with sealant. The deep grout should cover the brick quickly while getting enough sealant in all cracks and crevices. Apply another coat if necessary.
Since you’ve taken the time to prime and seal, painting the brick is pretty straightforward. While the sealant dries, wash the paint brush with soap and water. Also replace the paint tray liner and replace the new roller sleeve on the paint roller.
Paint Your Brick Fireplace
Pour about ¼ gallon of acrylic latex paint into the paint tray, then use a brush to work the paint into the mortar joints, followed by a paint roller. You go slower than the sealer at this stage, because it’s easy to miss a spot if you’re using white or a light color over a lighter sealer.
Repeat this step as often as necessary until you are satisfied with the coverage. When the paint is dry, attach the fireplace surround.
While the main purpose of painting a brick fireplace white is to bring a dark, gray element to the home, ease of maintenance is an added benefit. Warm water, an abrasive all-purpose cleaner and a sponge to keep whitewashed brick surfaces fresh and clean.
And with work behind you, it’s time to enjoy a fresh, clean and bright space. Choose new decorative pieces, houseplants and other touches to accent the painted brick fireplace for a whole new feel.
Painted Brick Fireplace Before & After: Should You Diy Or Hire Out?
Get the latest home improvement news, trusted tips, tricks and clever DIY projects from our experts – straight to your inbox. Today’s post is one I’ve been dreaming of doing for months and it’s about how to paint a brick fireplace. . Yes, you read that right. After talking about it for over a year, it finally happened. I finally painted the large fireplace in our front room. I procrastinated for a long time, mostly because I thought it would be a real pain and would take days to complete. But I’m happy to say it wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Today I’m excited to show you how I did it and share my tips for getting the job done in three easy steps.
This post is sponsored by KILZ. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links for your convenience.
The first step in the process is cleaning the brick surface. You want to make sure it is free of dust or dirt before you start painting. Our brick was pretty clean to begin with, so I used a damp rag to clean it and wipe off the dust. If your fireplace is very dirty you can use a wire brush and heavy-duty cleaner.
Next: Prime, Prime, Prime! This is the most important step in the whole process. I used KILZ Latex Interior/Exterior Primer, which is a primer, sealer and stain protector. It was specifically formulated to seal rough surfaces like brick, so it was definitely the product for the job. Also, it’s highly pigmented, so the coverage was much better than the yellow brick and dark grout lines.
My Painted Brick Fireplace
I found it a bit thicker than regular paint, but it worked really well. Also, it’s water-based, so cleaning was very easy.
I used a 3/4 inch roller to apply the primer, which is what you want for highly textured surfaces like brick. It is very pigmented and makes the painting process easy. Make sure to have a small brush handy to get into those little nooks and crannies. It took me about an hour to do the entire fireplace with primer and one coat was perfect. I was very pleased with how quickly it applied and how well it covered.
Here’s a close-up after one coat of KILZ primer. To be honest, I was expecting two coats, but I felt it did a good job and I only needed one. It leaves a nice flat finish, all ready for paint!
After KILZ primer, I applied exterior masonry, stucco and brick paint in white. Again I used a 3/4 inch roll and it took an hour or so to cover the entire fireplace. Luckily I only needed one coat of paint and it was done!
Beautiful Ideas For Painting Interior Brick Fireplaces
And here’s the full look! It makes the room very bright. I can’t believe the change, it’s better than I imagined. The yellow brick was so historic – it hadn’t been seriously touched since the house was built in the 1980s. It’s amazing how a few coats of paint can make such a difference and give an entire room a new look. Do a happy dance.
So that’s it my friends! After being so intimidated by this project and the idea of painting bricks, it turns out it’s not that hard. First clean, paint, whatever you need to do. Just make sure you use a good base and the rest is easy – the whole project can literally be done in an afternoon if you have plenty of coffee on hand. I am very happy with this project and very happy to finally be able to do it. It felt amazing to finally check it off my long to-do list. Now to the next project!
Thanks so much for stopping by and don’t hesitate to ask if you have any questions. And as always, you can share everything with me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Diana and her husband have been tackling DIY home projects since they bought their first home in 2007.
I have been slowly building our 1980’s Cape Cod style home for about 10 years. Our house has real beautiful Brazilian cherry hardwoods, but their strong red undertones don’t play well with the red brick fireplace. If I had known how quick and easy it was to update our living room statement, I would have tackled this task years ago!
Brick Fireplace Before And After Transformations (with Home Makeover Photos)
This is a great activity for any skill level. To be honest, choosing the perfect black color was the hardest part!
First I started with small transport
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