White Exterior Paint For Brick – Homeowner Jane wants to paint her brick house dark red. It is dark and gloomy and looks like an old corporate building. There was nothing attractive about him except “good bones”. Josh, the husband, was adamant that brick and stained wood should not be painted. (They even fight over their dark, stained kitchen cabinets.) Who’s right?
Brick painting may seem as sacred to some as stained wood painting. Ten years ago, interior design trends changed. Many homeowners are tired of all the earth tones and heaviness of the “Tuscan” stage. People who have stained wood in their homes (especially cabinets) now want to paint the wood white. Homeowners wanted fresh and light-filled spaces, not dark and cavernous. But most of you have the real task of convincing your significant other that “it’s okay” to paint with stain. The naturalness of stained wood — and brick — appeals to many men. But over the past 10 years, we’ve seen enough before-and-after photos to prove that stained wood paint is a great idea in most homes, and there’s no need to be ashamed of it.
White Exterior Paint For Brick
Same with bricks. There are some purists who don’t know about “painted brick,” but enough brick houses have been converted by painting that “marriage resistance” is pretty low anymore. In fact, if you search Houzz for “brick home exterior ideas,” most of the photos are of painted brick, not raw brick! You’ll also see them on a Google search (and any unpainted brick houses that pop up are perfect candidates for color restoration!). Given the choice of keeping the house red and brown or changing it to white, cream or grey, many people choose to update.
Sw White Duck Exterior With Tricorn Black Trim
But should you paint your brick house just for design reasons? Are there other reasons to paint bricks? I’m a big fan of painted brick houses, so to get the practicalities out of the way, I’d like to start with the cons.
If your brick house is not painted properly, any moisture can cause the paint to crack and, in the worst case, damage the bricks over time. You don’t want water getting into the paint through cracks or gaps like windows and doors, so it’s important to properly prime your home before painting. (Worry about moisture is not an issue if the brick is inside your home, in a fireplace or wall.)
How to ensure that water does not seep under the paint and damage the bricks over time? Use a professional paint company to paint the exterior of the brick. And don’t use the cheap one. This is not just a selfish assumption. Professional painters take a closer look than homeowners to spot cracks or gaps that need to be filled or filled. They also use an appropriate pH-balanced primer for the walls and appropriate colors that allow the brick to “breathe.” They apply these products in coats thick enough to protect the brick exterior from the elements, but not so thick that they crack over time. Painting a hard, porous surface like brick is a lot more than painting a house with stucco or wood paneling. This is an area where you don’t want to take shortcuts.
Dirt and mildew that you didn’t notice before because your bricks are a mixture of red and brown? Now you can notice it. It is entirely possible that you wash your house from time to time, but this applies to any exterior paint, not just brick. This is because when you paint your house, the dirt and mold that has accumulated on the outside of your house will become more visible. On the plus side, if you’re not thrilled to learn that your porous, unpainted brick home is a giant trap for dirt and debris, you’ll be much better off with a freshly painted exterior that’s super easy to keep clean!
The Best Exterior White Paint Colors
Need to paint your brick house? Yes, as long as you understand this process cannot be cancelled. You can repaint and change the color down the road, but you can’t go back to unpainted bricks. Not unless you want to remove the paint with chemicals or sandblasting, but these stones will never look like they were originally made, and the bricks will undoubtedly wear.
If painting is the right choice for your brick home, don’t let its durability scare you. It’s like remodeling an old house. . . Once you tear down those walls, rip up the old floors, or showcase your ugly kitchen, there’s no going back. But your home will be so much better because of it!
Painting a brick exterior can make a dark, gloomy home look fresher and prettier than anything else.
Whether it’s a classic or modern home, a stately home or a small cottage, there’s nothing quite like the charm of painted brick. This beautiful house? This is what it was like before we started painting!
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Nothing less than a complete paint job will transform a home like this. If your home is of historical interest, you can leave the bricks alone and make minor changes like painting shutters, gables, and front doors. Introducing a bit of contrast will tone down all those dark reds and muddy browns. But these small changes don’t have the same impact that painting a brick facade can.
After all, someone chose the color of the brick when your house was built. This color is a deliberate design choice. If you like (or never like) this design option, you’ll never have to live with a red-stained home.
An important part of good home design is contrast. It’s a fun mix of light and dark elements, including landscaping, that gives the home a lot of charm. Start looking for the difference when evaluating homes and you’ll see examples everywhere. White painted wood, black metal windows, copper gutters and a metal roof with welds, for example. Or a blue beach house with fresh white wood like windows, porch railings and shutters. Classic Mediterranean look of white stucco houses with red tile roofs. Landscapes, when designed well, add multiple layers of texture and contrast.
Brick exteriors often blend in with their surroundings. This is the same mid-value range (light/dark) for trees and shrubs. And some bricks are “spotted” or specially worked. You’ll have to work really hard to make features like doors, windows and landscaping pop out of a mid-range brick exterior.
Best Exterior Paint Colors For Brick Houses
But with a painted brick house, sidewalk design is much easier. You’ll now get more notice with your front door and windows, and if you’re looking to further enhance your curb appeal, a brighter front door color or contrasting shutters may be necessary. As for your landscaping, it’s much more attractive than a painted exterior. Now that you can “see” all those leaves and branches in front of your house, you may decide to do some trimming or cleaning, or plant some flowers to actually get some noticeable color!
By the way, that’s what happened to the sweet home in San Antonio above. Shawna Percival of Styleberry Creative chose Sherwin Williams’ “Shozy White” for the facade and “Inkwell” for the doors and shutters. And begonias add some pretty color to the ornament.
Aside from aesthetics, there is also a practical reason to paint your brick home. The paint acts as a sealing agent to protect your home from precipitation and other seasonal weather changes, while allowing the brick to “breathe.” The caveat is that the project should be undertaken by experienced wall painters who know the importance of using the right colors and sealing all cracks where moisture can enter.
Let’s go back to aesthetics. Is there a good design reason why you shouldn’t paint your brick house?
How To Pick Your Exterior Paint Colours In 5 Easy Steps
If you can achieve enough contrast between the different elements of your house and your existing bricks and you like the color of your bricks, you can keep it. The main thing is that the contrasting elements should be large enough. The thin edges of your white vinyl windows won’t cut it. The following are examples of design features such as gables, doors, windows and shutters that have sufficient weight to reduce the width of the brickwork. (We painted the woodwork for this Alamo Heights home in Benjamin Moore’s “Pure White” and the shutters in Sherwin-Williams’ “Tricorn Black.”)
Design features like columns contrast nicely with brickwork, but here’s an example where a homeowner prefers a lighter, lighter look. Designer Micah Pope chose Benjamin Moore’s “Super White” to paint
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