# Painting Exterior Brick



## calgarycanada (May 29, 2007)

We have a small section of exterior brick (fireplace & front door trim). It is a cream or yellowish colour. We are adding some stone work (grey) to the front of the house and want to paint the brick to match or coordinate with the stone work. What would be the right things to do - keeping in mind we have cold weather and snow that it would have to withstand.

Thanks


----------



## Guest (May 30, 2007)

Acrylic Primer and good Acrylic Paint. Waterbornes generally work better on masonry since masonry is a water based product itself. Acrylics will last longer and retain flexibility and color better over time out of doors as well. Is all this vertical trim? If there are any horizontal surfaces you may need more specialized products or an oil if anything is a walking surface. Only other concern would be heat from this fireplace. If none of the brick is actually in the fireplace to any degree then the acrylic should still be fine.


----------



## calgarycanada (May 29, 2007)

Thanks for your response. It is all vertical surface. There is a metal liner inside the fireplace so I would doubt the outside exterior wall would get that hot. Do we need to pressure wash the outside wall first? Last question, what will the end result be like? Would it look like some hack job, or would the brick surface and texture actually end up attractive - I know that is hard to tell, but if you've done similar work that would be helpful. thanks


----------



## Guest (May 30, 2007)

It's never a bad idea to pressure wash if you can. Jomax is a good cleaner to use if you want to get the surface good and clean for paint. Results will look pretty good for a paint job. I wouldn't use too glossy of a sheen on brick. Maybe an eggshell or satin at the most. I've seen plenty of painted brick that looks fine. It just depends on what you are going for. It won't look like a natural texture anymore. It will definitely be a painted look. Much more uniform without all the natural nuances of real brick. If you want to preserve more of a natural appearance you may wish to consider a masonry stain instead. These are a little trickier to work with and a bit on the nasty smelling side since most are silicone acrylics. You get the advantage of a penetrating sealer that adds color without totally destroying the nuances of the brick though. You don't have to prime either. Depending on the look you want you may only need one coat of stain. Paint you'd probably want a coat of primer and two coats of paint for a quality finish.


----------



## Hamilton (Nov 1, 2006)

We painted the bricks in a two story chimney, the bricks had a lot of overspray on them from previous jobs. We tried wire brushing, thinner, acetone....and nothing would remove the old paint.

So I bought a new red brick that was very close to the color of the chimney, took it to my paint store and told them to do an "eye match" in a premium latex exterior flat.

We then painted every single brick in that chimney, along with the flashing, and it came out great, everyone was pleased with the result.


----------



## do it myself (Sep 7, 2007)

*painting outside brick*

I also would like to paint my outside brick, not a solid thick covering of paint, but more like sponge painting several colors to make the dark bricks look like stone. What method would you suggest? 
Brick is adark chocolate color. With the masonry stains, can you go lighter than the brick or only darker?
Thanks for your help.


----------

