Painting a Brick FirePlace

[SergesPlace]

Hey, does anyone have any experience painting a brick fireplace? I want to paint this one and was wondering if anyone had any tips they could share.

[CSK'sMom]

Clean the soot stains the best you can, prime with a really good high adhesion primer and then paint. It's going to take lots of time as you really need to brush the whole thing but the work can be well worth it.

[SergesPlace]

Clean the soot stains the best you can, prime with a really good high adhesion primer and then paint. It's going to take lots of time as you really need to brush the whole thing but the work can be well worth it.

Thanks. Is there anything you can suggest to clean the soot with? I guess i should just use crappy brushes since i'd probably ruin the good ones i have.

[CSK'sMom]

I know there are a couple of products on the market for soot but for the life of me I can't think of the name of them. Maybe check with a fireplace type store or a good paint store. Definitely don't use your good brushes, it will wreck them. You're basically going to end up almost scrubbing the primer and paint into the brick itself and the mortor.

[SergesPlace]

I know there are a couple of products on the market for soot but for the life of me I can't think of the name of them. Maybe check with a fireplace type store or a good paint store. Definitely don't use your good brushes, it will wreck them. You're basically going to end up almost scrubbing the primer and paint into the brick itself and the mortor.

I'm going to the Home Depot tomorrow. I'll see what they have to say.

[SergesPlace]

Went to the Home Depot yesterday and discovered that Behr has a paint that's a primer and paint combined so i think the difficult part will be just choosing the colour since they have about 50 different tints.

[deep]

I wouldn't use that "nanotech" paint+primer from Behr for this application. You are going to use a tonne of it, as it is extremely thick and the fireplace has an almost fractal surface area. It's also quite expensive, considering the results are no better than primer + paint. I tried it on a couple of exterior doors, and was less than impressed.

Ideally, you would spray that bad boy, but you could try the extremely thick nap/sponge rollers as well, the ones sold for highly textured ceilings. I think they would work nicely for you.

Definitely try and clean the soot, but if you find that you cannot get it off, then that's a pretty good sign that it's not going to come off on its own and take your paint with it. If the roller doesn't cut it, you'll be back to brushing...hopefully with some dollar store brushes!

[SergesPlace]

I wouldn't use that "nanotech" paint+primer from Behr for this application. You are going to use a tonne of it, as it is extremely thick and the fireplace has an almost fractal surface area. It's also quite expensive, considering the results are no better than primer + paint. I tried it on a couple of exterior doors, and was less than impressed.

Ideally, you would spray that bad boy, but you could try the extremely thick nap/sponge rollers as well, the ones sold for highly textured ceilings. I think they would work nicely for you.

Definitely try and clean the soot, but if you find that you cannot get it off, then that's a pretty good sign that it's not going to come off on its own and take your paint with it. If the roller doesn't cut it, you'll be back to brushing...hopefully with some dollar store brushes!

Really? I was told that 1 gal would be plenty for this job and @ $27 it seemed to be quite reasonable. So you're suggesting to use a primer first and then a paint? I would love to be able to just spray the whole thing but don't have a sprayer. I like the idea of using a roller, that would save me more time than just using a brush. So deep, what would you suggest for a primer and then a paint for this kind of project? Any products come to mind?

[deep]

Actually, $27 seems pretty reasonable - I must have been ripped off when I first tried it. One thing you may want to verify are the types of finishes available with it...do you want high gloss, no gloss, semi-? I'm not sure if the nanotech is available in every finish, but things have obviously changed since I used it, so maybe I'm not the one to speak about it It definitely has decent coverage due to its high viscosity, so maybe you do want to go that route.

I would still probably choose a basic latex primer (quick drying, nothing special, as anything will stick to brick) and then pick my paint from any collection.

[SergesPlace]

Yea, that's the thing. The type of finish. That whole room is going to be painted so do i use the same colour paint for the fireplace that i'll use for the walls? The walls will be a flat colour. I don't want to bring to much attention to the fireplace i just want it to blend right in. Home interiors is just not my thing lol

[CSK'sMom]

I wouldn't user the primer and paint in one either (I used it this summer on several exterior jobs and loved it though). Because the brick is so pourous you need a good, high adhesion primer. I'm thinking one of the Benjamin Moore primers. The thing with the brick is that because it's so pourous it's going to suck in the primer and paint like crazy. If you opt for any sheen in the final paint it's really going to show if you don't get a really good primer base under it. Kind of like an unprimed patch on a wall that never really looks right or matches the finish on the rest of the wall. When I painted a fireplace years ago a roller (even the thickest pile) was absolutely no good. It would coat the face of the brick but left air pockets in the face of the brick. It also didn't touch the mortor. The fireplace should probably be painted in the trim color and definitely not flat paint. It will be a nightmare to clean.

[SergesPlace]

CSK'sMom,Can you please check this stuff out for me and see if there would be any issues using this other than it's flat?

http://www.behr.com/behrx/act/view/p...aints&catId=19

[CSK'sMom]

Personally, I don't see the need for using a product like that. The Benjamin Moore Fresh Start primer and regular latex paint will give great results that last over time.

[deep]

I agree...I don't think there is a need for speciality products for your application. Regular primer and regular semi-gloss or higher sheen paint should be fine.

You could try rolling on your primer and brushing any areas that don't have proper coverage...you may get lucky and not need much brushing at all.

Is the room being repainted, or is the corner of the picture indicative of the final colours? Cream and white would probably be OK choices if your goal is to make the fireplace kind of disappear.

[SergesPlace]

Personally, I don't see the need for using a product like that. The Benjamin Moore Fresh Start primer and regular latex paint will give great results that last over time.

Hmmm, that's the 2nd time the Benjamin Moore Fresh Start primer has come up so maybe that would be a good way to go.