We have had a lot of people ask about painting a brick home. Paint can look amazing, but on a brick surface, it rarely has the desired effect that you would like it to have on a traditional stucco home. Brick can often be scrubbed and cleaned to give your home a face lift. The problem with painting brick is that it can actually damage the look of your home, and your property value.
Brick Needs to Breathe
The problem with painting brick is that it will trap moisture between the brick and paint, which essentially causes the brick to “die” in a sense as it doesn’t breathe. Brick actually adjusts itself yearly for the different elements of rain, sleet, snow, and heat. If you paint brick, it will actually cause structural damage to your home. Moisture can be trapped between the paint and brick and can actually freeze the moisture between the layers and can erode the exterior brick and mortar.
Painted Brick Doesn’t Look Aesthetically Pleasing
When you paint brick, it can peal and flake away from your home. Instead of giving the home an improved look, it often makes your home look neglected and old. Don’t opt for paint peeling away from the home and consider contacting Brush Brothers to discuss your options. There are other exterior home solutions we can recommend that will give your home the look and feel you want.
Older Brick Is Valuable
If you feel like the brick on your home is too old, you might want to reconsider stripping it from the home. Older brick was often made differently from the machines that create brick today. When you have a home like this, there are other things you can do to give the home a face lift without compromising the historic value of the brick.
How to Remove Paint From Brick
If you do have paint on brick, you’ll want to look into power-washing or sandblasting the paint away. Paint is difficult to remove from brick and you will need to strip away the chemicals to get back to the brick itself. It’s a painstaking process and one that is not easy to do.
Is it Ever Okay to Paint Brick?
We do not recommend painting brick on a home. However, there are some situations where painting parts of a brick wall are not terrible. Some brick walls are known for being painted over each summer to post city events and other fun things. If you do have a brick wall of this nature, you will want to use a mineral-based pain or silicate paint as it is breathable. Some other situations when it might be okay to paint brick include:
- Severely damaged brick.
- The brick was intended to be painted. This is common for certain homes built prior to the 1870’s as some styles of brick were designed for paint.
- The home has already been painted and has paint that is faded or whitewashed.
- Interior brick walls
Painting an Interior Brick Wall
Brick that is inside the home is different from exterior brick. If you wanted to change the way brick looks to help enhance a fireplace or other area, you can enjoy painting away as you won’t deal with those same moisture problems that you see with exterior brick.
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