Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hoping someone has suggestions for removing paint from a brick fireplace. The fireplace is 100 years old and unfortunately someone painted it with a heavy glossy paint. I would like to restore it back to it's original shape. It's in great condition, just very ugly
I suspect the only way to do this is sandblasting. Unfortunately it will make a heck of a mess indoors and when it's finished you will not have the 100 year old patinated appearance, but rather the bricks will look like new bricks.
"One method of paint removal from bricks and mortar is to use grit blasting as is done to remove graffiti from building and walls. The key is to find the correct media to use- something like sodium bicarbonate, wheat shells, pecan or walnut shells. I know these materials are used for grit blasting plastic molded parts. I'm sure there are companies that specialize in this technology. There are companies like Clemco Industries that sell the equipment and other companies that sell the media. There are also companies that do the work. Using sand would be too cutting and remove the finish from the bricks and remove mortar." https://www.finishing.com/218/63.shtml
Removing the paint will be very messy and/or involve a lot of seriously caustic chemicals you might not want to have close contact with in your house. I might decide if you can either live with them as-is, or put in new brick you like better.
thank you all for your suggestions. Never thought of sandblasting?
Don't!
Remove that idea from your thought process. The brick and mortar is 100yo- it would not withstand the abrasion of the sand. Soda, glass, or walnuts- maybe.
If it were me, had prepare myself for a long and arduous task of chemically stripping the paint. It will work the paint, but not effect the brick.
It turned out amazing! This is definitely the way to go.
I was going to suggest maybe putting a new layer of masonry on top of the painted bricks, maybe a thin brick material. I can't see any way to clean them without losing the patina, and they'd just look new as was mentioned - or they'd disintegrate. Painting would be so much cheaper and obviously can turn out really nice.
And as to removing the paint with chemicals - I've done my fair share of stripping furniture of old paint, and it's really difficult to get paint out of little grooves and crevices. I can't imagine being able to get the paint out of all of the porous surfaces of brick. Even with a little toothbrush. I think you'd do a lot of work or spend a lot of money having someone else do the work, and then ending up either just painting them or covering them anyway, because the old paint would show too much. And, I'd be afraid of the old brick just crumbling away as the paint was removed, too.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
