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The previous owner of our house must have gotten a great deal on a certain color paint, because it's everywhere inside and out. The problem is, our house is brick on all four sides, and it has all been painted this hideous shade of brown. It's actually now starting to chip in some places (revealing the white paint underneath). I would love to restore it to the actual brick itself.
Any suggestions for removing paint from brick? (Aside from time and money consuming sand-blasting)
Because brick is so porous, you rarely can get all the paint off. If it is chipping and flaking, you have a moisture problem too or the brick is very old. Sand blasting will get a lot of the paint off, but some will remain in the depressions in the brick. Plus sand blasting can seriously damage the brick, especially if it is already in bad shape.
This is why it is a bad idea to paint brick. Once you do, the only thing you have left is to repaint it or like the worn paint look. And if there is a moisture problem, painting the brick will trap the moisture and cause damage over time.
It takes a nearly maintenance free surface and turns it into a maintenance nightmare.
I totally agree with the above, I would not sandblast brick !
I always thought you were out of luck once the brick is painted, but I recently saw a product in use on a home show that looked promising.
Unfortunately, they did not mention the name of the product, but it's a liquid that you smooth onto the brick and then gently scrub it back off - it worked remarkably well.
So it seems like there is some new stuff out there that can gently remove the paint.
WOW, I would love to have a brick house that never needs painting. What are people thinking painting something like that.
Good Luck getting it off, I hope you are able to get it back to the original look.
My house needs to be painted, I have to pay someone to pressure wash the entire thing, then put on a base coat sealer and then paint it, it will cost me somewhere in between 1600 and 2 grand. If it were brick, I would have no such problems.
We have the same problem. A previous owner painted our brick a bone white. We are gonna use a pressure washer to knock it off then seal it real good! We ca peel the paint off in big chunks with our fingers so I don't think it will be difficult to come off!
An engineer I worked with years ago sandblasted paint off his brick house. He was VERY careful and took a long time to do it. The material he used was something special (can't remember what it was). It worked, but after he finished he said he'd never do it again.
I think there is a non toxic product that you paint on, let it set until it hardens into a rubbery layer, and then peel it off with the paint. I saw it in a magazine, but I bet a hardware store would have something similar.
Sounds like a huge project...How much do you hate the painted brick?
We have the same problem. A previous owner painted our brick a bone white. We are gonna use a pressure washer to knock it off then seal it real good! We ca peel the paint off in big chunks with our fingers so I don't think it will be difficult to come off!
Be careful. Depending on how old your brick is, if there are any weak areas where the skin has been damaged, you can really break the rest of the skin off with the pressure washer.....brick is only tough if the skin of the brick is intact. Once the skin is compromised, it's not long before the brick turns to dust.
Also, if you have interior plaster walls, you might not want to seal the brick (sealing it might trap moisture which you don't want if you have plaster walls inside).
An engineer I worked with years ago sandblasted paint off his brick house. He was VERY careful and took a long time to do it. The material he used was something special (can't remember what it was). It worked, but after he finished he said he'd never do it again.
Possibly baking powder? I've heard you can gently clean old timbers with baking powder and not lose too much patina, so it might be gentle enough for brick?
I think there is a non toxic product that you paint on, let it set until it hardens into a rubbery layer, and then peel it off with the paint. I saw it in a magazine, but I bet a hardware store would have something similar.
Sounds like a huge project...How much do you hate the painted brick?
Detest it....think "middle school lunch room carpet" brown. That's the color it's been painted. Ugh.
I'd like to know where I can get this product in large quantities, especially if it's effective.
The house is older, but the brick itself is in good shape. I'm pretty sure that the chipping of the paint we have in one specific place was due to a leaky gutter that we've since fixed.
We have two layers of paint to go through before it gets to the original color (I believe) so this may or may not be an effective method.
Thanks for all the helpful suggestions!
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