How To Clean Fireplace Brick Before Painting

This simple step-by-pace tutorial will reply all of your questions about painting a brick fireplace the right manner, including which paints work best, what paint sheen you should use, and whether chalk paint is a adept thought.

The fireplace in our family room is a especially unlovely brick. When we first moved in, it was unpainted red brick and I hated information technology. I'm not a huge fan of orangey-ruddy brick to brainstorm with, just our fireplace was especially bad because of some very sloppy mortar lines.

brick fireplace with brass fireplace doors before paint

(Unfortunately, this is the merely earlier picture I have, but yous get the idea.)

I felt absolutely no qualms nearly painting the brick white pretty shortly subsequently we moved in.

brick fireplace painted white with white fireplace doors

The white was a huge improvement. Huge.

Just it was just so boring.

Every at present and then I get a wild idea virtually my business firm. I used to just brush them off, simply then one day I got brave and started actually making them happen. And those crazy ideas accept turned into some of my accented favorite parts of my home. This leap I got a wild idea to paint my fireplace navy.

I absolutely honey how it turned out, just there were a few bumps along the manner. And I'm actually glad of the problems I had, because they actually taught me a lot about how to paint a brick fireplace the correct manner.

And now I'm sharing what I learned with you, and then you can also learn from my mistakes…instead of having to brand them yourself!

This post contains affiliate links which means if y'all brand a purchase afterward clicking a link I will earn a small commission but information technology won't price you lot a penny more than. Click here to see my full disclosure policy.

What sheen to paint a brick fireplace – matte or satin?

I started by painting the fireplace using chalk pigment and it looked astonishing. Just I got distracted and didn't seal information technology correct away. And when my son drove his little cars all over the hearth, the paint got pretty scratched up.

In an endeavor to relieve myself some time (large mistake), I repainted information technology using satin latex paint in a color that exactly matched the chalk paint color I had used. And when I was finished, it no longer looked amazing.

This is hard to capture in photos, but the photo below gives an idea. The more shiny half on the right is painted with the satin pigment.

matte vs satin finish on brick fireplace

The shinier side merely doesn't expect practiced. I'm not fifty-fifty really sure how to draw it, merely all my attention was fatigued to the actual pigment on the shiny side. Non the fireplace, the paint itself. The matte side chalk paint side looked like information technology belonged and the shiny side did non.

I know that sounds crazy, only there was a huge difference between the two. I don't think information technology had anything to practise with using latex paint rather than chalk paint. The trouble was the slight sheen of the satin paint. Brick itself has a very matte finish, so it makes sense that matte paint looks much meliorate on brick.

Lesson learned and in the future I will only use matte paint on brick, even if I am just painting with boring one-time white paint.

Can you chalk paint a brick fireplace?

As I mentioned above, I initially did apply chalk paint. The colour was gorgeous, it was easy to work with, and information technology had a fantastic matte finish. (The chalk paint I used was Americana Decor Chalky Finish Paint. I mixed a custom color using the colors Legacy and Relic.)

Unfortunately, it was not durable enough without a protective elevation glaze. This is generally the rule for anything you paint with chalk pigment whether information technology is furniture or home decor or even fabric. And apparently it is as well truthful of a brick fireplace.

The fireplace may have been fine if nobody ever touched it, but my son loves to play on the hearth. (When there's no fire, of course!) And his little toy cars pretty rapidly scratched up the paint.

So if you practise choose to utilize chalk paint on your fireplace, I would strongly recommend a skillful sealer. Personally I wouldn't wax a fireplace; wax just isn't durable enough. If I were going to use chalk paint, I would follow information technology with General Finishes Flat out Flat Topcoat. This is my favorite completely matte sealer.

OR you can salvage yourself some trouble and utilise a matte latex paint and skip the need for sealer all together.

Okay, now allow's get downward to the actual tutorial!

Materials for Painting a Brick Fireplace

Cleaner
Painter's record
Primer
Latex pigment in a matte or apartment end (I used Sherwin Williams Blue Mystery)
Stiff paintbrush

How to Paint a Brick Fireplace (the right style)

Earlier you tin paint annihilation, information technology has to be clean. And fireplaces in particular tend to get covered in soot, ash, and general dust. I commonly use a spray bottle filled with a mixture of water and Dawn dish lather for jobs like this, but any full general cleaner should work. Be certain to clean all of the nooks and crannies as you go.

Y'all might as well desire to employ painters tape to protect whatsoever trim or flooring touching the brick. And if you have fireplace doors similar we practise, y'all tin as well use painter'due south record to protect them while you are painting the brick.

Practise y'all demand primer?

If your brick has never been painted before, you definitely need to start with a coat of primer. Brick is very porous and soaks up a lot of pigment. Starting with primer will significantly cutting down on the coats of paint you demand.

If your brick has been previously painted and you know that it was definitely painted with a h2o-based paint, you can skip the primer.

Merely if yous have an older dwelling house and the brick has been painted for many years, there is a good chance it may have been painted with an oil-based paint. Oil-based paints used to be very popular for painting trim, doors, and other home features.

To test if your fireplace was painted with an oil-based pigment, yous can put a bit of boom shine remover (with acetone) on a rag and rub it on the paint. If zero rubs off, it is oil; if information technology does, information technology is latex.

If your fireplace was previously painted with oil-based paint, you have two choices. Yous can either repaint it with oil-based pigment or yous can use an oil-based primer, followed by a water-based paint like latex paint. I more often than not prefer the second option. Water-based paints are very durable these days and they are likewise better for the environment and much easier to work with and clean upwardly.

Painting the brick

Painting brick is a bit of a pain, just it isn't difficult. Because brick is so rough, you really accept to push button the pigment downward into all of the grooves.

Offset past using your paintbrush to push pigment downwardly into all of the mortar lines between the bricks. Then just go back with your brush and pigment the faces of the bricks. In near cases, two coats of paint should be plenty for good coverage. Be sure to let the pigment fully dry between coats.

Yous can as well use a roller instead of a brush for the brick faces if you prefer. Personally, I found that it didn't really speed things up. When I tried rolling, I however had to go back over each brick with a castor to get paint into all of the trivial divots.

Painting fireplace doors

As y'all can come across, I as well repainted the metal fireplace doors at the same time. I would love to remove the doors for aesthetic reasons, but they really do make a big deviation in helping regulate the temperature in our habitation. So for practical reasons, they have to stay. Just I at least wanted to make them blend in a scrap more.

This is a pretty straightforward process: just record off the drinking glass and the surrounding brick and spray the doors with a high heat spray pigment. This paint is incredibly fumey then exist sure to do this when you can open the windows and get lots of fresh air circulating.

fireplace painted blue

I've never seen a navy fireplace earlier, but I totally beloved mine. I'm and then glad I didn't craven out and stick with a rubber color instead.

And here'south how it looks now, after I added a chunky DIY mantel and a DIY TV frame.

blue brick fireplace

Information technology'southward astonishing what a difference paint and some inexpensive lumber can make! Want more than inspiration for your own fireplace, I've gathered 25 other fabulous brick fireplace makeovers that include everything from painted brick to whitewash to German Schmear.

I would love for you to pivot this post on Pinterest.

blue painted brick fireplace

Here are a few other posts I as well think you lot volition savor:

DIY Rustic Fireplace Mantel: The Cure for a Wearisome Fireplace

How to Build a Inexpensive and Easy TV Frame that Swivels

The Best and Worst Sealers for Painted Furniture

Materials

Cleaner
Painter'due south tape
Primer
Latex paint in a matte or flat finish (I used Valspar Blue Mystery)

Instructions

Make clean the fireplace thoroughly, taking intendance to clean all the nooks and crannies as you lot go.
Use painters tape to protect any trim or flooring.
Paint the brick fireplace with a coat of primer.
Permit dry.
Paint the brick using the paint brush to go into all the mortar lines between the bricks.
You volition need 2-3 coats.
Allow to dry between coats.