How to Paint a Brick Fireplace
Painting (or repainting) a fireplace is one of the easiest ways to transform a space. They’re relatively simple projects to tackle over the weekend and make a huge difference in the look of your home. Essentially, the process breaks into a few easy steps: cleaning, priming, and painting. While it may seem like a simple process, a genuinely great finished product relies heavily on the details.
For professional help painting your brick fireplace, give the painters at Pizzazz Painting a call today at 609-702-8200.
Preparing the Brick for Paint
Before you start painting, it’s essential to make sure the brick is clean. We recommend cleaning the brick with soap and water to remove any built-up dirt or debris. A wire brush is also beneficial in cleaning away anything else from the brick. The more dirt, ash, or debris you remove from the grout and brick results in a smoother, more attractive finish.
After you wash it with soapy water, be sure to let the brick dry completely before painting. You may also want to use a handheld vacuum to clear away any extra debris. It is also a good idea to tape off the edges where the fireplaces meet any walls, flooring, or trim.
Picking the Right Paint
Depending on how you plan to use (or not use) your fireplace, there are many options for paint. When picking out a paint color for your brick fireplace, take into consideration its sheen. Sheen refers to how shiny the paint is and how much light it reflects. Higher sheens will be much shinier and give off more light, while lower sheens will be more subdued.
Is the Fireplace Used?
If you plan to continue using your fireplace after painting it, you must use paint that can handle the heat. These paints withstand the heat and hold up to higher temperatures. This ensures that your paintwork lasts longer, prevents blistering, and all-around protects your paint job. In some cases, using high-temperature paint also removes the need to prime the surface before painting, but be sure to check the manufacturer’s instructions first.
Do you Need Primer?
In short, yes. Priming helps adhere the paint to the brick. Brick is very porous, which is why you may also need to do more than one coat of primer or paint. When dealing with a high heat environment, it’s essential that you prime the brick before painting.
It’s also important to prime your brick twice, even if you don’t plan to use the fireplace. The fireplace is subject to more humidity due to the connection to the outside. Humidity causes staining on brick that isn’t adequately primed, so unless that’s the look you want, it’s in your best interest to prime before painting.
Picking the Right Color for Your Style
Once you’ve completed all of the preliminary steps, then you can decide on the right color for your fireplace. When it comes to decisions for colors, there’s a lot. While generally neutral colors are most versatile for any space, the decision is ultimately yours. For more modern and clean styles, we recommend using white or black paint for the fireplace. This creates a cleaner and bolder look for your room.
Whether you decide to whitewash your brick fireplace, restore its natural brick color, or paint it to be an accent to your room, you have plenty of options to meet your specific color preferences.
How Pizzazz Painting Makes Painting Your Brick Fireplace Easy
At Pizzazz Painting, our team of professional painters helps you achieve your painting goals. In addition to the wide range of painting services we offer, we also offer fireplace painting services. Our team of painters in Moorestown can perform an in-person consultation where we assist you in color selections that best complement your home.
To learn more about the services we offer or to schedule a consultation, call our team of experienced painters today at 609-702-8200.
