Brick Anew January 10, 2013

What Do The “Supposed” Experts Say?

Think whether to paint fireplace brick

I came across this post http://lifehacker.com/5841375/properly-paint-a-brick-fireplace , the other day that features a fireplace painted with Brick-anew and started reading the comments regarding the article. It was fascinating reading the opinions of the “old timers” who oppose painting ugly brick. We hear this every week from ladies who desperately want to update their homes and fireplace, but their husbands say no!

Now I must say that, I think the “old timers” have a point, that you need to carefully consider the fact that you cannot remove the paint once it has been applied, but that is not addressing the real problem.

What do you do with your ugly brick? Your brick is dragging down your décor. Styles have changed, and unfortunately the brick that was really cool back in 1970 is now dated (along with the shag carpet and lime green paint).

Three points that I would like to make:

Most painted brick does look like painted brick, so I can see why a mason might not like it. However, it is possible to get a “Real Brick” look while keeping the original texture of the brick.
Most people are not “Great” painters – and most people are even worse faux painters, so getting a real brick look can be a big challenge.
That is the beauty of our Brick-Anew fireplace paint system. Anyone can follow our simple system and get a gorgeous look that lightens and brightens the ugliest of brick (and you get to keep the original texture of your brick). And consider this – if you don’t like the way your brick looks you can get a refund, and then come up with plan B. (See fireplace refacing options)

Here are some of the comments:

Blech! The only way to “properly” paint a fireplace is not at all. My grandfather was a bricklayer, so I have a bit of a pet peeve when it comes to brick work. I’ve seen too many beautiful fireplaces and houses ruined by terrible paint jobs.
Ugh. I agree with you. My dad’s a bricklayer, and I worked with him for years; painted brick *always* looks like crap. There’s a reason the before/after picture is tiny.
But most people are terrible painters, myself included
I agree that paint often ruins brickwork! The other thing that seems to have been completely disregarded here is there is no going back from this. As the article mentions bricks are porous and you can’t successfully strip paint from them.
Absolutely correct. I have no bricklayers in my family tree as far as I know, yet even I know that painting brick is awful.

I would love your opinion on the painting brick fireplaces debate. Please post your comments below. Hope your having a Happy New Year!