Holloway Painting

Painting a Brick House, how to do it

Can you paint brick? Many homeowners wonder if brick can be painted on. Yes, you can paint brick but it is a little different than painting on other surfaces. Like most exterior paint jobs, painting a brick house requires you to have good weather conditions:

  • You need a dry sunny day to start your brick painting.

Furthermore, brick needs special preparation. On top of preparing the brick, you will need to repair damage to the surface of the brick walls. After this, you will have to protect the area around the brick and remove fixtures. Lastly, you will paint the actual brick. You can use primer first and then paint or use a primer + paint combo to get the painting job done. After all this, you’ll get your brick house looking amazing. For the best outcome on your brick house house painting, you can always contact a Local BC Painting Professional.

painting brick house

Painting a Brick House Summary

  1. The right weather
  2. Prepare the brick
  3. Repair damaged brick
  4. Protecting the area around from paint
  5.  Primer and paint

Painting Brick in Nice Weather

Painting a brick house starts with appropriate weather, you do not want to be painting in typical Surrey winter. You will need a sunny and dry day to get started. This is obviously due to the fact that there is a lot of drying that will need to be done. You will we washing the brick with water which will need to dry off. Then there’s the paint its self. The time it takes for the water and coats of paint to dry will depend a lot on your specific climate.

Cleaning the Brick

So, you picked a nice sunny day to start your project. Your next step now will be preparing the brick wall for paint, this means cleaning. One of the differences with brick is that brick develops efflorescence:

  •  Efflorescence is basically a salty buildup on rough surfaces.

To start the cleaning process, remove any removable fixtures that are on the brick wall. After the wall is cleared of as many fixtures as possible is when you will use water to clean the surface. The best method for cleaning the brick with water will be a professional power washer.

  • You need a washer that can do around 3000 psi for a brick surface.

After the wash, let the brick completely dry. This could take a few hours depending on your climate.

Repair Damage to the Brick

Now that you have a nice clean brick surface you can start inspecting and repairing damage to the brick. Most brick houses that have some age on them will have damage here and there, such as small holes. You will use mortar that is suitable for brick. The best way to repair brick with mortar is using a caulking gun. After you’ve repaired damage, wait for the mortar to dry.

Protect Areas From Paint

While you are waiting for the mortar to dry you can start protecting the areas you don’t want to get paint on. This is obviously done by taping off areas you don’t want painted. Make sure you use good quality painter’s tape.

  •  Quality tape will not leave residue after removal.

For large areas, you can tape on paper. You can buy big rolls of paper for this purpose. What a lot of people don’t think about is the ground around the walls. There is probably a bunch of things here you don’t want to get paint on, such as plants and decorations. You can use tarps to protect the area on the ground around the brick walls.

Painting the Brick

Now comes the actual painting. You want to use a small paint brush for edges and a paint roller for large surfaces. The amount of paint you need will depend on the amount of surface area your house has:

  • Brick has more surface area that other smooth surfaces due to the porous nature of brick.
  • Consult an expert of how much paint you need for your surface area of brick.

When selecting your paint, make sure it is appropriate for a brick surface. While you are painting, you’ll need more paint than normal on your brush due to the porous brick. If you want to go the primer then paint route, do three coats of primer and let each coat properly dry. Then do the same with your desired paint. With a primer and paint combo, you can just do three coats. And if you want your home looking amazing, we suggest using a professional.