Painting my Ugly Brick Fireplace
- By Joan
- March 20, 2017
- 3 Comments
Do you have one of those places in your house that is badly in need of a makeover but you’ve been putting it off and putting it off.
That’s my fireplace!
Other people probably notice how grungy it is, but I’ve sort of gotten used to it. The blackened brick from a smoky fire, the efflorescence (the white stuff that leaks out of bricks and masonry), the rusty insert …that all didn’t happen overnight.
My fireplace was in need of a makeover.
Unfortunately I couldn’t just start painting and cover up the ugly. I needed to call in help.
My help came in form of a chimney repair person. I’ll just call him Ryan. Super nice guy who wasted no time in climbing onto my roof and sending a camera down the chimney to inspect the damage.
Apparently my chimney had a cracked mortar top and some of the bricks were soaking up moisture where the sun didn’t shine. Might as well give the flue a good cleaning while he was there.
In the corner of my fireplace insert you can see some of the rust that had started to form. Besides the water that came in when there was a heavy storm, the rust should have been a good clue that I had issues.
To remove the rust I used a couple attachments on my handy dandy Dremel Rotary Tool Kit 
I also did a bit of hand sanding to smooth everything out.
The insert was ready for painting. For this project I needed High Heat Black
He’s beautiful once again.
If you have efflorescence, you should clean off any noticeable deposits with a wire brush but you do have to attack the source of the problem or it will keep coming back.
To paint the brick, I used the Behr brand, Masonry, Stucco and Brick Paint.
So excited, the fireplace looks all clean and fresh.
I also finished the mantel but you’ll just have to wait for later on this week for the big unveiling.
Stay inspired.
You can find my mantel diy here.
Shared at Metamorphosis Monday,
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I love it…what an inexpensive way to make a great change. I have used just regular latex paint on brick and it worked fine, but because this is your fireplace what you used is probably better for wear and tear.
Looking forward to seeing what you are going to do for the mantle.
I have been thinking of painting my fireplace brick. Thanks for the inspiration!
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