Should I paint the old lady?

September 20, 2015 11:04 AM

I'm thinking about painting my brick house. Thoughts, opinions and past experiences needed please...

I have a wonderful, old, brick house in a great neighborhood. I'm about to start doing some upkeep and repairs that are needed and I'm considering painting the brick. I've never been crazy about the color of the brick so I wouldn't miss it. Lots of folks in this neighborhood have done this to great results. I just need to learn a little more about the process and the upkeep in years to come before I decide. My house gets a good bit of full sun on the front and has granite accent stones around the front door and making up a small gate on the side. What can you share about doing this? Tips, tricks, regrets, etc. I have a good painter, I'm not worried about the labor .... I just need to be sure they are using the right paint for the job and that I know what I'm getting into in the years ahead. Anything else you can share that I'm not thinking of is welcomed. On a side note, I'm replacing all off my windows so new window trim will be part of my "house makeover". Thanks!

posted by pearlybob to Home & Garden (15 answers total)

This has become all the rage in our neighborhood, too. I don't get it. One of the best things about brick houses is that you don't have to paint them. And I've noticed that the freshly painted bricks only look good for a year or two. So I assume regret must be high on this.
posted by hydropsyche at 11:25 AM on September 20, 2015 [8 favorites]

We just got done house-hunting. Painted brick was definitely a "minus" for us-even if it looked cute it was just going to be more work in a year or two. The great thing about brick is it's supposed to be low-maitenance.
posted by Green Eyed Monster at 11:45 AM on September 20, 2015 [2 favorites]

Painted brick gives me the sads. If the color of the brick bugs you, have you considered painting the non-brick parts of your house a color that makes the brick look better? White, lighter slate blues, and olive of all shades are classics.
posted by rhizome at 11:46 AM on September 20, 2015 [3 favorites]

As the former and current owner of old brick houses (one painted, one not): Don't, don't, DO NOT paint your brick. Here's why:

*Once it's painted, it has to be repainted every 3-5 years. Prepping and (re)painting brick is a huge pain.
*It's a permanent decision. If you do change your mind and try to remove the paint, sandblasting and power washing will damage the brick, especially old brick, which is softer. The paint will never entirely come off, and your brick will be ruined.
*Brick needs to breathe. Paint closes brick pores. Cracks and hairline fissures allow water to enter the masonry system with no way to escape. Freeze thaw cycles deteriorate the brick and large portions of the wall will delaminate, essentially destroying your exterior bricks. There is no fix for this.

Painted brick houses look pretty temporarily, but paint is not brick's friend. Please don't paint it.
posted by caryatid at 12:04 PM on September 20, 2015 [9 favorites]

Painting your brick could hurt your resale value so don't do it unless the brick is deteriorating and it is the only way to save the house or unless you are planning on dying there.

I am still cursing the previous owners who painted my brick fireplace. It is so hard to remove paint from brick and it just looks stupid and needs to not be there. Just say no to painting brick!
posted by myselfasme at 12:04 PM on September 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

This would definitely be a big minus for me in purchasing--once it's done, it's very hard to undo if you don't like it, and you will definitely be losing resale value.

I agree with rhizome that you should look at choosing trim color that will make the brick look nicer--we live on a street with 3 essentially identical American Foursquare brick houses from 1906 next to each other. One is painted, and even though it's very well maintained it has that "too many layers" look that old woodwork gets. One is owned by a couple with impeccable taste who have chosen trim colors that really set off the color of the brick beautifully (a rosy brick with dark olive and dark reddish orange accents, which sounds ridiculous but looks amazing). And one is ours, which is unpainted brick with green trim and looks...okay. But I know it COULD be gorgeous, because we have this almost identical house next to us, so when it's time to repaint we'll put some effort into choosing the colors.
posted by The Elusive Architeuthis at 12:16 PM on September 20, 2015

Yikes! Nthing DO NOT PAINT THE BRICK. I live in a village with a lot of nineteenth- and early-20th c. houses, and the ones with original brick are very attractive as long as the trim is kept pretty. The ones with painted brick look...coagulated.
posted by thomas j wise at 12:22 PM on September 20, 2015

I'm pleased to be able to join the majority. (Doesn't often happen here.) Please do not paint your brick house.
posted by Bruce H. at 12:50 PM on September 20, 2015

Brick stain is a thing I have seen used successfully in cold freeze thaw Canada. A dark grey covered the red brick nicely. Has to be reapplied every few years but no real prep work needed.
posted by saradarlin at 1:37 PM on September 20, 2015

In 1985 we spray primed, then painted our brick. We used a satin exterior paint from Sears called Colonial Cream. We used Regimental Red for windowsills, and white for trim. This house has never been repainted and looks as good as the day we painted it. The place had deeply recessed mortar betwen the bricks, a recipe for decay. The house was built in 1912. I am not sorry we painted, I may have touched up the trim. The curly iron porch railings, I painted with antique bronze rustoleum. The house has sold twice since I sold it in 2006, no one has messed with the paint.
posted by Oyéah at 2:05 PM on September 20, 2015

Have you looked at mortar washing your brick? You can dramatically alter the look of the brick without altering the porosity too much. A lot of new homes in my neighborhood use this as they can only be built using antique brick, but can be washed to the owner's liking. My neighbors did this to their older house and it looked much better afterwards. Most I have seen us a white or grey wash, but I believe you can tint just about any color. I would recommend grey or matching color to your current mortar.

I think you will get a consensus here that painting will give you a briefly better look for some people and a forever worse look for most of us. And after that, the maintenance will depend on your climate and construction, not necessarily the skill of your painter.
posted by Yorrick at 3:01 PM on September 20, 2015

Brick stain I see is sold as a permanent color change.... even if not, it won't clog the pores of your brick, it doesn't change the texture, so it would avoid many of the issues mentioned above with painting.
I am firmly in the "don't paint it" group, an ex Marine bought a beautiful red brick bungalow around the corner, had it painted in some sort of "military-esque" green and white scheme, lost money when he had to sell a couple years later, leaving the rest of us to regret his decision. Man, that used to be a beautiful house.
posted by rudd135 at 7:42 PM on September 20, 2015

I just learned about brick repointing today.
posted by itsflyable at 9:18 PM on September 20, 2015

Someone with indoor brick was considering painting it. Others intervened saying, "You can't unpaint brick". So the brick owner covered it with sheetrock, and painted that.
posted by Cranberry at 8:00 AM on September 21, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks all..... I have decided to not paint it. Needed to hear the prose and cons and as usual, you guys have given it too me straight. Ive been observing some other houses and believe I can incorporate some color tastefully by painting the new windows and gutters. Thanks all!! Happy fall!!
posted by pearlybob at 11:33 AM on September 24, 2015