{"id":102411,"date":"2019-12-21T13:35:12","date_gmt":"2019-12-21T18:35:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bhgre.com\/bhgrelife\/?p=102411"},"modified":"2019-12-17T16:37:37","modified_gmt":"2019-12-17T21:37:37","slug":"painted-brick-house-ideas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bhgre.com\/bhgrelife\/painted-brick-house-ideas\/","title":{"rendered":"Refreshing brick facades inside and outside"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

There\nare lots of reasons to get excited about brick facades, whether they\u2019re on the\ninterior or exterior of your home. Weather resistant, fire retardant and\ndurable, most insurance companies offer discounts to brick home owners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\nyour brick may need a little TLC for a variety of reasons: age, improper\nmortaring, or no longer in sync with your home\u2019s design or decor if you have an\naddition or a new garage door. Here are a few suggestions that will help you\ndecide how you can go about refreshing brick faces inside and outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painted brick house ideas –\nexterior<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Not\nall bricks and bricklayers are created equal. Depending on your home\u2019s age,\ntheir natural color may not be particularly pleasing to you or even work well\nwith the rest of your home\u2019s exterior. If your house includes more than one\nbuilding material (siding, stucco or wood for some areas, brick for others),\nthere may be a lot going on in terms of both color and texture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painting exterior\nbrick<\/a>\nposes some additional challenges besides the equipment needed to reach the\nroof. It\u2019s probably best to outsource this work to an expert, who can make any\nnecessary repairs to your bricks and mortar before you begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While\nbricks can easily last 100 years or more, the mortar that holds them together\nrarely does. Loose or crumbling mortar can be fixed by repointing, digging out\nthe mortar and replacing it with either more mortar or lime-based putty. It\u2019s a\ntime consuming, messy chore, but it\u2019s essential to ensure water doesn\u2019t get in\nor threaten the house\u2019s structural integrity. If your brick home is historic,\ncolor matching the existing mortar may be an issue. Hiring a mason means you\nmay also be able to find an exact match for crumbling or wind-damaged brick\nfrom salvage yards. Another good reason to hire an expert for this part of your\nexterior reno: mortar can only \u201cset\u201d when it\u2019s between 40 and 90\u00b0F. Doing it\nyourself may cause more problems than it solves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\nyou\u2019ve decided to paint your brick exterior, make sure you don\u2019t live in a high\nmoisture area. Bricks are naturally porous and absorb ground moisture that\ncan\u2019t escape when painted over. If that\u2019s your situation, consider whitewashing\nthe bricks instead. By diluting latex paint with 50 percent water you\u2019ll avoid\ntrapping moisture that can\u2019t escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There\nare also new brick staining products available that can deal with their\nunevenly porous nature. Silicate mineral stains bond with brick and penetrate their\npores while still letting the brick breathe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Painting alternatives: Stucco and\nthe German smear<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

While\nit may be even more work than painting your home, if you really hate the bricks\nyou\u2019ve inherited, you can stucco over them. Before you consider this\nalternative, though, test the area to see how porous your bricks are. Spray the\nwall with water. If it\u2019s quickly absorbed, the stucco should bond easily with\nthe brick. If it doesn\u2019t, or if your bricks have already been painted, wash the\nsurface with soap and water and test again. If that doesn\u2019t work, you\u2019ll need\nto apply a specially designed bonding agent to ensure the stucco will stick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nterms of both color and texture, stucco is available in a wide variety of\ncolors that are mixed into the finish coat. You can also dramatically change\nthe texture of a stucco exterior by choosing a finish coat that incorporates\nrocks, pebbles, or glass chips.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nGerman smear is another alternative to painting exterior brick. By applying wet\nmortar unevenly to brickwork, you\u2019ll instantly give your home a centuries-old\n(although faux) exterior. It mimics the look of stone and creates a rough,\nrustic texture. The best news about the German smear is that it\u2019s inexpensive\nand doesn\u2019t take a lot of skill. While traditional northern German cottages\ntreated this way were red brick with white mortar, experiment with different\nmortar colors to find the one that will work best with your shade of brick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interior brickwork<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

You\ncan use all the same techniques on interior brickwork with a lot fewer mortar\nand water absorption issues than exterior brick. While some homes have gorgeous\nexposed brick walls, for the most part, interior brickwork<\/a> is confined to areas around the\nfireplace. Depending on whether your fireplace is functional or not, you may\nwant to paint it white if you want it to pop and match your room\u2019s trim. If you\ndon\u2019t want to feature a non-functional brick fireplace though, consider\npainting it the same color as your walls to make it recede.\n\nIf your fireplace has\nalready been painted and you want to show it off, think about touching it up\nwith the same color but reframe it with a new mantel in a different color and a\nmore modern design.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"