Removing Paint Residue From Brick

[A.Fox]

I stumbled upon this forum yesterday and I was hoping someone might have some thoughts on one of my current projects in our 1925 house:

This spring we started a refresh of our master bedroom and while the wallpaper and trim were going to be redone, I decided to take on the task of stripping our brick fireplace. I had at least two layers to remove: one layer of burgundy latex over white oil paint, and there might have been a layer of white primer below that.

It took quite a bit of trial and error to find a product and technique that was effective. Most of the early products only removed the latex and barely effected the oil paint, which was stubbornly stuck in all of the crevasses of the brick. I ulimately found that paste products left overnight in combination with scraping, nylon brushing, and a sponge and water took most of the paint off, but there was still quite a bite of white residue on the brick. I was able to remove most of the remainder with a combination of vinegar washes and spot applications of Citrustrip and dental tools to scrape out the deeper crevasses. I’ve done both of these several times, but I seem to be reaching a point of diminishing returns.

I’ve gotten to the point that in indirect light during the day the fireplace looks pretty good. But at night under the overhead light there is clearly still some white residual on the bricks. Does anyone have any further tips on what else I could do, or have I gotten it to about the best it’s going to get?

I will follow up with pictures next.

[Gothichome]

Hello A.Fox, welcome to the district. Sounds like you have done every thing possible with out going into blasting. Cleaning paint off of brick is daunting task at the best of times. What might work for you now is spot painting the white bits with a flat paint colour to match the brick and an artists brush. It will be tedious but over time you will hide what can’t be removed.
Others here have done this, and eventually i’ll Have to do the same, they might have a better idea.
And pictures, we love pictures here in the District. Tell us about your home.
Ron

[A.Fox]

Here are the pictures. I wasn't aware I was going to have to wait for moderator approval before being able to comment.

7592025584_IMG_2235.JPG (899.29 KiB) Viewed 727 times

From across the room I think it looks pretty good. I still need to scrub down the tile hearth, and repaint the steel lintel at the firebox (the white spots there are places where the latex came off the lintel where I was stripping.

7591983584_IMG_2238.JPG (1.47 MiB) Viewed 727 times

Sorry this picture is a little blurry. I took these pictures at night because it's when the fireplace looks at it's worst. Maybe the most bothersome is the right side is a little lighter because I did that zone before getting the scrubbing technique better and less of the paint came off in the first pass.

Also don't be too hard on me fore the paint splatters on the wood floor. Most of those are from the previous owner. I made a trade with my husband and let him have carpet again in the master as long as the rest of the house had restored hardwoods and tile. We are going to refinish and leave one board running around the tile (where you see the painter's tape in the picture above because I love the way that the tile was set flush into the wood floor.

7592022704_IMG_2237.JPG (1.5 MiB) Viewed 727 times

7592024768_IMG_2236.JPG (1.52 MiB) Viewed 727 times

These are pretty good pictures of where I've gotten it. I do think I'm going to have to paint in some of the little spot, especially whatever the white deposits are embedded in the mortar, but I would like to improve the generally hazy appearance. The brick looks great when it's wet, and then it dries like this. We've tossed about the idea of using a sealer to retain the coloration and depth of when it's wet, but I wouldn't want anything glossy, and I wouldn't want to do anything to mess up the brick long term.

[nhguy]

I stumbled upon this forum yesterday and I was hoping someone might have some thoughts on one of my current projects in our 1925 house:

This spring we started a refresh of our master bedroom and while the wallpaper and trim were going to be redone, I decided to take on the task of stripping our brick fireplace. I had at least two layers to remove: one layer of burgundy latex over white oil paint, and there might have been a layer of white primer below that.

It took quite a bit of trial and error to find a product and technique that was effective. Most of the early products only removed the latex and barely effected the oil paint, which was stubbornly stuck in all of the crevasses of the brick. I ulimately found that paste products left overnight in combination with scraping, nylon brushing, and a sponge and water took most of the paint off, but there was still quite a bite of white residue on the brick. I was able to remove most of the remainder with a combination of vinegar washes and spot applications of Citrustrip and dental tools to scrape out the deeper crevasses. I’ve done both of these several times, but I seem to be reaching a point of diminishing returns.

I’ve gotten to the point that in indirect light during the day the fireplace looks pretty good. But at night under the overhead light there is clearly still some white residual on the bricks. Does anyone have any further tips on what else I could do, or have I gotten it to about the best it’s going to get?

I will follow up with pictures next.

We had an old colonial with layers of red, gray and black oil based paint on the six foot fireplace and brick oven/ ash pit face. I was visiting an antique dealer, he said you could remove the paint with Red Devil Lye and hot water. He said to wear old clothes ans safety glasses. He said most importantly was wearing chemical resistant gloves as the lye would turn your fingernails black, I never asked how he knew that. Anyway, I did do as he instructed, the lye really bubbled and boiled with the hot water. It took all the paint off in one session using several nylon scrub brushes. I washed it down with white vinegar afterward. This was 30+ years ago, but I seem to recall it being pretty smelly along with taking three or so hours. The finished brick was much like your fireplace only many times as big an area.

[phil]

I'd agree with the idea of mixing some pigment in you can add some brick red pigment to your stripper.

Is it just me or is it weird that someone would tile right into the firebox and not leave a step of any sort. mine has a couple layers of brick near the front of the firebox and as I use it it fills with ash until I clean it out. mine is about 4" deep or so. I have a couple of steel pieces that I shift under the grate so as the ash ple grows I lift the grate up above the ash. I just clean it out about twice a year and I don't use the chute.
with your setup there really isn't' anything to keep the fire inside the firebox. maybe the intent was to have a fake gas or electric fireplace insert?

I'd rethink it and consult with some others if you actually plan to have fires in there. it looks like it was built out at one time whit another layer in the front. mine was too it made the firebox bigger I assume to switch from coal to wood burning.
mine has a trap door so you can shovel the ash down and collect them from a clean-out downstairs. If yours has the clean out but no hole in the bottom of the firebox, maybe they tiled right over it? I think usually they just used brick outside the firebox, not sure if the tile and mortar can take the heat. maybe others know more on all that. all the MDF might be a later reno. It could perhaps be put into context with the era by replacing it. I suspect it wasn't much more than a plank originally. it really is your preference if you want it to look more correct to the era or keep all the added white trim. Some like it. my house had crown moldings added. I took them out as they didn't feel original to me.

mine had added tile but it was ugly. I took it off and the cement brick on the face is even worse. im thinking about facing mine with a stone veneer. I found an era accurate mantle and it looks like an old fir plank it just has a little molding to hide the bottom edge where it sits on the brick. really nothing very elaborate.
fancy houses had fancy fireplaces and it seems common that the mantle gets replaced with something with a bit more bling. the brick they used for the hearth looks era correct so Id' just remove the inner brick add some real bricks at the bottom edge of the firebox and try to leave what is in front..

what you do should be what you want to do and my opinion doesn't matter. Hopefully I didn't go overboard with my opinions. the wood trim and panels could be more original than I first thought too. if it is real wood you are lucky but having paint on it would drive me nuts until I scraped all the paint off to reveal the woodwork. If it's nice wood it could look so beautiful. The reason I assume it's MDF is the flat surfaces and absence of any wood grain even under he paint. of course but you could get anything perfectly flat by sanding and filling.

Phil

[A.Fox]

Phil,

Thank you for all of your thoughts!

While we don't plan to use this fireplace as we have two others and wood burning fires are frankly too much work to be wanting one in the bedroom, I do believe the hearth is as originally designed. All three of the fireplaces have red quarry tile hearths with cement mortar that extend right into the firebox and everything around the ash trap looks authentic. In the sun room, there's actually no hearth at all. The room's quarry tile floor just flows right into the firebox.

As far as the mantle goes, it has been modified and I believe is a combination of historic material and trims added by the previous owner. The trim on top of the mantle matches the living room mantle, but it has an extra trim applied over it. Similarly the mantle surface itself (which I believe may actually be a sort of early veneered birch plywood based on how it's chipping) with a simple flat edge trim also appears to be original. But then newer pine chair rail has been added on to that. And the big cove trim under the mantle is also added.

All of the original woodwork in the house is birch, and we have stripped it in other places in the house so far. Without the added frills of the prior owner it's actually a fairly restrained design with arts and crafts influences that this simple slab mantle would have fit right into. But the Master bedroom is such a mix of new and old woodwork...one whole side of the room is pine and MDF that was pieced in when the master bathroom and closet was added and all of the wainscoating is new trim applied over the plaster and liner fabric...that we've decided to keep everything in there painted. Now that the room is coming together I kind of wished we had pulled off those extra trims and stripped what remained, as the dark stained birch elsewhere in the house is a really nice look. but now that the new wallpaper is up and cut around it we are past the point of wanting to take that on. Perhaps next time the room wants to be redecorated.

[phil]

its been an ongoing affair in my house to get the paint off so I probably look at paint like it's the devil or something .. I wanted some wainscot in the kitchen and when I priced fir against MDF the MDF won just because my budget was tight. even though I hate the stuff and I have tried to get rid of anything made from it. I discovered that all my living room walls were either panels or wainscot up to eye level. Its a lot so I drywalled for now. I might add a spacer behind the baseboard so that I can attach wainscot at a later date. It would sure change the look a lot. I might try to cut my own wainscot since it would save some cost. we had a great place that supplied fir trim in old styles but they got expropriated so they were paid to move to a newer location. the place was a piece of history in itself.

that brick red tile is similar to mine, maybe a bit larger but I thought yours fit the date period, not that it couldn't be repro but I thought it looks "right" im sure my brick is original but the face brick is cement painted to look like brick. I didn't' know they would tile right into the firebox with no step or anything . maybe its more common than I first assumed? maybe an electric insert would be OK if you dont plan to burn in the bedroom. I would just because having a fire and being in bed would be so cozy on those winter days. but I know some feel it makes too much soot.

I've got an old ammonia fumed quartersawn deco fireplace surround. I thought I'd use it but it was a bit too small to cover what I have existing. I am muddling with the idea of putting it in a bedroom with a fake fireplace just to add some decor. problem is it takes up a lot of wall space and the bedrooms aren't huge.