cleaning paint off bricks

[rbroome]

A previous owner painted the inside of our fireplace. Guess he didn’t like the dark look…
Anyway, I want to get the paint off. We tried all the usual things-including sandblasting-but non of them have worked. So, we tried the Home Depot level chemicals, sanding, and scraping.

Anyone have any ideas? I am also afraid that if we work too hard we will damage the bricks-after all they are the firebox and will in principle get quite hot.

I am thinking it might be smarter to line the firebox with a layer of tile. but I need advice on whether the cement would hold.

Any ideas?

[Gfactor]

The safest method employs strips of fabric material that are applied over the paint removal paste. When the paint softens, it adheres to the fabric and the whole mess can be peeled off without dispersing lead paint chips throughout the neighborhood. Some of these stripping chemicals now are biodegradable or non-toxic. Not only are these formulas safer for people and the environment, the less caustic chemicals are less likely to cause damage to historic bricks.

http://www.oldhouseweb.com/stories/Detailed/14298.shtml

http://www2.asktooltalk.com/questions/faq/fireplace/refacing.php (suggestions for fireplace brick).

http://www.bungalowclub.org/02su_questions.html (another one specific to brick fireplaces).

[Chief_Pedant]

@rbroome

A previous owner painted the inside of our fireplace. Guess he didn’t like the dark look…
Anyway, I want to get the paint off. We tried all the usual things-including sandblasting-but non of them have worked. So, we tried the Home Depot level chemicals, sanding, and scraping.

Anyone have any ideas? I am also afraid that if we work too hard we will damage the bricks-after all they are the firebox and will in principle get quite hot.

I am thinking it might be smarter to line the firebox with a layer of tile. but I need advice on whether the cement would hold.

Any ideas?

If it’s a working FP and you are going to use it for wood-burning, would you consider overpainting the interior black with a paint made for high heat and just lighting a few hot fires? If the underlying paint is decorative it should burn off and leave black; the remaining firebricks will also be black from where you painted them.

If sandblasting with a commercial machine doesn’t take off paint, I wouldn’t bother with a stripper for brick.

Assuming the paint job is reasonably recent, lead etc should not be a consideration.

[danceswithcats]

I’m quite surprised that sandblasting failed to remove the paint, as that was my final route to take off several layers of paint on my previous home’s brick fascia.

Dumond Chemical Corp. makes a number of different paint removal chemicals, sold as the Peel-Away line. Check their website.

So long as the existing surface has no bond breakers and refractory grade mortar can bond a tile overlay, that is an option. I’d check out some books by Michael Byrne on that topic, though. He’s a well known author and tile expert.

[Enola_Straight]

I would liberally apply Zip Strip, immediately cover the applied area with plastic wrap to keep the stuff from drying out, then after a few hours again try sandblasting or power washing (if you dont mind mopping up )

[rbroome]

@danceswithcats

I’m quite surprised that sandblasting failed to remove the paint, as that was my final route to take off several layers of paint on my previous home’s brick fascia.

Dumond Chemical Corp. makes a number of different paint removal chemicals, sold as the Peel-Away line. Check their website.

So long as the existing surface has no bond breakers and refractory grade mortar can bond a tile overlay, that is an option. I’d check out some books by Michael Byrne on that topic, though. He’s a well known author and tile expert.

Thanks all. It was by no means a commercial sandblasting machine. A friend had a “sandblasting tool-like a paintgun” and we rented the largest air compressor we could. I doubt our efforts would have impressed a pro. OTOH, I was afraid of too much as I am concerned about damaging the bricks. And then the carpet went in and we could no longer create that kind of mess in the house.