Painting your fireplace is a big deal. Like, there’s no going back, kind of big deal. If you painted your fireplace and didn’t like it, you could sandblast the paint off, but it most definitely likely would damage your brick. So please make sure that painting your brick fireplace is something you can live with. Now that you have a strong feeling of impending doom, some good news. Painting your brick fireplace is cheap and easy! With proper preparation and tools, it is one of the easiest and most rewarding DIYs I’ve done to date.

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HOW TO PAINT A BRICK FIREPLACE

This is a 90% preparation and 10% work kind of DIY. The tools you will need are:

1. 1. 1. 1. Bucket with hot soapy water
         2. Hard plastic bristle brush for cleaning
         3. Extra thick nap roller
         4. Paint roller handle
         5. Paintbrush (an old brush works well!)
         6. Paint: Zinsser primer + Rustoleum painters touch paint
         7. Painters tape (if needed)
         8. Rags

Time to prep

To prep for painting your brick fireplace, you will need to test the brick and mortar first to ensure it isn’t sealed. Wet a small area of the brick and mortar with water. If it absorbs quickly into the brick surface, you are good to paint. If the water beads up or sits on top of the brick surface, you have a sealed brick, which is not recommended to paint. Fortunately, my brick fireplace was not sealed, so it was good to go.

Time for a good old-fashioned scrubbing. I dusted and scrubbed the brick with a hard plastic bristle brush and hot soapy water (sorry, I forgot to take pics while I was cleaning). Be aware that acidic solutions like vinegar can cause the paint to chip over time, so use good old-fashioned hot soapy water. After cleaning you need to wait a full 24 hours to give the masonry time to completely dry. My fireplace was not used very often, so it was easy to clean. If yours is soiled, you may have to use a stronger chemical like this one.

Paint like a boss!

All the forums I read recommended a breathable latex paint to prevent the paint from chipping over time. I choose to use Zinsser latex primer and Rust-Oleum interior semi-gloss acrylic latex paint. Load your roller full of paint and go to town. My Roman brick took three coats of paint for full coverage, but I imagine all brick varies on how much paint it absorbs.

The “must-have” for this DIY is the roller. Without the thick nap roller, it would have taken me forever to paint this puppy. Now if I could only figure out how to decorate the mantel I built? Stay tuned for a future post on how to build and mount my DIY fireplace mantel.

**Tip** Make sure to wait until the paint has absorbed into brick completely before touching up. After it has absorbed use a paintbrush to “stipple” in the holes and spots the roller can’t reach. Brick drinks up the paint like no one’s business, so be prepared to use a lot of paint.

Want to build a fabulous and chunky mantel? I will show you how to make a barn wood style timber mantel out of plain old cedar fence planks.

HAPPY PAINTING!