One of the best ways to change the dynamic of your living room is by bringing in a fresh new coat of paint to your fireplace. The fireplace is the heart and centerpiece of your home and there?s no better way to promote a sense of harmony than by having it compliment its surrounding color palette. It?s also easy to do! You just need a few various painting products, a weekend off, and a little bit of elbow grease. So without further ado, let?s begin!
As with most painting projects, your desired painting area should be thoroughly cleaned, although when working with fireplaces or bricks in general, it is essential to remove all the soot and grime before painting. To help ensure this process, it is best to use a wire brush along with various heavy-duty cleaning products. If you plan to paint the inside of your fireplace, be sure to double your efforts, in fact, you may want to dedicate several hours to this. Another helpful tool to remove the pesky filth is a non-sudsy TSP (trisodium phosphate), but be sure to wear gloves and goggles during its application. Scrub hard with the TSP, then rinse and repeat; after many cycles, eventually the brick will be spotless enough to allow paint to adhere to it.
Once your fireplace is fully dry, you can now begin painting. If you plan to paint the inside of the fireplace, you should start with this first, but it is imperative to use a heat resistant paint additive or a flame retardant coating! These are specialty items and should be researched and gathered prior to the beginning of this project. This is very important because normal household paints are not heat resistant and coating your fireplace with them may put your family and home in serious danger! We highly recommend not handling this portion of the project yourself, if you desire for the inside to be painted, please contact a professional Houston painting contractor such as Pro Painters, to have the job done safely and correctly.
After the insides of your fireplace have been properly coated, or if you chose to skip that step, you can now start applying a fresh coat of primer to the outer faces of your hearth. This should be done with an oil-based, stain-blocking primer to help protect your fireplace from future soot stains. Brick is extremely porous and riddled with tiny pockmarks so you may want to apply several coats to ensure an even and uniform layer.
Once your primer has dried, you can now begin the painting process. Be sure to use an indoor latex paint with either flat, gloss, or semi-gloss properties. The paint should also be rated to withstand temperatures around 200?F. This is key for the same reasons detailed above: you do not want to expose you or your family to possible risks. It should also be noted that the paint used for the outer faces is NOT suitable for painting the insides of the fireplace with. This should be done by a professional, or with specialty products, as mentioned before. The best tool to use for your outer areas is a roller brush specifically designed for rough and textured surfaces. Your surface is most likely rigid and a specialty roller will greatly help you achieve an even coat. For harder to reach areas, such as the grout, be sure to utilize a 1-inch brush. Also, this project may require multiple coats, in fact, most fireplaces require at least 2 to 3 to fully encompass the porous surfaces.
With the holiday season on the horizon, you?ll find that there couldn?t be a better time to revamp your living space. And this can be achieved by something as simple as painting your fireplace! We hope that this tutorial has been helpful and informative! If you have any questions about this or other painting projects please do not hesitate to contact Houston painting services! ?
