Footballjoe Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I have a fireplace in the home that was built in the late 50's. We have not been using it and it has been closed up for quite some time. I removed the glass doors tonight and cleaned it out. I want to know what you would recommend to clean the firebrick. The brick is in very good condition, with no cracks in the brick or mortar. We are thinking about either boarding it up or cleaning it and putting something in there. My wife has some ideas. The main thing is whatever we do we want to be able to undo so that if we sell the house we can have it operable. Is there anything we can paint the firebrick with that would make it look nice but also allow use of a fire in there if we wanted? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yukon Cornelius Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I have a fireplace in the home that was built in the late 50's. We have not been using it and it has been closed up for quite some time. I removed the glass doors tonight and cleaned it out. I want to know what you would recommend to clean the firebrick. The brick is in very good condition, with no cracks in the brick or mortar. We are thinking about either boarding it up or cleaning it and putting something in there. My wife has some ideas. The main thing is whatever we do we want to be able to undo so that if we sell the house we can have it operable. Is there anything we can paint the firebrick with that would make it look nice but also allow use of a fire in there if we wanted? Thanks don't paint brick is all i know Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 don't paint brick is all i know Don't paint the brick. Once it's on there, it's on there for good. There are plenty of cleaners out there that should get the bricks clean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 If you are looking for advice on painting the outside of the brick theres really no trick to it. The outside dosent get hot enough to warrant any kind of epoxy or heat resistant paint. If its fresh brick youll probably want to give it a first coat of Killz oil based primer before you paint. That will make your life a whole lot easier on your finish coat(s). You can paint latex over the Killz even though its oil, just make sure you use an old or cheap brush cause youll proly end up throwing it out. That stuff eats bristles bad. As for Yukons comment, it is a matter of personal preference. If it is in your den, and you want a cleaner look, painted brick is the way to go. I really dont like the look of brick inside a home. If you change your mind down the road and want to have the brick look you can always use a circular grinder with an 80 grit disk and take most of it off. That will give the brick an antique "stressed" look that I am a fan of (depending on your furnishings). Hope this helps. I painted professionally for many years and still do some side work occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 If you are looking for advice on painting the outside of the brick theres really no trick to it. The outside dosent get hot enough to warrant any kind of epoxy or heat resistant paint. If its fresh brick youll probably want to give it a first coat of Killz oil based primer before you paint. That will make your life a whole lot easier on your finish coat(s). You can paint latex over the Killz even though its oil, just make sure you use an old or cheap brush cause youll proly end up throwing it out. That stuff eats bristles bad. As for Yukons comment, it is a matter of personal preference. If it is in your den, and you want a cleaner look, painted brick is the way to go. I really dont like the look of brick inside a home. If you change your mind down the road and want to have the brick look you can always use a circular grinder with an 80 grit disk and take most of it off. That will give the brick an antique "stressed" look that I am a fan of (depending on your furnishings). Hope this helps. I painted professionally for many years and still do some side work occasionally. If you want a cleaner look you can box it in with drywall...if you want to sell the house later don't paint the brick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 Appreciate the advice. The brick (not firebrick) was painted a few days ago. I put it off for years but I finally gave in to my wife. It looks great now. My question has to do with the firebrick. We may not put doors back on and want to have the firebrick looking good. We will scrub it but just wanted to know if there is something to use on the firebrick. Is there a paint that can be used on the firebrick so that if we want to use the fireplace it will withstand the heat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Appreciate the advice. The brick (not firebrick) was painted a few days ago. I put it off for years but I finally gave in to my wife. It looks great now. My question has to do with the firebrick. We may not put doors back on and want to have the firebrick looking good. We will scrub it but just wanted to know if there is something to use on the firebrick. Is there a paint that can be used on the firebrick so that if we want to use the fireplace it will withstand the heat? Haha Rajn, he painted it. There are fire retardant paints on the market. Usually an epoxy base. Nasty stuff to work with. Make sure you ventilate well. I dont think that would be the route I would go though. Are you planning on using the fireplace often? I have seen fireplace inserts that are a sort of "screen/backdrop" that you take in and out between uses or if you dont plan on using it at all. I really wouldnt paint brick that will be exposed to soot. Unless you are painting it black. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crispirons Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 give the firebrick an acid wash with a hard wire brush. that will clean them up the best and restore them as much as possible to original state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted May 3, 2007 Author Share Posted May 3, 2007 The acid wash might do the trick. We have not used the fireplace in 8 yrs or more and rarely used it the 5 years previous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 The acid wash might do the trick. We have not used the fireplace in 8 yrs or more and rarely used it the 5 years previous. I would go with one of those screens then. Maybe jazz it up with a couple of plants in it? I believe they are called shadowbox insetrs. Here is a link that might give you some ideas. Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PantherDave Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Appreciate the advice. The brick (not firebrick) was painted a few days ago. I put it off for years but I finally gave in to my wife. It looks great now. My question has to do with the firebrick. We may not put doors back on and want to have the firebrick looking good. We will scrub it but just wanted to know if there is something to use on the firebrick. Is there a paint that can be used on the firebrick so that if we want to use the fireplace it will withstand the heat? NO-Well the stuff mentioned, but don't go there, you can buy fireplace screens(ya know sit in the firebox) some have nice little paited scenes on them, but we put our fireplace candlelabra in ours during the spring and summer-burn candles in it-very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Dick Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 If you have not used the fireplace for 8 years but may want to soon, I would HIGHLY recommend getting the chimney cleaned. Might be birds nests or God knows what else in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Footballjoe Posted May 4, 2007 Author Share Posted May 4, 2007 If you have not used the fireplace for 8 years but may want to soon, I would HIGHLY recommend getting the chimney cleaned. Might be birds nests or God knows what else in there. I know for a fact a birds nest is in there. We do not plan on using it. We have been doing some upgrades around the house, painting and such and just wanted to give the fireplace a cleaner look. I may consider getting some gas logs to put in there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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