fireplace

[penny]

I have a brick fireplace in the kitchen and the intention is to install a log burner. However the bricks have been painted with red and white gloss paint. Anyone know if I will be able to remove this without damaging the bricks too much, or do we remove the fireplace and start again. I had thought of painting the fireplace again in a whiteish emulsion for the time being but painting emulsion over gloss? The hearth and lintel are also painted.
Any ideas out there

[Julie_and_Dick]

What is it with the red and white gloss on bricks?
We had the same in our living room. We painted the outer part, which is concrete, with cream eggshell finish and the inner part with matt black car paint. The eggshell worked, the car paint isn't too bad. You will probably need several coats, though.
We brought our paint out from England (Homebase 10% days - marvellous!). It has been on about eight months and seems ok.

Good luck!

Dick

[Peejay]

We have exactly the same problem as you in our kitchen and we too hope to instsall a villager wood burning stove.

We were told that when we get our oak beams sand blasted get these rather lurid coloured bricks sand blasted too. Will this work? Hope so but would welcome other comments.

[Sashabel]

Have you thought about trying to burn as much of the gloss off with an electric hotair paint stripper and a wire brush before you paint anything over the top of the old paint. This may stop the old gloss bubbling up under the new paint if it get hot once you start to use the chimney again.
You never know, the old paint could come off easier and cleaner than you imagine and you could be left with just the bricks.

[ToneanJen]

we had the same paint effect but on a stone fire-surround. An electric hot air stripper won't work - the stone seems to absorb all the heat before the paint is hot enough to strip. I would suggest that a sand-blaster is really the only effective method in this case. Use a professional as these tools are incredibly destructive in the wrong hands. There are many grits of sand available & a pro' would know the best for your situation.
best wishes
Tony

[Alfa]

I once owned a sandblasting company and would agree that the process might be appropriate in the right hands -
I sandblasted all the painted beams and 4 painted stone fireplaces in our French house with superb results.
HOWEVER: the warning about bricks being (possibly) too soft should be taken seriously but getting a professional to do a test might be expensive (if the test is not good).
A viable , if messy, alternative is good old fashioned paint stripper - nitromors or similar.
A sensible person should be able to use this type of product without damaging the work or themselves if they read the instructions and take sensible precautions.
Ive stripped acres of painted bricks and also furniture (I also owned a furniture/antique restoration company)
Care and thoroughness will pay dividends.
There are stripper products available wherein the solution comes attached to a backing paper - put it on, leave it for the required time, peel it off et voila !.
More expensive but more user friendly than Nitromors.
Its called peelaway (or similar).
Hope this helps and good luck.
If you need more advice put something in my inbox and I'll contact you direct.
Mark.

[penny]

watched dream house abroard last night (Brittany ) and there was the lovely red painted fireplace, didn't look too bad when painted to match the walls, but will try stipping it first. Thanks for all replies.

[ronni_allen]

Penny
How did you get on?
We have the same probelm and hope to tackle it at Easter if you`ve had any sucess I`d love to know!
Kind Regds
Ronni