Home Repair forum - How to remove paint from brick?

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How to remove paint from brick?

Susan Thomas

2005-07-29, 11:21 am

I am replacing wrought iron rails on the carport with aluminum columns.
There is some old paint on the brick that I need to remove. Any suggestions
other than a wire brush?

Thanks for your reply.

Darro

2005-07-29, 12:21 pm

It's a tough job and you may never be able to remove all of the old
paint from the brick. As far as I know, all you can do is apply paint
remover and then use a stiff brush (not necessarily a wire brush which
might leave particles that will rust). Cover all surrounding areas and
protect yourself to prevent corrosive remover from splashing
everywhere.

On Fri, 29 Jul 2005 09:53:58 -0400, "Susan Thomas"
<thomas@ils.unc.edu> wrote:

>I am replacing wrought iron rails on the carport with aluminum columns.
>There is some old paint on the brick that I need to remove. Any suggestions
>other than a wire brush?
>
>Thanks for your reply.
>

HotRod

2005-07-29, 12:21 pm

Sand blast...

BocesLib@gmail.com

2005-07-29, 1:21 pm

I did a bit of research on this a few years back...

If memory serves me right, I think sherwin XXXXXXXX
had a product that was specifically designed to remove
paint off of brick.

Sand blasting, power washing etc is too much of a mess.
It also destroys the brick at the same time.

Using heat (paint heat gun) works too.

Tom

SQLit

2005-07-29, 1:21 pm

"Susan Thomas" <thomas@ils.unc.edu> wrote in message
news:42ea34f5$1_2@news1.isis.unc.edu...
> I am replacing wrought iron rails on the carport with aluminum columns.
> There is some old paint on the brick that I need to remove. Any
suggestions
> other than a wire brush?
>
> Thanks for your reply.
>

graffiti remover might work

Also sold as hair spray. Get the cheap stuff.
Brick is pretty porous and it might take a lot of applications. Not sure if
you will notice a difference in the color of the brick after your done.

Roger Taylor

2005-07-29, 4:21 pm

"Susan Thomas" <thomas@ils.unc.edu> wrote in message
news:42ea34f5$1_2@news1.isis.unc.edu...
>I am replacing wrought iron rails on the carport with aluminum columns.
> There is some old paint on the brick that I need to remove. Any
> suggestions
> other than a wire brush?
Since brick is porous it can be very difficult to remove paint, as it soaks
into the pores. I have found it easier to first chisel off the blobs as much
as possible, then take a brick or brick chip to the paint store, having them
computer-match the color and get the texture (flat), then just paint over
the nonmatching paint, as a touchup job. You might also consider buying one
of the newer premixed sample bottles of paint, doing a rough match by eye.

meirman

2005-07-29, 5:21 pm

In alt.home.repair on Fri, 29 Jul 2005 10:42:49 -0400 "HotRod"
<NoSpam@YourEmail.com> posted:

>Sand blast...
>
That sounds best. Any idea how much that costs. (I"m not being
sarcastic.)

I was going to say that, depending on the kind of paint and how much,
maybe a razor scraper. I found for brick, the best kind is the cheap
box cutter that is just a thin double fold piece of metal with a
thinner double fold inside that holds the blade. Most sold these days
are only useful as a box cutter, but some had at the opposite end
something that would grip the back of the single edge razor blade.

It only holds it in the middle, and then ends are free to flex, so the
blade doesn't break near as often as the ones that hold the non-sharp
blade edge all the way across.

It worked very well for me to get extra mortar off and if the paint
would chip off in chunks, maybe this blade would get that started, at
surface level, like it did with the mortar.

Meirman
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