Painting interior brickwork

GeorgianaCavendish

Hi everyone, hoping for some advice about painting a brick fireplace/ chimney breast. 

The previous owners of my house painted the brick fireplace a disgusting shade of yellow that I'd like to get rid of. I'm unsure about the type of paint used and whether it was suitable for brick surfaces. The paint seems to be in decent condition (no peeling or cracking) but they have form for using unsuitable materials as in other areas of the house so I don't have complete confidence that this paint is suitable. 

Ideally, I'd like to avoid having to strip off the old paint and just paint over it (or board it out). I'm wondering if there is anything I need to do to treat the surface first - maybe some kind of sealing or blocking product that I could put onto the existing painted bricks to act as a base layer? 

Any advice would be gratefully received! 

ChilliBob

If there's nothing wrong with it then perhaps they did an okay job. Either way, if I didn't know I'd probably be using Zinsser bulls eye primer sealer on it first before using my chosen top coat. 

Regarding top coats, if you don't want too much shine perhaps an eggshell. Whilst it is 'masonry' as its brick, don't use masonry paint inside. It has some chemicals for anti mould or some such which are dangerous in a confined space, or something like that anyway!

I suspect if you tried to strip you'd likely not be successful and could cause some damage to the bricks and cement. 

That's my view anyhow! 

Petriix

Personally I think painted bricks look awful so I'd either render or board+skim over it before repainting. 

ThisIsWeird

Hi GC.

If the existing paint is in good condition, then pretty much any paint will/should go over it. 

It would be useful to have an idea, tho', of what the paint is. What finish does it have - dead flat matt or a sheen? If a sheen, how much? If you wipe or rub it with a damp cloth, does any paint come off?

If it's matt, then it's more likely that other paints can go straight on. But if you wanted to play safe, there are specialist paints that will stick to pretty much anything - Zinsser AllCoat, for example. Or, you can Zinsser BIN it first. Good chance not needed, tho'. Do the damp cloth test!

What colour do you want, and what finish - matt, egg, silk, gloss ( hopefully not the latter!)

With the correct colour, this could look really striking. Have a good Google/Pinterest for 'painted brickwork' and terms like 'feature wall', 'internal', or whatevs. I've certainly seen pics of brick walls finished in dark colours - charcoals, stunning deep blues, etc - and they certainly worked as a stunning feature.

I recall a friend who built a garden room on their house, and simply painted the now-internal brick wall with matt emulsion paint in a terracotta colour - warm, cosy, stunning. 

Could we have a pic of what it's like now?!