Trying to change brick color

greide

Hi there!

We have a red brick fireplace that sits in the middle of our living room. We hate it. I guess it wouldn't be so bad if it matched the rest of the house, but it doesn't. So we'd like to whitewash it or give it a lighter look. My fiance is against painting it because he thinks it will look tacky. So is there an alternative to make it look lighter and allow us to put light hardwood floors in the room? The brick wall, which is our fireplace, is red brick with black mortar.

Thanks for the help,

greide

xorion

Painting brick is tricky to do well. You had better have an artistic sense. If you do, it is possible to add some dabs of paint here and there to change the overall look.

Another possibility is to cover up the fireplace with something. That is what we did. We have a 1950's ranch with a very dated fireplace that covers the entire wall in our living room. It is truly awful. My wife found a rosewood room divider which she put on the right side. On the left side she put an easel with some pictures on it. The brick fireplace is still quite ugly but it does not stand out like it used to.

J.Stonemason

Just a thought. You could cover it with a cultered stone or tile of a lighter color. There would be minimal preparation time since you could adhere the stone or tile straight to the brick with masonry mortar or thinset. The only drawback would be the cost of the stone, and the fact that stone or tile might not suit your taste.

greide

Actually, we have a friend that does that for a living ans showed us some pics of fireplaces he's covered before. We're thinking of covering it with a light-colored tile and then putting in light-colored wood floors. It will definitely make the room brighter and more attractive to buyers.

J.Stonemason

Excellent, I'm sure it will turn out great!