# Stripping paint from an interior brick fireplace



## Pat_The_Painter (Mar 6, 2013)

Hello everyone,
This is my first time posting, new to the site, really glad i found it.
So I was at at an estimate the other day for a pw and deck staining job then the home owner asked if i could remove the paint from the brick fire place. I told her i would get back to her. Does anyone have any experience with stripping the paint from an interior brick fireplace? If so please let me know what products i should use the get this job done as easily as possible. I know this one is going to be a messy, pain in the ass job and debating if i even want to do it. Any advice would be helpful.
Thanks!


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## ptm (Oct 20, 2011)

I have never done it but what I came across looking at the same type of job is dry ice blasting, seems to be the least messy of the blasting route.


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## Roamer (Jul 5, 2010)

Here's an interior fireplace we stripped last year.
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/Roamer_/Fireplacepics001.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/Roamer_/Fireplacepics003.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/Roamer_/Fireplacepics005.jpg
http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/Roamer_/Fireplacepics006.jpg

Client was not completely satisfied as paint was not removed 100%. We have since added a clause that the application of any chemical stripper does not guarantee complete removal of paint. The brick face was filled with nooks and crannies that it was difficult to get the paint out of without the use of a powerwasher.


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## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

Pat_The_Painter said:


> Hello everyone,
> This is my first time posting, new to the site, really glad i found it.
> So I was at at an estimate the other day for a pw and deck staining job then the home owner asked if i could remove the paint from the brick fire place. I told her i would get back to her. Does anyone have any experience with stripping the paint from an interior brick fireplace? If so please let me know what products i should use the get this job done as easily as possible. I know this one is going to be a messy, pain in the ass job and debating if i even want to do it. Any advice would be helpful.
> Thanks!


If they want to chemically trip it so it looks like the original brick it is a thankless job. You'll never get it out of the nooks/ crannys and mortar without some sort of abrasive blasting...even then it's a reach. I've seen in done on the exterior with commercial sandblasting equipment and by the time all the paint was off, so was most of the mortar. It all needed to be re-pointed.
Re-face it with some stone veneer is the way to go.


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## Pat_The_Painter (Mar 6, 2013)

Thanks, I had told the home owner that it was impossible to get the paint completely removed and they understood that. But putting it in a clause is a good idea. Do you know what product the chemical stripper was called?


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## Roamer (Jul 5, 2010)

We used Peel Away 1 on the above pics.
http://www.dumondchemicals.com/pro-peel-away-1.html


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

Dads, best EVER.
Brush it on, 2 thick coats, wait 15-20 minutes, and gently pressure wash away.
Repeat.

Rips paint & stains OUT of substrates.
Won't harm plants.
Burns your skin in .00000000001 milliseconds.

Elbow length gloves, face mask, goggles, fresh water source for emergency rinse.
Yes, it is that scary.
Trust me.


http://www.simsupply.com/p-72533-ga...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CLvV_JSNnrcCFYxj7Aod0iMAAw


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## Jmayspaint (Mar 26, 2013)

WisePainter said:


> Dads, best EVER.
> Brush it on, 2 thick coats, wait 15-20 minutes, and gently pressure wash away.
> Repeat.
> 
> ...


 Dads yea, that stuff is STRONG. It will peel the paint off your house and give you a permanent orange Afro.


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

Hey Roamer, 
I used Peel away a few years ago on a brick wall that was painted. It doesn't really work that well in my opinion. I had the same result as you did. Small areas of paint embedded into the brick crevices that were impossible to remove. The homeowner was not happy with my end result and I would never recommend this product .


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

Brian C said:


> Hey Roamer,
> I used Peel away a few years ago on a brick wall that was painted. It doesn't really work that well in my opinion. I had the same result as you did. Small areas of paint embedded into the brick crevices that were impossible to remove. The homeowner was not happy with my end result and I would never recommend this product .


Isn't that the stuff with the paper that is applied over the stripping agent, then peeled off?


Tried it back in 2004, cedar garage door.
Applied the goop, put the paper over it, returned 20 minutes later and it had fallen off.
It left a HUGE mess, and peeled in an extremely random way.
Bleh.


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## Brian C (Oct 8, 2011)

yes, thats the product. You apply the paste, cover with waxed paper they supply then leave it for 24 hours. It doesn't work properly in my opinion and I even got the national sales rep to visit my job to look at the problem.

He offered no solution to getting all the small bits of paint out of the crevices and cracks in the brickwork.


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

Brian C said:


> yes, thats the product. You apply the paste, cover with waxed paper they supply then leave it for 24 hours. It doesn't work properly in my opinion and I even got the national sales rep to visit my job to look at the problem.
> 
> He offered no solution to getting all the small bits of paint out of the crevices and cracks in the brickwork.


The sight of the paper clumped up on the pavers scared the KRAPP out of me.
The sight of the mangled substrate killed me dead.

Complete garbage.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

Here's the process I would use:

Pass.

Too many other easier jobs out there.


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## WisePainter (Dec 27, 2008)

PressurePros said:


> Here's the process I would use:
> 
> Pass.
> 
> Too many other easier jobs out there.


All pressure washing jobs are easy.
This is a bit more intricate, and requires a higher level of thinking in order to provide a solution.
Even if the price is extremely over the top, history provides many tales of how "money is no object" when it comes to providing a service that pleases the client.

But if you want to quit, and walk away, so be it.


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## George Z (Apr 15, 2007)

*interior* brick fireplace.
(these are usually in a furnished family room)

To all pressure washing suggestions: How?


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## PP&C Services (May 10, 2013)

You can use a chemical stripper and a mini sandblaster to get the embedded paint out. A little prep work with visqueen for containment of the sand. It'll be some work, but not impossible.


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## kdpaint (Aug 14, 2010)

I did a job where an industrial space with a brick was 10'x45 was turned into a high end restaurant- multiple coats of oil and acrylic paints, a total PITA. 

Owner was cool, we T&M'd the job, using Dad's stripper (a dab started to burn through my Tyvek and jeans, ultimately making contact with a precious anatomical area), grinders, and those mini blasters that look like metal shop vacs running off a gas powered air compressor. 

The point is that it took at least 3 or 4 different approaches. Even then, we got about only 90ish % of the paint off., and had to repoint a bit. Total nightmare, but good money.


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## Roamer (Jul 5, 2010)

We have had mixed results with Peel Away in the past but have found it to be the best of a lot of bad options. I've never heard of Dad's, sounds similar to Diedrich's Rip and Strip. Extremely strong but extremely toxic and caustic, as well. Does Dad's have a strong odor, as well? Diedrichs could never be used in an interior occupied space, the fumes are far too strong and it eats through just about anything.


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