Often when buying a new house or looking to make some renovations on your own, you will notice some paint on your brickwork where it shouldn’t be, such as next to an exterior door or surrounding a window frame.
This paint can be difficult to remove without using the correct products, and could tempt people to try sand-blasting or power-washing their brickwork to remove the paint, which could do more harm than good, leaving the building in a vulnerable condition.
In this how-to guide, we will be taking you through how to remove paint from bricks, including masonry paint, gloss paint and much more.
How to remove masonry paint from a brick wall
Masonry paint is designed to be resistant to all kinds of damage, making it ideal for long-term use, but can then inevitably cause issues when trying to remove it. With bricks being naturally porous, masonry paint applied to them will soak into the walls, making it even harder to remove than when applied anywhere else. Thankfully, there is a way to remove masonry paint from a brick wall - simply follow this guide.
When looking to remove masonry paint from a brick wall, you will need to use a heavy-duty paint stripper, such as Jenolite’s industrial strength paint stripper spray to ensure that it all comes off cleanly, as well as equipping yourself with a set of protective gloves and goggles to protect yourself from these strong chemicals.
Before attempting to strip an entire wall of its masonry paint covering, you should first use a small amount of paint stripper on an inconspicuous part of the wall to check how resistant the paint is. Make sure to shake the paint stripper well before using, then spray liberally onto the brick wall from about 20 centimeters away, ensuring you have left a good coating on the masonry paint. Leave it for 15 minutes to react with the paint, and then remove using a scraper or similar implement.
How to remove paint from red brick
Red brick is the most classic look when it comes to the exterior of houses in the UK, but is also prevalent in walkways, fireplaces and other areas of exposed brickwork.
However, it is quite common for red bricks to be painted over, and removing that paint to restore your brickwork back to red can be quite tricky.
The best way to remove paint from a red brick wall is to carefully use industrial strength paint stripper spray to slowly take off the paint without damaging the underlying brickwork.
Make sure to equip yourself with a set of protective gloves and goggles to keep yourself safe from these strong chemicals.
The trick to removing paint from red brick is to do small areas at a time, doing one area a few times to ensure all of the paint comes off. Doing a quick job and doing the whole wall at once can lead to the brickwork underneath becoming damaged, defeating the object of restoring the red brickwork. Make sure to shake the paint stripper well before using, then spray liberally onto the brick wall from about 20 centimeters away. Leave it for 15 minutes to react with the paint, and then remove using a scraper or similar implement.
How to remove gloss paint from brick
Gloss paint is the ideal paint to provide your brickwork with a fantastic, smooth finish, but can be very stubborn to remove. This is due to the chemical nature of the paint making it very absorbent into the brick, in order to give it that smooth look.
The trick to removing gloss paint red brick is to be quite liberal with the paint stripper you decide to use, making sure to cover the area of gloss a few times before letting the spray react with the paint. You will also need to be a bit firmer with your scraping in order to get the gloss paint off of the brickwork, as light scraping may not be enough.
How to remove paint from interior brickwork
Removing paint from an interior wall can be a difficult task, as the options of water or sand blasting the paint off of the wall is not viable. The solution for removing paint from an interior brick wall is a chemical paint stripper.
When removing paint from interior brickwork, it is vital to remember to cover the floor with plastic sheeting or painting sheets to protect the floor, and making sure to secure these sheets to the wall using duct tape or builders tape.
Start by applying the paint stripper to a small portion of the bottom of the desired wall to test the brickwork’s reaction to the chemical. Then once this has been confirmed to work on the paint, shake the paint stripper well before using, then spray liberally onto the brick wall from about 20 centimeters away. Leave it for 15 minutes to react with the paint, and then remove using a scraper or similar implement.
How to remove spray paint from brick
Spray paint is notoriously difficult to remove from porous substances like brick and concrete, and can leave you defeated if trying to remove it with a bucket and sponge. But there is a better way to remove spray paint from brick, so whether you have some graffitti to remove or a paint job to update, you can get your brick wall back to its original state in no time at all.
Shake the paint stripper well before using, then from about 20 centimeters away, cover the area of the brick wall with the spray paint on it you wish to remove. Make sure that all of the spray paint is completely covered, and then leave it for 15 minutes to react with the paint. Once this 15 minutes is up, take a scraper and lightly scrape off the spray paint. If all of the spray paint has not been removed, repeat the process, spraying any areas of the wall still painted on.
How to remove dried paint from brick
The biggest problems with removing dried paint from brick are not damaging the wall when trying to scrape it off, and trying to get those last few stubborn bits of paint out of all the cracks and crevices. Paint drips and splatters are very common on brickwork, and require specific tools to remove without causing damage to the brickwork underneath.
By combining a powerful paint stripper with some light scraping, you can safely remove dried paint from brick. Also, always avoid aggressively sanding, scraping or blasting brick with a sandblaster or power-washer, as these methods can do lasting damage to the brickwork underneath the paint.
Start by identifying which bits of dried paint you wish to remove from the brick wall, and then apply a layer of paint stripper to that chosen area. Leave the paint stripper for 15 minutes to react with the paint, and then remove using a scraper or similar implement, scraping the paint lightly, only using more force on any dried paint that has a few layers to it.
We hope that this guide has been useful to you, and has helped you remove paint from any brickwork that you have needed. If so, feel free to browse our full range of how to guides here, and learn how to remove paint, rust and much more from virtually anything.
