I'm so jelous of real brick fireplaces with PIP's

[hereonceagain]

Our home has a beautiful fireplace, but the previous owners painted the brick white I *really* want it back to original brick. I asked a few contractors and they said it would not be that successful to try and convert it back. I am soooo bummed. And every day I look at our fireplace, I'm invisioning the red brick and how beautiful it would be in that room.

I blame susie derkins for this post. I just saw her bio pics with the gorgeous brick fireplace.

[thatgirl2478]

you could always rent a sand blaster...

We just painted our behemoth of a fire place white and it blends in sooo much better. It's oddly placed so I kind of wanted to make it blend more.

[hereonceagain]

I was told the sandblaster would likely ruin the bricks. And now we have the walls perfectly painted around it, and refinished hardwood floors that I hate to put at risk.

[munkii]

Do you know for sure your brick is red? One of my two fireplaces is yellow brick. That could just be an era/regional thing, though.

[thatgirl2478]

Nov 7, 2012 12:30:51 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

I was told the sandblaster would likely ruin the bricks. And now we have the walls perfectly painted around it, and refinished hardwood floors that I hate to put at risk.

Good point - though supposedly there are different types of blasting material you can use (I guess Walnut shells are supposed to be more gentle and just as effective?) But yeah, the walls & floors would be enough for me not to want to do it.

[bunnymendelbaum]

Can you PIP the brick?

We painted our fireplace but it was because the previous owner painted the RED brick RED. It was terrible. Gave it a very flat, ugly look. Our brick has a strong vertical texture to it that I don't think could ever be sandblasted to get the paint out.



I bet there is a name for this texture. I've never thought to look it up before.

[TBM]

I have heard of people having good results with soy gel stripper or the more caustic peelaway 7.

[tarheels]

I actually LOVE the look of sandblasted brick - I'd give it a try with some gentler techniques. I kinda despise red brick fireplaces (sorry), but your fireplace is more than likely the same brick as your exterior - what color is your exterior brick?

[hereonceagain]

here is the fireplace.

[munkii]

You hate it? It looks good, imo.

[hereonceagain]

this is what our red brick looks like on the exterior (but even better!!!) and I would assume the fireplace was the same:

NOTE: I WOULD KEEP THE MANTEL WHITE. I love contrast.

[hereonceagain]

Nov 7, 2012 13:54:27 GMT -5 munkii said:

You hate it? It looks good, imo.

I don't hate it. Actually I looooove our fireplace. We just remodeled and I think it's a HUGE improvement over what we had. However I think our home is getting too much white in it. And too much white looks cheap to me. And our home is older, and I want to keep some of the older qualities.

But I'd love it if you all told me the white is better then maybe I'd get over this.

[hereonceagain]

here was the fireplace before we fixed it up.

[TBM]

I love your white brick and mantel, and I am not usually a fan of white mantels. It is pretty and feels vintage and fresh at the same time. Red brick would not be so pretty imo....it would weigh down the room.


ETA: I was already writing this when you posted saying that we could tell you that we like it now. lol

[tarheels]

Nov 7, 2012 13:56:18 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

Nov 7, 2012 13:54:27 GMT -5 munkii said:

You hate it? It looks good, imo.

And too much white looks cheap to me. And our home is older, and I want to keep some of the older qualities.

But I'd love it if you all told me the white is better then maybe I'd get over this.

Ok, I'll be happy to! It's lovely, fresh, and happy. I'm guessing by cheap, you have a thought process along the lines of white = new = not old = not as well constructed? There are millions of old homes with gorgeous painted details.

How old is your house? Brick makes me think 50s and later? I wouldn't worry that you're "destroying the character" of the house or anything. Keep what you like and don't worry about changing what you don't. There's no need to be a slave to the original details.

[bunnymendelbaum]

I think your fireplace looks great!
Wonder if the brick was dirty or stained and that's why they painted?
(That's is why prev owner painted ours- to conceal that she used to have creosote fires every single year because age was too cheap to pay for a chimney sweep.)

[hereonceagain]

Nov 7, 2012 14:05:16 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Nov 7, 2012 13:56:18 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

And too much white looks cheap to me. And our home is older, and I want to keep some of the older qualities.

But I'd love it if you all told me the white is better then maybe I'd get over this.

Ok, I'll be happy to! It's lovely, fresh, and happy. I'm guessing by cheap, you have a thought process along the lines of white = new = not old = not as well constructed? There are millions of old homes with gorgeous painted details.

How old is your house? Brick makes me think 50s and later? I wouldn't worry that you're "destroying the character" of the house or anything. Keep what you like and don't worry about changing what you don't. There's no need to be a slave to the original details.

Yes, 50's. 90% of the outdoor brick had been painted too We only have a bit of the original brick on the exterior, and I love it.

[hereonceagain]

I think opinions have been getting to me. We have some open beams that had HORRIBLE brown wood exposed. It was not pretty at all. I usually like exposed wood but I thought ours was disgusting. So we painted the beam ceiling white. Now I get all sorts of people (mostly neighbors) who comment how we were crazy to paint it white. I felt like we had no option though. It was ugly wood. I think hearing all the comments about how we were crazy to paint the beams have really gotten to me. I will have to post those pics later and see what you guys think.

[TBM]

Nov 7, 2012 14:07:53 GMT -5 hereonceagain said:

Nov 7, 2012 14:05:16 GMT -5 tarheels said:

Ok, I'll be happy to! It's lovely, fresh, and happy. I'm guessing by cheap, you have a thought process along the lines of white = new = not old = not as well constructed? There are millions of old homes with gorgeous painted details.

How old is your house? Brick makes me think 50s and later? I wouldn't worry that you're "destroying the character" of the house or anything. Keep what you like and don't worry about changing what you don't. There's no need to be a slave to the original details.

Yes, 50's. 90% of the outdoor brick had been painted too We only have a bit of the original brick on the exterior, and I love it.

My mom's 50s house (same vintage as me!) is brick. I hate it. ;p

Seriously...I don't get the love. She has a fireplace wall and side wall of a den that are red brick too, and I have been fantasizing about painting that room for years. The room would be so much lighter and would not be so depressing to spend time in. I think the outside would look a lot different (in a good way) if it was painted, but it isn't bad in natural brick. It isn't pretty or cute or anything....it just is what it is.

[emoflamingo]

Screw the haters! I bet the wood beams couldn't be salvaged and that you made them look fan-friggin-tastic. And I love the white brick fireplace.

[thatgirl2478]

I like your fireplace - it looks fresh & crisp & happy!