How to paint exterior brick walls?

Why should you paint the bricks?

Painting the exterior brick walls is a wonderful opportunity to instantly modernise the appearance of your house. Depending on the colour - or colours - that you choose to utilise, you can achieve many different results. You can select some calm and elegant tones such as white, eggshell, light grey or sandy hue. On the other hand, you can also really make a statement with some bold shades such as red, blue, yellow, or green. Choosing to paint the brick walls is also much cheaper than any other changes done to the exterior of the building. However, one drawback of painting the brick wall is the permanence of this solution - if you decide on it, it will be incredibly difficult to remove the paint. But you can always repaint it with a different colour in the future! 

How to prep the brick walls?

Now that we know both the good and bad sides of this solution, we can move to the next steps. But before we learn how to paint exterior brick cladding, we should prep the surface. First, we need to sweep the area and make sure there is no dust, dirt or debris - the easiest way is with a brush or a broom. Next, we can clean the surface with detergent and some high-pressure water cleaner. If we see any places where mould, moss, or algae began to grow, we should treat it with a fungicidal wash so it won’t come back. Now it’s time to repair any cracks and separations that can be seen in the mortar or the bricks. For this task, we’ll use acrylic caulk and afterwards we will also apply masonry sealer.

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Now that the surface has been adequately prepped, we can move on to our main task. How to paint exterior brick walls to make sure it’ll last for a long time? We should start with a latex primer, which will seal the area and prevent the paint from soaking into the wall. Before we move any further, we need to leave the bricks to dry - the area can’t have any moisture, or the paint will be less durable. The best types of paint for bricks are either latex ones or mineral-based versions. Most of the product can be applied with a roller, but it is best to use a brush between the bricks and to fill any gaps. Two coats should be enough to sufficiently cover the area. What colour would you choose to transform the brick exterior of your house?



And if you ever wondered, how to put brick slips on the wall - check out our earlier article. And stay tuned for more tips! :)