Can I paint over painted brick, or do I need to sand or prime first?

Question

I have a fire place with the brick that was painted white, I want to paint it dark brown. Can I: paint right over it, prime first, or must I remove the paint?

I really really do not want to remove the paint. Too messy. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Answer 1

IT DEPENDS ON THE EXISTING PAINT SURFACE. IF IT IS SLICK AND SHINY, YOU SHOULD PRIME IT FIRST, THEN PAINT OVER IT WITH ANY INTERIOR LATEX. IF IT IS COVERED IN SOOT, CLEAN IT WELL WITH A MILD SOAPY WATER SOLUTION (LIKE DAWN DISH LIQUID), PRIME AND PAINT. IF IT IS CLEAN AND A DULL FLAT SURFACE, GRAB THE LATEX AND START PAINTING. I KEEP SAYING LATEX BECAUSE YOU DON WANT TO USE OIL BASED PRODUCTS, AS THEY ARE FLAMABLE.

Answer 2

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Can I paint over painted brick, or do I need to sand or prime first?
I have a fire place with the brick that was painted white, I want to paint it dark brown. Can I: paint right over it, prime first, or must I remove the paint?

I really really do not want to remove the paint. Too messy. Any help would be great. Thanks!

Answer 3

You might also want to try a sponging technique after you prime with some brown and brick colored paint mixed with glaze. You could then paint in the grout lines with a different color (grey I guess or something else that would look good) and try to restore the original look of the brick. I will never understand why people paint brick.

Answer 4

No point in trying to remove paint from brick. Since it's white, you might need a couple of coats to get it dark brown. Paint it once, let it dry and do it again. You should be fine.

Answer 5

Scraping putty knives and wire brushes. You need to understand though bricks are porous like sponges so not all of the paint will be removed. Do what you can.....but if you're not happy then painting them might be your only alternative.

Answer 6

The only time or place I would sand first is if the paint is cracking. Otherwise, happy painting.

Answer 7

Definitely prime it first and then paint it. Primer will ensure your new paint will stick like it should.

Answer 8

latex paint can be cleaned and painted over.
white to brown will cause bleeding of white you'll probably need more than one coat,using a darker shade primer(just have paint store add half the formula of your new brown to primer) instead of two coats of latex will ensure better paint bond and coats wont be as soft and suseptable to scrapes
good luck

Answer 9

run your hand over it, does anything flake off? if no, then prime and paint to insure it will stick. Primer is like glue.

Answer 10

sand, prime, paint