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Brick Painting & ResealingWE GO TO GREAT LENGTHS FOR YOUR SPACE TO REACH IT FULL POTENTIAL
Brick is an absolutely gorgeous material that’s been used for millennia for building homes. When a material has been around for about as long as writing, you know it’s got to be good; we love brick to this day for its durability, it’s texture, and the interesting patterns it creates when used in home building. We can paint your brick to change its colour, or to enhance it’s natural look, all while retaining the patterns and textures we’ve come to love over the centuries.
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Painting brick is a surprisingly complex process; there are a number of factors that contribute to its complexity. First, bricks are inherently porous; that means when your bricks get wet, water will slowly seep into them. This is particularly problematic for painting, because we want a relatively dry material; moisture seeping out can cause the paint to become raised. Bricks will also develop chalky efflorescence which must be removed before the brick can be painted. Brick walls must often be repaired before they can be painted; cracks can cause problem for the smooth application of paint, so masonry caulking or concrete patching may have to be used
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Cleaning the brick can be particularly tricky, because we don’t want to oversaturate the brick with water. Using a pressure washer is usually the best way of cleaning exterior brick, but it’s important to be extremely careful; pressure washing can break brick apart, so we make sure to use the perfect nozzle and pressure at the right distance from the brick. Once the brick is completely cleaned off, we’ll make sure it’s dry enough to continue the process. There are many things that might need to be cleaned off the brick, other than efflorescence; moss, mold, dirt and other contaminants must be cleaned. When the brick is sufficiently dried, we’ll add on a sealant to mitigate the effects of the brick’s porousness.
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Once the brick is dried and sealed, we can begin the painting process. We start with a primer, so that the next layer of paint will look absolutely perfect; we let the primer dry before applying the next layer. The next layer we’ll apply is a super durable elastomeric paint; this type of paint is extremely flexible, and works wonderfully for exteriors. Brick, being porous, has a tendency to expand and contract, even after being sealed; elastomeric paint is resistant to these fluctuations, and will also endure the elements better than traditional paints.
Painting brick is something best handled by the professionals, because there’s so many points where problems can occur; paint is also extremely difficult to remove from brick, so it’s not a process you want to take a couple of tries at. When you want your brick to be painted to change the look of your house, you want your brick to be sealed and it’s natural colour enhanced, or if you’ve tried painting brick and you want the paint removed and replaced by a professional, we’ve got your back. |
