How to paint brick house properly?

[cc1002]

Hi there,

 I am thinking about painting exterior of my brick house because it looks very old.

Some people say the paint on top of brick doesn’t allow brick to do what it naturally wants to do which is to breathing. It gets moisture behind it and when the moisture try to come out from the brick it will bubble out and ruin the surface. Is it true?

Is it possible to choose a proper paint to avoid this? Really appreciate your advice of painting or other ideas that can make the exterior of old brick wall looks better. Thank you in advance.

[EricL]

Hello @cc1002

You're absolutely correct, if the brick is not sealed properly any paint you put on it will deteriorate and peel off. Before you begin I suggest cleaning your brick walls with a pressure washer and a scrub brush. Once the brick wall is dry, I recommend using Crommelin 4L Brick And Render Water Based Sealer. It is ideal for sealing porous masonry materials prior to painting with water-based acrylic paints.

Once all the bricks are sealed, I suggest using an exterior acrylic latex paint such as Dulux Weathersheild. It offers the best protection for your brick wall. There are a few choices when it comes to painting brick walls, you can use a roller, brush, or a spray gun. 

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to paint your house’s exterior with a spray gun.

Please keep us updated with your progress, we look forward to seeing your brick walls painted.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric

[cc1002]

Hi Erica,

Thank you for your reply, it is really helpful. I still have a question, If you seal brick before painting and there's moisture trapped in it,  because brick can absorb moisture over days from the other side where are not sealed,  will the brick degrade as moisture freezes and thaws inside it?

[MitchellMc]

Hi @cc1002,

Eric advised you to wait for the brick to be fully dry before applying the sealer on the exterior surface. Once the outside is sealed, then no moisture can be absorbed. It sounds like you are concerned about moisture entering from the inside. Do you have an internal damp problem? If so, that is something you'd need to look at separately to determine why the moisture is entering the house.

Whether bricks are sealed on one side or not, they continuously absorb moisture and then dry out. I can't imagine bricks sealed on just one side would degrade any faster than unsealed bricks. 

Mitchell