Should You Paint Your Bricks? Here's the Pros and Cons!

Brick is an elegant building material. Some of the nicest houses in the world are made from bricks. Over time, however, you might grow tired of the appearance of your home. Fortunately, you can always paint the bricks for an entirely new look.

Before jumping into this project, consider some of the pros and cons. It’s not as simple as getting out a paint brush and paint!

Pros of Painting Bricks

• Improved home appearance: Painting the bricks can take your home from dated to modern and cool with a few (thousand) strokes of the brush. The curb appeal of your house can be significantly improved in a few days.
• Protection: Bricks are porous. When you paint them, you close the pores and protect the bricks from the elements. However, you’ll then have to maintain the paint in order to keep the bricks protected.
• Maintenance: As mentioned above, you’ll have to maintain the paint. However, keeping paint looking great is much easier than working with the bricks alone.
• Cleaning: If the paint is sealed properly, it’s easier to clean painted bricks than non-painted bricks. Bricks on their own are notoriously hard to clean, in large part because of their porous nature.

Cons of Painting Bricks

• Can’t paint all bricks: Take a look at the condition of the bricks you want to paint. If they’re falling apart or otherwise deteriorating, painting isn’t an option. It won’t stop the deterioration process, and the paint will crumble away with the bricks.
• Extensive prep work: Painting drywall might be a one-day project, but painting bricks requires strict preparation. First, you’ll have to clean the bricks. This can be as simple as power washing, but often requires power washing in conjunction with a specially-formulated cleaning chemical mix. After this washing, the bricks have to completely dry or the paint will bubble and crack. If you have any bricks that are falling apart, they’ll need to be replaced.
• Skill-level: This isn’t the kind of project a rookie DIY guy can do. Paint will drip in the crevices and on the mortar, which has to be closely monitored. Any paint bubbles need to be taken care of quickly. If you do the job and aren’t prepared to do it, those results will show.
• Permanence: Once you paint bricks, there is no going back. The process of removing paint from bricks is laborious and almost impossible because the paint will be absorbed into the bricks; even if you got the surface paint off, some paint would continue to emerge over time. You can change the color of the paint, but painting will lose the natural-brick look forever.
• Upkeep: Painting bricks requires the same upkeep as other painted surfaces.  Once you have painted them, plan to repaint every 7-10 years or as the paint fades from weather exposure.

Call Emerald Professional Painters or Pro Painters Toronto at 647-909-3946 or at 647-703-5594. YOu can also visit our websites at www.emeraldpainting.ca or at www.propainterstoronto.com.

Pro Painters Toronto and Emerald Professional Painters specialize in interior, exterior, residential, commercial and industrial painting and decorating services in Toronto (Scarborough, Mississauga, Downtown), Durham Region (Whitby, Ajax, Oshawa, Pickering, Uxbridge, Bowmanville, Courtice, Port Perry, Port Hope) and York Region (Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora, Richmond Hill, Vaughan, Newmarket). HIre a painting company you can trust to paint your house, condo, office, warehouse or other project. Our trained professional and friendly painting contractors near you will use green products and paint with quality, respect and integrity for your living space. We have WSIB and Liability Insurance. Call for a free estimate, coupons and discounts.

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Don't Paint Outside in the Fall!

Although this website is https://www.emeraldpainting.ca I feel compelled to warn against painting the exterior of a house or other structure in the fall. You might say “Why not? The weather is great for working outside, not hot and humid. It’s a great time to paint outside.” Although it is comfortable for the painter, it is not comfortable for the paint. A lot of exterior painting is done in the fall, and this is a bad mistake.

In my successful house painting business that I started in June 1970, I would not schedule any outside painting job after October 1. Some of my customers did not like this, and they hired another painter. I took quite a few years, but my customers soon found out that I was prudent in my decision not to paint outside after October 1.

Within a year or two, structures painted in the fall started to show signs of paint failure. There was cracking, peeling and flaking off of paint, and the paint job needed repair or repainting within a year or two. There is a scientific reason for this failure.

The scientific reason is in the drying and bonding of paint. Two things happen during this process. The vehicle (either latex or oil) dries up as the paint dries. The second thing that happens is that there is a chemical reaction within the paint. Both of these processes have to happen in a relatively warm environment. Paint cans will warn you not to apply paint when the temperature is below 50 or 55 degrees. Many fall days, it may be 70 in the daytime, but go down as low as 28 overnight. The fresh paint is still going through the chemical reaction necessary for proper adherence of the paint. This cannot occur in the lower temperatures, thus the paint does not adhere to the surface and peels off within a year or two.

There are some other reasons not to paint outside. Certain types of windows need putty (glazing compound.) Putty takes a very long time to dry, especially because a large amount of putty has to be used, making it thick. Putty also needs warmer temperatures to dry and cure properly, otherwise it will crack and have to be removed and replaced. For a good, tight paint job, you will also need to use a lot of latex caulk. Caulk also needs warmer temperatures to dry and cure. Primers need some warmth to dry.

By the way, fall is a perfect time for inside painting. Look for my upcoming article on this.

It really is simple when you understand the process. DON’T PAINT OUTSIDE IN THE FALL!

Do you need painters in the Durham Region? 

Emerald Professional Painters Toronto provides professional residential painting services. We are Toronto Painting Contractors that paint the interior and exterior of your house. Visit our website at https://www.emeraldpainting.ca/ or Call us at 647.909.3946 for a free quote today!

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https://www.emeraldpainting.ca/pickering-house-painters for Pickering interior exterior professional house painting services painting contractors

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https://www.emeraldpainting.ca/clarington-house-painters for Clarington interior exterior professional house painting services painting contractors

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Why Hire House Painters in Whitby

While talking to a customer in Whitby, I got the question "painting a house is easy, right?" I wanted to take a minute to address the concern I have with these type of questions.

Do it yourself, or more commonly known as DIY, interior and exterior house painting is definitely an option in Whitby. I have seen some amazing painting done by people who have minimal experience. With painting, a lot of time and effort is needed to learn how to paint a house. The reason I became a house painter is because with that time and effort, you could learn how to paint the interior and exterior of a whitby house and when you're an expert at anything, people are willing to spend a little extra money to get the job done right. Heck, painting is kinda fun! I won’t discourage anyone from painting their own home, but what I do recommend is that you get someone to do the job who has the intent and desire to do the job well. It can cause a nightmare to have a sloppy painting job done which lowers the value of your home and creates more time and money to fix.

Before you consider doing a house painting job yourself we always recommend asking yourself 3 simple questions

1. Do I have the ability/tools to paint my house?

There is no end of grief which follows trying to paint a house when you don’t have the skills or ability to paint a house. Without even mentioning the issues you will face by not having the right tools, there will just be a constant headache. I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to have to paint a house if they didn’t have the right tools.

2. Do I have the time to paint my house?

Many people are often surprised at how long it actually takes to paint a full home. Before you read this line, ask yourself how long you think it will take one person (you) to paint your house if you worked full time on it. As a house painter who has done a full job on my own, I can tell you it will take roughly 3-4 days to get the job done correctly. Do you have this much time to set aside for the job?

3. Can you afford mistakes?

The most common time we paint someone’s house is when they are about to move, or trying to increase the value of their home. In both these cases, there isn’t a lot of room for mistakes. If you had damage on your home because you wanted to paint it, would this cause a major crisis? Paint spills on the carpet or the roof can turn into major problems and you need to be prepared to deal with them.

If you reside in Whitby and you want to complete residential interior or exterior painting for your Whitby house, give Pro Painters Toronto a call or send us an email and we will provide you with a free estimate.

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