Picardy Project

building shit & raising girls

Picardy Poll: To Paint, or Not to Paint Brick

I know it’s very soon for yet another Picardy Poll. But that’s for 2 reasons. 1) I love them. And 2) we recently looked at another house that had a partial brick facade. And it got me thinking about brick. And whether or not it should be painted. And where brick should be painted. And if people are as opinionated as I am (Meryl, opinionated? No….) I LOVE POLLS! 🙂

Ohhhh, the debate. I must say, I used to be STAUNCHLY sided on the DO NOT PAINT BRICK side. Now, I’m more in the middle. But this does seem to be a hotly contested one. But there are many factors to consider, and of course, are we talking about the inside, or the outside? Well, how about both.

The things to consider: for me, it totally depends on the space. I love an exposed brick wall and all, but if the brick looks like fucking shit, it’s not as romantic. I feel like on a show like “Rehab Attic” she does all she cna to have brick be exposed in its raw state. And while I totally love that in theory, sometimes I feel like it’s really hurting and might be better painted. Also, if there are no windows or very little light, I’m also not inclined to like it as much because it is a light sucker.

Interior/exterior: I think I am much more likely to leave brick how it stands on the outside. I like a bit of a brick veneer. We don’t have many (if any) brick houses out here because of earthquakes, but there is frequently a nice brick facade on the lower portion of the exterior of ranches here in Oakland. And I like seeing that. Of course, if you watch “Fixer Upper” I don’t think they’ve ever left a brick facade in it’s original brick state, so of course there are some who would always like to paint it.

What about you? Are you always in favor of leaving brick how it is? Or do you hate it? Or do you feel it totally depends on the space? And there are TWO polls for you to take 🙂 And please leave comments also. I’m so interested in this one because there really are so many variables in play.

Interior: To Paint or Not to Paint Brick

Exterior: To Paint or Not to Paint Brick

Comments

  1. Totally depends for both – I agree, inside it is a total light-sucker and to keep it raw requires lots of space and natural light bouncing around. Outside, I feel like it depends because sometimes an all brick house looks gorgeous in a traditional colonial facade. For a split level or partial brick front, I feel like it makes the house look bigger to paint the brick the same color as the other materials – I don't like a lot of different materials breaking up the curb appeal, it looks choppy and indecisive.

    Love polls too 😉

  2. I really like the look of whitewashed brick, especially inside. For us, it was a nice compromise between mine and my husband's tastes, and really lightened up the look of our brick fireplace.

  3. I just hate how once it is painted there is no turning back. At least with wood can always strip if you change your mind. I HATE how they always paint the brick on fixer upper. There is a time and a place. I do not like painted brick on exterior is most cases…interior i am more fixable. I recall on episode of fixer upper they painted the brick on a 1920s bungalow. Sweet jesus i almost died.

  4. I really hate when she exposes brick on Rehab Addict. I don't like exposed structural brick in almost all situations, and a lot of times the brick she exposes looks like shit.

    I think lightly liming or whitewashing brick can be a good compromise between painting and not painting. Sometimes brick makes a room or a facade feel really heavy. You can tone it down a little bit and still have the feel of real brick. And then if you decide you did want to paint after all you can still go forward with a more solid color.

  5. We had exposed brick in one house (a sidehall colonial built in 1900), and the flipper that did the house left the original chimney intact and rehabbed the kitchen around its awkward placement. That brick chimney flaked and powdered off all day long. Every day I wiped up brick dust from the counter and floor. The basement also had an original exposed brick wall that needed repointing, and the original bricks were crumbling.

    Even beyond those issues, I just don't like the look of exposed brick. I painted the brick fireplace in our last house black. When we sold it, people either loved it or hated it, but they always commented on it.

  6. I just hate how once it is painted there is no turning back. At least with wood can always strip if you change your mind. I HATE how they always paint the brick on fixer upper. There is a time and a place. I do not like painted brick on exterior is most cases…interior i am more fixable. I recall on episode of fixer upper they painted the brick on a 1920s bungalow. Sweet jesus i almost died.