Single story '60's brick house in Houston. Original brick is an ugly faded orange/pink color. Painting options:

1. Single tone - brick, fascia, soffit, window trim, door trim all the same color. Accent with shutters in front (6 total), front door, and possibly garage door.
2. Two tone - Brick is one color and fascia, soffit, window trim, door trim all a complimenting color. Accent with shutters, front door, and possibly garage door.

We want something in the warm grey family, not really beige or tan and not a cool grey. Our window frames are white. Not sure what we want for accents. Leaning towards something like navy or sage for front door and maybe a dark stain for wood shutters. If we do that, we'd probably leave the garage the base color. Thanks for any suggestion.

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Thanks for any suggestion.

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Don't paint the brick.

Martin Q. Blank said:

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Thanks for any suggestion.

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Don't paint the brick.

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This times eleventy... from zero maintenance to contestant maintenance...

Find contrasting/complimentary colors for trim, windows and it will boost your look.

How is painted brick constant maintenance?
Wouldn't painting my brick boost my look even more?
Who could I contact to help me find a color for all my trim, fascia, soffit, etc that would go well with this ugly brick?

I agree with the the concept of not painting brick in theory, but there is some very unattractive brick out there. Any painted surface require maintenance including washing/cleaning, touch-up work, and re-coating.

As far as a consult on colors, look for an interior designer or residential architect in your area if you don't trust yourself to make the right decisions.

reddog90 said:

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How is painted brick constant maintenance?
Wouldn't painting my brick boost my look even more?
Who could I contact to help me find a color for all my trim, fascia, soffit, etc that would go well with this ugly brick?

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Needs to be washed more often as paint shows dirt worse. Has to be repainted and touched up as it fades/wears out. Improper application can be a nightmare to fix. If you have any cracking, now you have to fill gaps with mortar and then try to match the paint to the new mortar, etc.

I would call painters in your area and see what they say. Drive similar neighboorhoods and see what others have done.

It's tough, I lived at a house that had painted brick and if frustrated me. (Older home). Just moved to another older home with peachy type brick and will not be painting it. We went with cream trim, Facia etc and then painted the shudders dark brown. Updated landscaping and it looks 10x better

I see painted brick about 6-8 times a month out of 400 or so homes I photograph. Every single one with painted brick has issues with flaking paint. It appears to be a water penetration issue where the moisture builds up and the brick doesn't dry out. Then it sloughs off a thin layer of masonry. The chip sticks to the mortar seam if it is close enough.

DO NOT Paint Brick. You will be sorry as previous said. I would look at tearing brick off and replacing with new brick that you like.

Rexter said:

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I see painted brick about 6-8 times a month out of 400 or so homes I photograph. Every single one with painted brick has issues with flaking paint. It appears to be a water penetration issue where the moisture builds up and the brick doesn't dry out. Then it sloughs off a thin layer of masonry. The chip sticks to the mortar seam if it is close enough.

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Where are you? And would that be an application and/or product issue?

We're considering something along the lines a product from romabio instead a paint. Any experience with something like that? Supposed to be much less maintenance that paint, brick still breathes etc.

buddybee said:

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DO NOT Paint Brick. You will be sorry as previous said. I would look at tearing brick off and replacing with new brick that you like.

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I'm in the 'don't paint the brick crowd', but that's just a ridiculous suggestion.

Our neighbors across the street just painted their brick house. Prior to painting the house a medium gray, they updated the windows and added stained wood trim including stained shutters. It looks really nice and updated but when I first saw what they were doing I was shocked and couldn't believe they were doing it.

I haven't thought much about the long term ramifications but it is not something I would do with our house. Just my thoughts.

Brad06ag said:

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We're considering something along the lines a product from romabio instead a paint. Any experience with something like that? Supposed to be much less maintenance that paint, brick still breathes etc.

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Me neighbor is doing a limewash right now and I stopped and talked to her yesterday. She isn't using Romabio products, her contractor is just mixing his own. But it looks good and can be removed with a power washer.

https://instagr.am/p/Bkc06WNAKQG

We painted our brick two years ago and have been happy with it. Haven't experienced any of the issues being described here, but hopefully that stays true.

The original brick was a nasty Pepto Bismol pink color that was not salvageable with updates to trim or accents.

Just jumping in but curious as to the benefit of limewash vs painting? If it can come off with a power washer would that not indicate you would have just as many issues or more than you would with paint or...as i expect...am I completely missing the point?

Silky Johnston said:

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The original brick was a nasty Pepto Bismol pink color that was not salvageable with updates to trim or accents.

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This is the situation I'm in.

To the naysayers, if you prime with a good masonry primer and use a good quality paint, are there still problems with chipping? There are old brick houses painted all over my neighborhood and I've never noticed any flaking or heard any neighbors complaining.

I also have the ugly pink brick, and a light blue trim color. I saw this picture on houzz and really like how it looks after. Thoughts on this brick/trim combo?

Seor Chang said:

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I also have the ugly pink brick, and a light blue trim color. I saw this picture on houzz and really like how it looks after. Thoughts on this brick/trim combo?

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It looked better in the "before" pic... Good Grief!!

Aggie1 said:

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Seor Chang said:

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I also have the ugly pink brick, and a light blue trim color. I saw this picture on houzz and really like how it looks after. Thoughts on this brick/trim combo?

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It looked better in the "before" pic... Good Grief!!

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Diasagree. But not my house.

That's also not "ugly pink brick". Looks like a standard mix to me.

Coatings are much better these days.
Paint away over brick!

FWIW, a lot of older Houston neighborhoods have painted brick. Look in Timbergrove, Meyerland, Spring Branch, etc. and it's hard to find a remodeled house that isn't painted brick. A lot of the brick they used back then was just ugly, and no trim color will help some of them.

That being said, I don't know about the longevity of the paint holding up. And just because a lot of people in Houston are doing it, that doesn't make it good...see stucco townhomes....

Seor Chang said:

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I also have the ugly pink brick, and a light blue trim color. I saw this picture on houzz and really like how it looks after. Thoughts on this brick/trim combo?

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I think the after picture looks much better than the before. Some people don't have vision and want things to look like everyone/ everything else.

The first pic is dated, red/ pink bricks, standard white trim, a tired look. The "after" pic is a much more modern look. I think the darker trim/ windows gives it a more modern, estate feel to it, and is a simple, relatively cheap update to a standard builder look house. They also updated the roof to a darker color, which complements the new color scheme.

As stated a couple of times, the process is key to a good painted brick job. You must use a primer that is specifically for masonry/ brick, to aid in adhesion of the top coat paint. If you skip, or skimp on the primer and prep work (pressure washing/ cleaning, etc.), then yes, you will have a bad paint job with a lot of future maintenance. Ask a reputable painter, or paint store for the proper primer and paint and if it's applied correctly, you should have a great looking paint job for years to come. Accepting an ugly brick, simply because you will have to paint again in the future, isn't necessary.

My mom painted the brick from an ugly pink hue to a solid white back in the 70s when we moved
Totally worth it and recently was back in Dallas and went by my old house to see the change in the neighborhood and it has sustained the test of time.

Certain brick just doesn't look good but other brick may look fine with better accent color for shutters/panes

I own a house that some numbnuts painted the brick on and hate it. Luckily only the bottom of the house + front porch area are brick and the rest is siding but it's a maintenance nightmare. There are 1-3 coats at this point in various stages of flaking and I'm hoping that all of it loosens up enough to be able to powerwash off.

A few houses in the neighborhood we live in have been painted. The ones that someone did in a shade of white look the worst because they've created a surface that has to be powerwashed and show splatters of mud when it rains. They get cleaned or repainted about half as often as they need to be of course.

I had a house in Houston with painted brick for 13 years. Had no issues whatsoever with it.

If I were you I wouldn't paint the brick. It's hard to achieve good results when painting brick.

www.dyebrick.com

You can dye the individual bricks a different color....would be tedious but better than paint.