Brick Fireplace Painting in Denton, TX

Painting a brick fireplace in Denton, TX turns a dark or dated surround into a clean, even color that fits the room. Safe Choice Painting scrubs off soot, primes the brick with a masonry primer and paints the face, surround and mantel trim, leaving the firebox and the opening alone.

How Denton fireplaces get used

Very few Denton homes rely on a fireplace for heat. By Census estimates, only about 25 of the city's roughly 56,700 occupied homes heat mainly with wood; most use electricity or gas. So in many houses the fireplace is lit a few times each winter or not at all, and the brick has spent years as a dark wall in the living room. That is the usual reason people want it painted.

Fireplaces are not only a newer-home feature. The National Register nomination for the West Denton Residential Historic District describes the Ranch style as commonly including fireplaces, low roofs and large windows, and says most of the district's Ranch homes went up between 1945 and 1965. Brick fireplaces in houses of that age have often been painted before, or have decades of soot on the face.

Before we paint

• Chimney check. If you burn wood, have the chimney inspected first. The Chimney Safety Institute of America follows NFPA 211, which says chimneys, fireplaces and vents should be inspected at least once a year. Cracked brick, loose mortar or a damaged firebox is pointed out for a chimney or masonry contractor.
• Cleaning. Soot and smoke film are scrubbed off the brick face and rinsed, then the brick dries before anything goes on it.
• Mortar. Missing mortar shows through paint, so we point out gaps that need tuckpointing before the job.

Priming and paint

Brick is porous and uneven. A masonry primer soaks into the pores and gives the topcoat something to hold, then two coats of a durable interior acrylic go on with a brush and a thick roller so the mortar joints fill. We keep paint back from the firebox opening. The inside of the firebox and the hearth floor stay as they are.

Color choices

White and soft off-whites are the common choice, because they brighten a room and make the brick texture read as a pattern. A deep color such as charcoal or navy makes the fireplace a feature wall. If you want the brick to show through, limewash or a thin whitewash is softer than paint; see limewash brick, the same finish used on interior brick.

Mantels and surrounds

A wood mantel, the trim around the surround and any built-in shelving next to the fireplace can be painted in the same visit, in the wall color, the brick color or a contrast. Stone or tile surrounds are a different surface; we tell you at the estimate whether they should be painted at all.

Gas logs and decorative fireplaces

Many fireplaces have been fitted with gas logs or never burn anything at all. The brick right around the opening still gets warm when gas logs run, so we check the paint label's heat limits for that spot and keep paint back from the edge of the opening. A fireplace that is purely decorative can be painted right up to the opening.

The rest of the room

A painted fireplace often makes the walls around it look tired, so many owners paint the whole room at the same time; see living room painting in Denton. The general guide is brick fireplace painting.

Nearby

• Brick fireplace painting
• Interior painting in Denton, TX
• Painting in Denton, TX
• Interior painting