Here’s How to Paint your Exterior Brick Like a Pro

This project has been on our list for years (well, since we did our addition 7 years ago) but we had never made it a priority. This year, that changed!

Read along to find out just how easy it is to paint your exterior brick – when you have the right tools – in partnership with Home Hardware.

Here’s what you need:

• Exterior Primer

• BeautiTone Elastomeric Masonry & Stucco Acrylic Base Paint

• Exterior Surface Painter’s Tape 

• BeautiTone 20mm Pile Paint Roller (do not get less than a 20mm pile)

•  4” Waterproofing Brush Foam Paint Brushes – in multiple sizes 

Step 1: Prep the Brick

Before you get started painting, remember that prep work is important. You need to paint a clean surface. We power washed our brick and surrounding areas, but you can also use your hose and some elbow grease.

Step 2: Priming

Priming is where the majority of your time will be spent, but it’s important and will make a huge difference in your final outcome. We have roughly 100 sq ft to paint and ended up using two gallons of the BIN Zinsser 1 2 3 Primer. Brick and mortar is extremely porous, so it will soak up a lot, but this is a good thing when it comes time to paint.

To prime, we used both a BeautiTone 20mm pile paint roller and a 4” waterproofing brush. After trial and error, I found it worked best to roll a section of brick, then go back through with the 4” brush to get the mortar lines and deeper parts of the brick. A brisk round motion with your brush helps get all the crevices.

For the best results on the edges and roofline, I used exterior surface painter's tape and the side of a cardboard box. I loaded my foam paint brushes and dabbed paint onto the mortar. Edges were the most time consuming for me, but I found the foam brush worked best and I could control the paint more with it.

NOTE: Because you are using a thick pile roller, you’re bound to have drips come from the mortar lines, make sure you are going back over these spots with your brush to avoid drip marks drying.

Step 3: Paint the Brick

To paint we used BeautiTone Elastomeric Masonry & Stucco Acrylic Base Paint which cannot be tinted darker colours. The paint experts at Home Hardware did tell me because I used BIN primer, the BeautiTone Pure Exterior Paint would work just as great if I wanted to go darker.

Using both the BeautiTone 20mm pile paint roller and a 4” waterproofing brush, the paint coverage was amazing. Don’t be shy on loading up that roller with paint. In this case I found the more paint I used the better it covered. Painting took about half the time priming did, and due to the full coverage our primer offered - paired with the 20mm pile roller - I only needed to do one coat of paint with the odd touch up.

What do you think? Would you tackle this for your next project?

This is your reminder: With the right tools and proper prep work, brick can be painted and look great! We are thrilled with the BeautiTone Elastomeric Masonry & Stucco Acrylic Base Paint.