Q:
Can you recommend a method to strip white latex paint from a brick fireplace? It’s in a living room with finished hardwood floors, so the process can’t be too messy.
Eoin Tracy, via email, None
A:
Jon Tobey, a painter from Seattle and a frequent Fine Homebuilding contributor, replies: The best paint remover I’ve found is also the least toxic. Back to Nature Products (www.ibacktonature.com) makes Multi-Strip, claimed to be biodegradable and nonflammable. Because brick is so porous, you’ll need two applications. Remove the first application with a putty knife, and the second with a stripping pad (like a coarse scouring pad). Generally, when using chemical strippers, if you’re working hard to take them off, then you’re not giving the product enough time to work. In that case, reapply the stripper. The paint should fall off, with only the surface pores being really problematic. After you have finished stripping the paint, clean the brick well with soap and water.
You’re not likely to get every last bit from the nooks and crannies without power washing or sand blasting, though. A wire brush might help, but that depends on the hardness of the brick and the final effect you are looking for.
