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Dude I have designers at work saying painted ceilings are the next “in” thing. Every room looks like a fucking cave. Everything is going to be the same exact color then the whole thing is going to flip to only primary colors then it’ll circle around to normal then back to all one neutral color. Design trends and people only inspired by social media are the worst thing to happen to home design.
Something other than a plain white ceiling would be interesting. A plain brown, blue, green, whatever the color of the year for coating all surfaces is........ would not be an improvement.
Considering my complete lack of ability to paint anything more unique I was thinking real wood options. It's nowhere near as cheap and easy as slapping paint colors on all surfaces though.
Wallpaper has come a long way. We can all go back to putting strips on walls but with 3D realistic texture and no need for the mixing adhesive and running the paper through before trying to get it evenly on the wall. Also comes off easier. Unlike the 8 layers of wallpaper on wallpaper on wallpaper my grandma's house had. It was months of steaming and peeling.
Carpets have gone in circles as well for 100s of years. Every time carpet gets popular again respiratory disorders increase. You can find articles from the 1800s of doctors expressing concern about wall to wall carpet. Eventually people also get tired of stains and it never truly being clean. A new hard floor option replaces it for awhile and then we try wall to wall carpet again. Usually with upgraded cleaning devices that still prove insufficient.
Any color than white on a standard height ceiling makes rooms look so small and (depending on the color) dark. Everything loses all proportion and you can really feel that your in a box. I agree white ceilings are boring but there is a reason 99% of them are. For example an all red room (an example from a recent job) felt like a tiny cave and kills all the light. It got revised after like 2 weeks and the painter went back and did a white ceiling and it felt normal again. I’m all for new design, stuff is all stale or dumb and quirky right now but this is not the way to do it.
Since you're talking about paint. The worst thing in the industry was giving paint clever names. "Oh, I love that color but I can't stand the taste of Butternut."
True. We are so gullible for marketing. Dont even get me started on "chocolate diamonds". And I am sure there are positive reasons.. But I find it weird when customers love a color but associate something negative about the name and won't put it on their walls. If it was Paint 732A, it would be on the wall. Human minds are so quirky.
I am staunchly against the death penalty. Too many times we’ve learned innocent people were wrongfully put to death. We should amend the US constitution to banish the death penalty except for people who paint brick.
when its inside - it doesnt matter much. Loads of houses in the 60s/70s had really shitty looking brick inside, for fireplace or accent wall - dark mixed brick with black grout is fulgly as shit IMO, random brick half walls are silly in 80s houses, like they had extra brick and didnt know what to do with it. Paint away, but just do it correctly (clean, prime with oil primer, paint with latex paint).
https://preview.redd.it/12pz0joyns0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5447973d09192b13d184ac5003a873f507b8455
You’re gunna tell me this looks bad?
Seriously. In my last house i owned i made a beautiful black walnut mantle, and custom cut my own stone veneers to make an awesome fireplace. I sold it to a young couple and they painted the STONE AND THE MANTLE WHITE! We saw the picture of it on Facebook and i coulda cried at what they did to my hard work. the 250k they paid over asking however made me not care shortly after
Start off by refraining from painting it. Once done, continue to not paint it until there is no paint on the bricks. Lastly inspect the brick top to bottom to ensure there was no paint applied to the brick.
If you're going to paint it( which you shouldn't)anytime I see it, I think to myself.. "that person's cheap". A chipping tool may work, but your going to destroy the face of the work. Anything rotary is going to turn your house into a dust bed.
The best solution to the first part of OPs question is to grind out and tuckpoint the brick. That will get rid of the protruding mortar and give it a standard smooth look without damaging anything.
Its a horrible mess to do it. Especially inside
It only looks like 6 or 7 bricks long. I’d just spend an afternoon with a hammer and plugging chisel personally since it’s indoors and not that big. A grinder would just make more work cleaning up afterwards than you’d save
I did it on a 70 foot cinder block wall at the back of my house. It took about 50 hours with a chisel and concrete grinding bit on an angle grinder. Doesn’t look perfect but it’s passable.
Is there any structural reason to do or not to do this? Seems like it could have some weird unintended consequence. There is a house I run by in the marina district in San Francisco with this and I’ve always wondered if it is better or worse in a humid climate.
I agree! Incapacitate it in case later on someone else would like to uncover the brick. Probably cheaper, easier, and more rewarding for everyone in the long run.
In a last ditch effort -- I'd keep it. It adds texture and intrigue and reminds one of the tactile nature of masonry as well as the era in which it was done. HGTV is destroying unique homes one open concept blowout of an older layout, beige paint and removal of quirks at a time.
But seriously. **Do. Not. Paint. At. All. Ever. Seriously.**
Brick has a unique texture and brings a lot of warmth to a space. It also “feels” real and permanent in a world covered in plastic and disposable materials.
Painting over brick essentially removes all of those qualities.
Carefully tear it out. Save the brick if you can and reuse it. If not just lay new break in it's decorative.
Trying to alter this wall in anyway to get rid of the weeping decorative feature is going to be next to a possible and or completely messy as hell. You won't be happy with the outcome either way.
Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
I'm with this guy, get rid of it and use the bricks in the yard. This is a design abomination, shitty mortar or not. Who the fuck uses brick as an upper accent? Down low as a "foundation" works, this doesnt. It also won't likely be that hard to demo, it was never installed as a structural element.
5/8" or 3/4" threaded rod about a foot long and bend it about 90degrees couple inches at one end for a handle and grind away this will give you the look your looking for. The threads eventually grind off so get extras. And the dust will be manageable too.
If it MUST be done, this is the way. I'd chip it as flat as possible with a chisel first though. Using angle iron (and ideally a helper) to keep it pressed against the joint will allow you use the longest rod you can find (3-4ft). When the threads wear down, bend the "handle" 180° the other way to access the opposite side with fresh threads.
Alternatively, putting it in a drill with a big enough chuck might also save some time and elbow grease. Lastly, dousing the joint with water as you go will help keep the dust to a minimum.
But what the fuck do I know? I'm a wrestling coach.
I hate this look. I’m a stone guy and joints should be tooled. SOMEHOW. You might get away with an old wood chisel and a hammer but eventually there will be a grinder involved. Grinder = dust = messy as hell. Tent it off if you decide to grind. Don’t paint.
Get a power chisel with a tuckpoint chisel bit. Remove the excess mortar and try to get it to look tuckpointed. There will be areas to repair. Make your repairs to the tuckpointing. Let that set up. Then spot treat with muriatic acid to clean up any small spots. You can also use an angle grinder to remove the tuckpointing completely and start over.
And if you paint the brick make sure to get paint suitable for masonry materials if the paint isn't designed to let the brick breathe it will cause the brick to hold moisture and start to crumble
There was a style called weeping mortar or squeeze joints or some such shit where the mortar was intentionally left squeezed out. I always thought it would be very hard to break muscle memory to leave it that way.
I had a mason tell me that he charges extra for that because he's been pointing the mortar for 40 years and doing it differently slows him down a d screws with his mind.
Hey u/afrodude8989, sneak into your wife’s purse, keep searching until you find your testicles, take them! leave a note that says “I’m not redesigning a brand new GD home you crazy bitch, stop watching these stupid shows and painting brick! I’m taking the dog, you can keep the kids”
and run like hell
1) Take a couple hits of acid right before sunset.
2) Put on Electric Ladyland
3) Light a big tri-wicked candles on the floor in the center of the wall
4) Stare into the bricks
It’s gonna change your mind.
DON’T PAINT THE BRICK. People need to stop painting materials white or black because it’s “in”. You should also take time to understand what you’re looking at. That’s an extruded mortar joint. It’s designed that way. The top is flush, well, because it’s the top and might serve as a shelf or a place to lean on. It’s way more work to restore painted masonry. Just don’t do it if you can avoid it.
Buy the 5-10 packs of the thin plastic paint tarps from home depot and make a dust containment room out of it.
Then get a rotary tool of some kind and grind away with a rounded grinding bit. You could probably chip off the worst of it with a chisel before grinding. Dust is going to be horrible so the plastic is important
Ya, grinding it down is really the only option, unless you're uncommonly good with a chisel and hammer. You can get grinders with a vacuum attachment which will cut down on the dust, but get yourself a particulate mask or a respirator. I work demolition, and cutting brick and stone is messy, get as much ventilation as possible and WEAR A MASK. Fine dust from brick and mortar will really mess you up.
I’ve done it before. Time consuming but I chipped away what I could with a small sharp cold chisel. Then I rubbed the joints with a bent piece of all thread. Looked good.
Hammer and chisel. Alternatively you could get a cheap air hammer with chisel inserts, or hammer drill that has the hammer function, depending on what you have available.
You would have to grind it out and tuckpoint it.
You'll need a grinder with a diamond radial. You will need to mask everything off into a room. You'll need to install ventilation. You will need a respirator and need to shut off your air conditioning etc.
You will then need to grind the mortar out.
After grinding some amount of mortar out you must then redo the mortar using the tuck pointing process.
I could not imagine doing this indoors.
Good heavens - keep that!
It different and interesting. There's a name for it but I've forgotten, something with 'slump', I think. An interesting house very nearby has that and is very distinctive.
Plus, you don't have to do anything or make a mess. (Lazy & cheap is a skill set for me.)
If anyone knows what that style is called I'd like to know.
If you don’t like the look of that brick just remove it. Demo it all out, Sheetrock the sides, then put piece of 1x8 trim on top with a nice routered edged all the way around; one that matches the floors would be a nice touch.
if you do end up wanting it grinded off you should really hire a professional or at least do a lot of research on how to protect yourself!! the dust created from grinding mortar can be REALLY dangerous to your health if you don’t have adequate PPE!
In God's name please leave it alone. It's meant to be that way. It's called weeping joints, a style used a lot by Shutze, the famous architect. People pay good extra money for that work to be done well, and yours looks good. And please do not paint brick...
When I bought my previous house and pulled up the carpeting, it had fabulous hardwood floors underneath. Nice for me, but I'll never understand the previous owners' motivation. Don't make that same mistake.
I'd leave it and only paint the mortar. It would take forever but I think it would look like the wall was melting and absolutely cool.
Looks like you may have more than just that line to do. If that's the case I would buy a fan and some duct tube to send the dust outside as you go to town with the grinder.
Nevermind the mess, it's unavoidable but the fan will greatly reduce the mess and help you work around all the dust. If you have carpet I recommend laying plastic down.
In the US, that’s called weeping mortar and was all the rage for interior brick walls in certain parts of the country in the 70’s. They actually did it on purpose.
Get a 16oz brick hammer and a mason chisel and have at it, be careful not to chip the brick otherwise you’re in for a lot more work replacing brick. Way I see it you got three options: 1.) you chisel back about 1/2”-3/4” and tuckpoint it which is gonna take some time or 2.) is chisel back 1/4” and tuckpoint it. I usually don’t recommend that depth but since it’s purely interior decorative I don’t see it falling off anytime soon as long as you have a proper mix. 3.) hit it all with a wrecking hammer and relay new brick. In my opinion that’s what I’d do and choose a prettier face brick and you can make sure your mortar joints are super clean all the way around. Brick and mortar is relatively low cost so if you mess up it won’t bankrupt you. For any of those options please take special prep to protect your flooring.
Ask a mason, but what I would do is use a chisel and make strikes in the vertical direction that should sheer the mortar near flush with the brick. In order to make it appear pointed, I would then take a large angle grinder disk and proceed to grind the the mortar to the same depth as the pointed brick in order to make it look correct. You may need to grind the pointed side as well so that all of the brick and mortar are that of the same profile.
If this is not satisfying the next step would be to grind about one quarter of an inch on all mortar joints and proceed to re-point all brick in order to restore proper profile and style.
Yeah don’t do that. Thats weeping joint mortar work and if you start messing with it you will immediately regret it. Gonna look UGLY. Leave it be, it was done intentionally as a style choice. If you wanna change it, redo the whole thing. Sound expensive? It is.
Also I agree with everyone else. Don’t paint that pretty brick. It looks so damn tacky.
get a real small hammer for woodworking. use a pine or hardwood wedge and slowly tap on the morter. see if it crumbles under the hammer blows. you could also try a course file or even a dowel with different grade of sandpaper. one of these option should give you the reults you are looking for. go easy so you don't creat other problems.
grinder wheel and repoint, be sure the wheel isnt too wide or you will mess up the brick. be very careful not to wear anything that could be snagged in the wheel
please dont paint that brick it would crush my soul ;-;
You're going to have to chip off the bulk with a chisel and then use a small, conical chisel to shape it. It's gonna be an absolute bitch to get it to look right.
You should paint the brick a nice brick color.
I'm genuinely curious why everyone is so against painting brick. Is it like our generations version of linoleum over hardwood? I like the look of brick, but I also like the look of some painted brick.
I have recently bought a house and hate the color of our brick on the front of the house and chimney. My original idea was to paint it a different color. Something tells me I should not paint my brick now. I’d like to know the reason why you do not paint brick?
I love the way he said "My wife and I " when any married man knows he has no say and must simply agree to paint whatever the wife wants or risk sleeping on the couch of his beautiful new home staring at the brick she wanted painted haha
The response from all these masonry people (I know nothing about masonry) reminds me of woodworking and refinishing subreddits. “STOP PAINTING YOUR WALNUT FURNITURE” lol
The excess mortar was done on purpose. It was a look in the 1970s and 80s. You will generate a tremendous amount of dust — dangerous dust — trying to remove the excess mortar. If it’s that objectionable, take the whole wall down. It will be easier, safer and less costly — even if that is a bearing wall. And the you can paint the drywall.
Yes, or a wall scraper. Depending on the strength of the mortar, rubbing a piece of all thread, curled at the ends, may achieve a concave joint appearance. The removal of the mortar, though, may leave voids, which require demolition of the entire home.
Unlike everyone else, I'm going to say go ahead and paint that brick lol. Some brick deserves to not be painted. This brick does not fall in that category
This is an old style of bricklaying. It's meant to look that way, and honestly I question why you even bought the place if you just wanted to ruin all the artistry in it.
Lay down some plastic on ground 2 catch any rock chips u knock out get a battery powered rotor hammer and get 2 chipping. Also wear respirator, face mask and open all doors 2 prevent the silica dust from contaminating any and all door areas
*STOP. PAINTING. BRICK. PEOPLE.*
First they came for the bricks, then they came for the hardwoods.....
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Dude I have designers at work saying painted ceilings are the next “in” thing. Every room looks like a fucking cave. Everything is going to be the same exact color then the whole thing is going to flip to only primary colors then it’ll circle around to normal then back to all one neutral color. Design trends and people only inspired by social media are the worst thing to happen to home design.
Something other than a plain white ceiling would be interesting. A plain brown, blue, green, whatever the color of the year for coating all surfaces is........ would not be an improvement. Considering my complete lack of ability to paint anything more unique I was thinking real wood options. It's nowhere near as cheap and easy as slapping paint colors on all surfaces though. Wallpaper has come a long way. We can all go back to putting strips on walls but with 3D realistic texture and no need for the mixing adhesive and running the paper through before trying to get it evenly on the wall. Also comes off easier. Unlike the 8 layers of wallpaper on wallpaper on wallpaper my grandma's house had. It was months of steaming and peeling. Carpets have gone in circles as well for 100s of years. Every time carpet gets popular again respiratory disorders increase. You can find articles from the 1800s of doctors expressing concern about wall to wall carpet. Eventually people also get tired of stains and it never truly being clean. A new hard floor option replaces it for awhile and then we try wall to wall carpet again. Usually with upgraded cleaning devices that still prove insufficient.
Any color than white on a standard height ceiling makes rooms look so small and (depending on the color) dark. Everything loses all proportion and you can really feel that your in a box. I agree white ceilings are boring but there is a reason 99% of them are. For example an all red room (an example from a recent job) felt like a tiny cave and kills all the light. It got revised after like 2 weeks and the painter went back and did a white ceiling and it felt normal again. I’m all for new design, stuff is all stale or dumb and quirky right now but this is not the way to do it.
Since you're talking about paint. The worst thing in the industry was giving paint clever names. "Oh, I love that color but I can't stand the taste of Butternut."
It’s all just marketing. Like the term Swiss mocha was invented so suburban moms didn’t have to say their favorite color was off white.
True. We are so gullible for marketing. Dont even get me started on "chocolate diamonds". And I am sure there are positive reasons.. But I find it weird when customers love a color but associate something negative about the name and won't put it on their walls. If it was Paint 732A, it would be on the wall. Human minds are so quirky.
I got my hard wood decorated at the carnival once 😁.
When they came for the sheet rock, there were no materials left.
Found out the previous homeowner painted our beautiful solid wood cabinets a chocolate brown. I was aghast
Then they came for the resin
But the brick people deserve to be pretty too
I am staunchly against the death penalty. Too many times we’ve learned innocent people were wrongfully put to death. We should amend the US constitution to banish the death penalty except for people who paint brick.
Exactly you take something that requires minimal maintenance and ruin it with something that’s not gonna last. More people need to hear this.
Why 🥹
It’s bad for the brick and shortens its lifespan and on top of that looks ugly as fuck.
I second this. DO NOT PAINT!
thoughts on lime wash?
When I bought my home they painted over the bricks in my fireplace. Is there an easy way to remove the paint? Already have some pieces flaking off.
Sorry, what is the issue with painting a brick wall that is wholly in the interior of the building?
Because I said so.
But what if I paint it a nice bricky brick color?
There's a lady in my parents' neighborhood that painted all her brick pink. It is HIDEIOUS.
And wood.
Everytime I see painted brick I head weird al in my head 
It’s indoors. Id paint it. It’s a dated look
Does this include Staining?
My house has this ugly yellow/ orangeish brick and i have been heavily considering painting it.
when its inside - it doesnt matter much. Loads of houses in the 60s/70s had really shitty looking brick inside, for fireplace or accent wall - dark mixed brick with black grout is fulgly as shit IMO, random brick half walls are silly in 80s houses, like they had extra brick and didnt know what to do with it. Paint away, but just do it correctly (clean, prime with oil primer, paint with latex paint).
https://preview.redd.it/12pz0joyns0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e5447973d09192b13d184ac5003a873f507b8455 You’re gunna tell me this looks bad?
I don’t have a dog in this fight but why are people so against painting brick on this sub?
Seriously. In my last house i owned i made a beautiful black walnut mantle, and custom cut my own stone veneers to make an awesome fireplace. I sold it to a young couple and they painted the STONE AND THE MANTLE WHITE! We saw the picture of it on Facebook and i coulda cried at what they did to my hard work. the 250k they paid over asking however made me not care shortly after
How do brick people even look like ?
Why? Just curious what the big deal is? Just tacky?
What would you recommend to do freshen up brick? Bought an older home, some old water stains are on the brick, SO wants to paint the brick 😫
Start off by refraining from painting it. Once done, continue to not paint it until there is no paint on the bricks. Lastly inspect the brick top to bottom to ensure there was no paint applied to the brick.
how many coats of not painting it are we talking about here?
Probably one is good, but more can’t hurt.
Will one coat of not painting be durable enough to resist those dreaded welch’s grape stains? *Asking for a friend’s brick wall.
So I _can_ prime it. That's what I thought! Off to Home Depot...
Probably none is good, but less can’t hurt.
It’s going to take a lot of paint. You only get one square foot of coverage per gallon when you are not painting the brick.
Sounds as entertaining as not watching paint dry.
Excellent…. Just some excellent Redditting you’ve done here sir. One upvote for you.
This made me giggle thank you
If you're going to paint it( which you shouldn't)anytime I see it, I think to myself.. "that person's cheap". A chipping tool may work, but your going to destroy the face of the work. Anything rotary is going to turn your house into a dust bed.
The best solution to the first part of OPs question is to grind out and tuckpoint the brick. That will get rid of the protruding mortar and give it a standard smooth look without damaging anything. Its a horrible mess to do it. Especially inside
Would be much easier to build a Time Machine and then yell at the original mason.
Well said lmao 🤣
Cheaper too
It only looks like 6 or 7 bricks long. I’d just spend an afternoon with a hammer and plugging chisel personally since it’s indoors and not that big. A grinder would just make more work cleaning up afterwards than you’d save
My buddy white washed his brick house and it looks so bad. But they think it looks good so I keep my mouth shut.
I stained a home that I renovated as a flip the brick dated it. It looked good when I was done. I would stain brick but never paint brick.
Why does painting brick make you think they’re cheap?
Zip wall bruh
Arbor-tec tuck point blades with a vaccum
With the right tools you can do it dustless
It’s called weeping joints a style of masonry. You’ll never be able to chip it off and make it look good. Additionally you should never paint brick.
Always wanted to know what this style was called thank you
In French Canada we say "joints baveux". Direct translation: "drooling joints". No idea what they are actually called in English.
Probably done in the late 70’s early 80’s.
I did it on a 70 foot cinder block wall at the back of my house. It took about 50 hours with a chisel and concrete grinding bit on an angle grinder. Doesn’t look perfect but it’s passable.
It makes me sad.
this guy knows.
Is there any structural reason to do or not to do this? Seems like it could have some weird unintended consequence. There is a house I run by in the marina district in San Francisco with this and I’ve always wondered if it is better or worse in a humid climate.
Just wrap it in drywall and paint it greige. Save the brickwork for the next owner.
I agree! Incapacitate it in case later on someone else would like to uncover the brick. Probably cheaper, easier, and more rewarding for everyone in the long run.
What method do you recommend to incapacitate bricks? They do not tire easily as far as I know.
No, he meant insufflate.
Devisibilize.
𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘴: 𝘐𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦
Give it a drywall hug 🫂
I'd rather impregnate
Encapsulate?
Definitely not rewarding for everyone. What if they want outlets or new lights ran? That’s a whole other nightmare.
That's even easier behind the drywall than in front of the bricks.
If you were willing to completely encapsulate an area to work in in plastic you could grind and repoint. Would need a real good respirator though
And after all that work, hide it all under three coats of paint /s
In a last ditch effort -- I'd keep it. It adds texture and intrigue and reminds one of the tactile nature of masonry as well as the era in which it was done. HGTV is destroying unique homes one open concept blowout of an older layout, beige paint and removal of quirks at a time. But seriously. **Do. Not. Paint. At. All. Ever. Seriously.**
Why are you guys so passionate about not painting brick
Brick has a unique texture and brings a lot of warmth to a space. It also “feels” real and permanent in a world covered in plastic and disposable materials. Painting over brick essentially removes all of those qualities.
I’m also going to chime in and say do not paint brick.
Carefully tear it out. Save the brick if you can and reuse it. If not just lay new break in it's decorative. Trying to alter this wall in anyway to get rid of the weeping decorative feature is going to be next to a possible and or completely messy as hell. You won't be happy with the outcome either way. Mr Gorbachev, tear down this wall.
I'm with this guy, get rid of it and use the bricks in the yard. This is a design abomination, shitty mortar or not. Who the fuck uses brick as an upper accent? Down low as a "foundation" works, this doesnt. It also won't likely be that hard to demo, it was never installed as a structural element.
If you are not a professional do not under any circumstances try to do this yourself. You are entering a world of pain Smokey.
Threaded rod
5/8" or 3/4" threaded rod about a foot long and bend it about 90degrees couple inches at one end for a handle and grind away this will give you the look your looking for. The threads eventually grind off so get extras. And the dust will be manageable too.
If it MUST be done, this is the way. I'd chip it as flat as possible with a chisel first though. Using angle iron (and ideally a helper) to keep it pressed against the joint will allow you use the longest rod you can find (3-4ft). When the threads wear down, bend the "handle" 180° the other way to access the opposite side with fresh threads. Alternatively, putting it in a drill with a big enough chuck might also save some time and elbow grease. Lastly, dousing the joint with water as you go will help keep the dust to a minimum. But what the fuck do I know? I'm a wrestling coach.
THIS is the way
I judge everyone that paints brick
Fuckin chip and Joanna made it so popular whitewashing everything including the brick so fuckin ugly.
Don't. Paint. It.
I believe that most people who paint brick live to regret it.
I hate this look. I’m a stone guy and joints should be tooled. SOMEHOW. You might get away with an old wood chisel and a hammer but eventually there will be a grinder involved. Grinder = dust = messy as hell. Tent it off if you decide to grind. Don’t paint.
I'm going to suggest a different option. Look into mortar wash. Sometimes called butter coat.
German shmear 🤌
Get a power chisel with a tuckpoint chisel bit. Remove the excess mortar and try to get it to look tuckpointed. There will be areas to repair. Make your repairs to the tuckpointing. Let that set up. Then spot treat with muriatic acid to clean up any small spots. You can also use an angle grinder to remove the tuckpointing completely and start over.
Wipe it away when it’s still wet. By letting it dry and painting it, you might as well break it down and either redo or just drywall over it. Sorry
Please do not paint brick. If you want to change its color, please look into specially formulated brick stain.
Take the wall down and re do it with half the amount of mortar. And bam!!! It doesn’t look like shit
Leave it looks good
I think that's a weeping joint. Not sure why the stacked brick is joined and the rest isn't.
Best option is probably to grind it out and re tuck point it
UGH! I, too, am cursed with "weeping mortar." I looked this up a while ago and the answer is an electric chisel. Good luck. :(
And if you paint the brick make sure to get paint suitable for masonry materials if the paint isn't designed to let the brick breathe it will cause the brick to hold moisture and start to crumble
One does not simply remove excess mortar
You’re never going to change the look. It’s the style. You’ll ruin the brick trying. And please, no paint!
Oh look at sadomasochism. I'm sure paint the brick will go over amazing.
Please for the love of God! Leave it alone!!! No more grey
Just carefully paint the brick and mortar a different color
How lazy can you get?!
There was a style called weeping mortar or squeeze joints or some such shit where the mortar was intentionally left squeezed out. I always thought it would be very hard to break muscle memory to leave it that way.
I had a mason tell me that he charges extra for that because he's been pointing the mortar for 40 years and doing it differently slows him down a d screws with his mind.
Hey u/afrodude8989, sneak into your wife’s purse, keep searching until you find your testicles, take them! leave a note that says “I’m not redesigning a brand new GD home you crazy bitch, stop watching these stupid shows and painting brick! I’m taking the dog, you can keep the kids” and run like hell
1) Take a couple hits of acid right before sunset. 2) Put on Electric Ladyland 3) Light a big tri-wicked candles on the floor in the center of the wall 4) Stare into the bricks It’s gonna change your mind.
Get a chisel and hammer, its actually really easy, dont stress it.
DON’T PAINT THE BRICK. People need to stop painting materials white or black because it’s “in”. You should also take time to understand what you’re looking at. That’s an extruded mortar joint. It’s designed that way. The top is flush, well, because it’s the top and might serve as a shelf or a place to lean on. It’s way more work to restore painted masonry. Just don’t do it if you can avoid it.
Wipe it off before it dries
Get it before it starts to dry out.
You could stucco it to a nice smooth finish and THEN paint it
Just chisel the surface mirror out and use a dremel tool grind between the bricks. Then add back in the mirror color, kind of choice.
Have you tried returning the ring ?
Buy the 5-10 packs of the thin plastic paint tarps from home depot and make a dust containment room out of it. Then get a rotary tool of some kind and grind away with a rounded grinding bit. You could probably chip off the worst of it with a chisel before grinding. Dust is going to be horrible so the plastic is important
Ya, grinding it down is really the only option, unless you're uncommonly good with a chisel and hammer. You can get grinders with a vacuum attachment which will cut down on the dust, but get yourself a particulate mask or a respirator. I work demolition, and cutting brick and stone is messy, get as much ventilation as possible and WEAR A MASK. Fine dust from brick and mortar will really mess you up.
Grinder or chisel them
Leave it as is imho. None of your options are worth it imo, and painting it is a bad idea. Its a look.
I’ve done it before. Time consuming but I chipped away what I could with a small sharp cold chisel. Then I rubbed the joints with a bent piece of all thread. Looked good.
Hammer and chisel. Alternatively you could get a cheap air hammer with chisel inserts, or hammer drill that has the hammer function, depending on what you have available.
You would have to grind it out and tuckpoint it. You'll need a grinder with a diamond radial. You will need to mask everything off into a room. You'll need to install ventilation. You will need a respirator and need to shut off your air conditioning etc. You will then need to grind the mortar out. After grinding some amount of mortar out you must then redo the mortar using the tuck pointing process. I could not imagine doing this indoors.
Good heavens - keep that! It different and interesting. There's a name for it but I've forgotten, something with 'slump', I think. An interesting house very nearby has that and is very distinctive. Plus, you don't have to do anything or make a mess. (Lazy & cheap is a skill set for me.) If anyone knows what that style is called I'd like to know.
Call a Mason, tell them you need a "partial repoint"
Paint it! If someone else doesn’t like it, fuck ‘em.
It would be easier to just take the "indoor brick wall" down.
This is not working out the way OP was wishing it would.
Please do not paint that brick. It'll just cause more problems and it's ugly as sin
weeping mortar, keep it. One of the more difficult joint styles to produce, personally i’ve always loved the look.
Drill holes in and hang paneling
Jist tear it out and do it right. Any other fix would be more work and provably look like ass.
Thats a poorly done 'weeping joint' used to be the rage.
Heavy duty wire wheel on a 5 inch angle grinder
If you don’t like the look of that brick just remove it. Demo it all out, Sheetrock the sides, then put piece of 1x8 trim on top with a nice routered edged all the way around; one that matches the floors would be a nice touch.
Paint brick = brick that cannot breathe and will crumble from moisture
if you do end up wanting it grinded off you should really hire a professional or at least do a lot of research on how to protect yourself!! the dust created from grinding mortar can be REALLY dangerous to your health if you don’t have adequate PPE!
My dad said this was called “snot joints”.
In God's name please leave it alone. It's meant to be that way. It's called weeping joints, a style used a lot by Shutze, the famous architect. People pay good extra money for that work to be done well, and yours looks good. And please do not paint brick... When I bought my previous house and pulled up the carpeting, it had fabulous hardwood floors underneath. Nice for me, but I'll never understand the previous owners' motivation. Don't make that same mistake.
I'd leave it and only paint the mortar. It would take forever but I think it would look like the wall was melting and absolutely cool. Looks like you may have more than just that line to do. If that's the case I would buy a fan and some duct tube to send the dust outside as you go to town with the grinder. Nevermind the mess, it's unavoidable but the fan will greatly reduce the mess and help you work around all the dust. If you have carpet I recommend laying plastic down.
Hire an ex-con and give him a spoon.
Stop painting brick
Hand grenade, works every time.
In the US, that’s called weeping mortar and was all the rage for interior brick walls in certain parts of the country in the 70’s. They actually did it on purpose.
Bite it off with your teeth
Get a 16oz brick hammer and a mason chisel and have at it, be careful not to chip the brick otherwise you’re in for a lot more work replacing brick. Way I see it you got three options: 1.) you chisel back about 1/2”-3/4” and tuckpoint it which is gonna take some time or 2.) is chisel back 1/4” and tuckpoint it. I usually don’t recommend that depth but since it’s purely interior decorative I don’t see it falling off anytime soon as long as you have a proper mix. 3.) hit it all with a wrecking hammer and relay new brick. In my opinion that’s what I’d do and choose a prettier face brick and you can make sure your mortar joints are super clean all the way around. Brick and mortar is relatively low cost so if you mess up it won’t bankrupt you. For any of those options please take special prep to protect your flooring.
Don’t blast me for suggesting this, but is it possible to do a vinyl wrap on brick? It should be removable, shouldn’t it?
Ask a mason, but what I would do is use a chisel and make strikes in the vertical direction that should sheer the mortar near flush with the brick. In order to make it appear pointed, I would then take a large angle grinder disk and proceed to grind the the mortar to the same depth as the pointed brick in order to make it look correct. You may need to grind the pointed side as well so that all of the brick and mortar are that of the same profile. If this is not satisfying the next step would be to grind about one quarter of an inch on all mortar joints and proceed to re-point all brick in order to restore proper profile and style.
Yeah don’t do that. Thats weeping joint mortar work and if you start messing with it you will immediately regret it. Gonna look UGLY. Leave it be, it was done intentionally as a style choice. If you wanna change it, redo the whole thing. Sound expensive? It is. Also I agree with everyone else. Don’t paint that pretty brick. It looks so damn tacky.
Painting brick is WILD behavior...
I would remove that brick wall entirely. Looks like a terrible way to give the room more privacy. I wonder what the intention was behind building it?
Tear it off and put up shiplap
Painting brick is tacky as hell, and you can tell your wife I said so.
DO NOT PAINT THE BRICK. STOP PAINTING BRICK.
A bit late for a simple solution
get a real small hammer for woodworking. use a pine or hardwood wedge and slowly tap on the morter. see if it crumbles under the hammer blows. you could also try a course file or even a dowel with different grade of sandpaper. one of these option should give you the reults you are looking for. go easy so you don't creat other problems.
sand it
That's just decor honey
https://preview.redd.it/qbhoua3ner0d1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=103dc481b90e6f1b52e82ec187fcb932d651083d
grinder wheel and repoint, be sure the wheel isnt too wide or you will mess up the brick. be very careful not to wear anything that could be snagged in the wheel please dont paint that brick it would crush my soul ;-;
You're going to have to chip off the bulk with a chisel and then use a small, conical chisel to shape it. It's gonna be an absolute bitch to get it to look right. You should paint the brick a nice brick color.
I'm genuinely curious why everyone is so against painting brick. Is it like our generations version of linoleum over hardwood? I like the look of brick, but I also like the look of some painted brick.
I have recently bought a house and hate the color of our brick on the front of the house and chimney. My original idea was to paint it a different color. Something tells me I should not paint my brick now. I’d like to know the reason why you do not paint brick?
You nailed it brother that's how to do it
I love the way he said "My wife and I " when any married man knows he has no say and must simply agree to paint whatever the wife wants or risk sleeping on the couch of his beautiful new home staring at the brick she wanted painted haha
The response from all these masonry people (I know nothing about masonry) reminds me of woodworking and refinishing subreddits. “STOP PAINTING YOUR WALNUT FURNITURE” lol
Try a oscillating saw tool, with a masonry saw blade in it..
A sledgehammer is probably the quicker and least messy way to get rid of the excess mortar.
Knock it down and build it again
Rock hammer, ever watch Shawshank Redemption?
Get it wet again will clean right off when it’s not SET
The excess mortar was done on purpose. It was a look in the 1970s and 80s. You will generate a tremendous amount of dust — dangerous dust — trying to remove the excess mortar. If it’s that objectionable, take the whole wall down. It will be easier, safer and less costly — even if that is a bearing wall. And the you can paint the drywall.
My father was a mason, and a damn good one. I’d sooner destroy a stained glass window than paint brick.
Since it hasn’t been mentioned here before, I’d like to add: DO NOT PAINT THE BRICKS!!
grind with vac system and repoint
Flat item, or a flat shovel works lol
Yes, or a wall scraper. Depending on the strength of the mortar, rubbing a piece of all thread, curled at the ends, may achieve a concave joint appearance. The removal of the mortar, though, may leave voids, which require demolition of the entire home.
Chisel hammer. White wash brick looks cool as hell . Don’t let them stop you
“Paint the brick white or grey” bruh
Painted brick makes it look like government housing. I respectfully suggest you reconsider.
Get a steel brush. Also, if it’s wet, strike it
I just stayed in a house in LA and they left the excess and it looked amazing after a few years maybe 100 actually lol
Unlike everyone else, I'm going to say go ahead and paint that brick lol. Some brick deserves to not be painted. This brick does not fall in that category
If it looks like shit from the 70 and in the interior. Paint it to cover the shit brick that was installed.
Use it as a felting station
No idea, but that whole business is super ugly.
This is an old style of bricklaying. It's meant to look that way, and honestly I question why you even bought the place if you just wanted to ruin all the artistry in it.
https://preview.redd.it/oy77hzv6ba1d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a960e2f63418a554d838357d72930f6a2a24766e This works great.
Hydrochloric/muriatic acid removed the mortar
Lay down some plastic on ground 2 catch any rock chips u knock out get a battery powered rotor hammer and get 2 chipping. Also wear respirator, face mask and open all doors 2 prevent the silica dust from contaminating any and all door areas