Reviving Old Brick Walls
THE PRO TIP
To match the mortar used when the house was built—especially for unusual materials like rubblestone or skintled brick—look for original mortar under eaves or behind pilasters, etc.
PAINT REMOVAL
Removing paint from brick is tough. Removing waterproof paint from brick is agonizing. When Wendy and I undertook paint removal in our row-house basement, we used every kind of masonry paint stripper available: environmentally friendly pastes, a soy-based remover, and a caustic stripper, plus steam, heat, and infrared heat. Nothing worked! The strippers just made a mess. The brick appeared to absorb the heat and steam, so the paint never heated up to the point necessary to release or soften.
Fortunately, quite a bit of paint came off relatively easily on perimeter walls that were below grade. This is probably because brick exposed to the elements absorbs and releases moisture, fracturing the paint’s bond. Wherever the brick had been repointed with cement mortar and wasn’t exposed (at a party wall, for instance), the paint was like immovable rock.
Ultimately, my solution was elbow grease: I ended up using a basic hammer and 5-in-1 multi-tool as a chisel, along with pull scrapers. Then I turned to a handheld drum sander that
