Brick Staining – What You Need to Know

We’ve seen a lot of new trends hit the home improvement scene this year and brick staining is absolutely a hot project for 2018.  If you’re considering painting or staining your brick then there are definitely some things you should know first. We get a lot of questions about brick staining and painting so we’ve compiled some answers below to our most frequently asked questions.

Brick Staining is Forever

This one truly may shock you but if you paint or stain your brick be prepared to do that as regular maintenance for your home.  A lot of people believe that you can sand blast paint or stain off of brick but this is not entirely accurate. You can sand blast and remove a lot of the product but you will never be able to get your brick back to its pre-stain look. That means it may look blotchy and uneven – not the desired effect.  We have this conversation with all of our brick stain or paint clients but it’s important that you ask your painting contractor about their options before committing to a stain or paint.

The Difference Between Staining and Painting Brick

Staining brick versus painting brick will absolutely result in different looks.  A stain is somewhat transparent and you’ll see the original color of the brick through the stain.  That means the final color will be a blend of the brick color and the stain color. Brick painting, with a product like Loxon XP,  is much more opaque and will lead to a more even, full coloring.  Essentially, you need to think about what your desired final product looks like. Do you want to have more of a “wash” of color over the brick or do you want to completely get rid of the original color?  Once you know what you want as a final product your professional paint contractor  should be able to guide you in the right direction.

How Do You Test Brick Stain (or Paint)?

The simple answer; very carefully.  Testing out a color on brick can be a little tricky because like we said, you can’t really remove product from the brick once it’s on there.  That being said, we do recommend that you do some test patches to see what the finished color will look like. Our suggestion is to test your colors out in a portion of the brick that is out of the way.  Ideally this is on the back or side of the house – we particularly like spots behind AC units. This will help ensure you don’t have uneven coloring which is especially important if you’re looking at updating your brick.

Brick staining may not be for everyone but if you love the look now is the time to try it out.  Brick staining and painting can really help update your home and give it a classic yet modern feel.  These are just our most frequently asked questions but if you have a question about brick staining or painting that wasn’t answered here then please be sure to contact us directly for more information at (720) 370-3063.