Painting Your Brick Or Stucco Home

03 Feb Painting Your Brick Or Stucco Home

How to Paint Brick and Stucco Exterior

Many homeowners love the look of brick and stucco exteriors. They are timeless, which may make you feel like your options are limited if you’re ready for a refresh. Both are known for their long-lasting quality, but, like all materials, weather and the elements can eventually take their toll. Fortunately, you can add a fresh coat of paint over both of these exterior surfaces.

Knowing how to paint a brick house or a stucco exterior isn’t as straightforward as painting traditional siding. Brick and stucco surfaces have specific qualities that require special care. Without it, the results may look unprofessional or downright bad. You can prevent this situation by working with a pro on your exterior painting project or ensuring your DIY paint job gets done the right way.
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Necessary Preparation for Painting Brick Exterior

Prepping a brick exterior is essential to creating a professional paint job. Prep work helps to repair any cracks, tuckpointing or spalling that has appeared throughout the years and get the surface ready to accept the paint.

Here’s how we do it:

1. Clean the bricks: We start by cleaning off the bricks with a cleaner called trisodium phosphate to remove any dirt and chalky residue. Water and a stiff brush will work, but a pressure washer makes quick work of a brick wall. Power washing also helps us to clean the mortar joints. Any mold and mildew need to be cared for with a non-acidic cleaning solution. These cleaners can affect the brick’s surface and your paint job.
2. Fill in any gaps: If there are any cracks in the mortar, they must be filled before moving on. If the damage is extensive, repointing may be necessary. Repointing is the process of replacing the existing mortar with new material to improve its appearance and quality.
3. Add primer: We coat the surface with a high-end masonry primer to prepare it for paint. Some areas, like those affected by mold or mildew, will need multiple coats.
4. Decide on your paint: Bricks benefit from acrylic latex paint, which can stretch more easily and adapt to cracks in the bricks and temperature changes. It also helps to resist mold and mildew. If you’re in a particularly sunny area, consider paint with ultraviolet protection. We can help you identify other factors that could affect paint choice.
5. Choose a color: Painting bricks is a permanent choice, so spend some time on this decision. White is a versatile color for bricks and goes with many environments. Other popular colors include light gray, dark gray and green. Look around for ideas on what color to paint a brick house, and speak to one of our professional color consultants. They can be a big aid in the color selection process, making sure we get it right the first time.

We take a proven approach to prep work that includes high-end products and professional methods. Once the area is clean and primer is applied, then we put on a fantastic new color, creating the look and feel of an entirely new home.

Painting Brick Exterior

Painted brick will require repainting every 10-15 years to maintain its appearance. In that time, paint blocks the pores on a brick’s surface, trapping moisture that has seeped inside through the mortar when it cracks. This moisture can cause the paint to chip off from the brick and the mortar, leaving you with a less-than-professional look. Repainting, and the prep work that goes with it, can help cover up this damage.

When it’s time to paint the bricks, we use paint sprayers to get the job done fast and well. It helps us reach into all the bumps and lumps inherent in a brick surface.

Many homeowners operate under the mistaken assumption that you are stuck with the look of your home if you have a brick exterior. Some customers fear painting over brick, thinking that the paint may not last. With our proven techniques and innovative products, you can make a lasting change to your home’s facade for far less than other finish options, such as stone veneer.

Necessary Preparation for Painting Stucco Exterior

This limestone-sand-and-water concoction is durable and perfect for home exteriors. Of course, stucco will age over time too, and the environment plays a significant role. Depending on conditions and the quality of the paint job, stucco paints typically last anywhere from 10-20 years. Before applying the paint, prep work will ready the surface. Here’s what the process looks like:

1. Clean the stucco: First, we’ll brush off the surface or use a power washer to remove dirt and dust.
2. Fill in cracks: Stucco is susceptible to cracks of all shapes and sizes. We’ll fill in spider cracks and other issues with masonry caulk. After this dries, we can move on to the last step of prep work.
3. Prime the surface: We’ll apply an exterior primer to the stucco and take care to get into all of its crevices.
4. Decide on your paint: Stucco paints are often cement- or acrylic-based. Acrylic is more flexible, which is helpful for filling in cracks and expanding with temperature. Some paints are more resistant to dirt and grime or ultraviolet rays than others. Our paint specialists can go over these options with you.
5. Decide on the color: When it comes to choosing what color to paint stucco, try to put your color swatch up against the backdrop of your home, so you get a better idea for how it will look against the environment. Earthy tones like rust and sandstone work well in drier, desert areas while grays and greens look right at home in a woodsy area. Neutral colors are often a great choice, too. Look around for inspiration and ideas on other stucco homes, or talk to us for an expert recommendation.

Painting Stucco Exterior

Working with this unique surface calls for a unique product. Perma-crete, a high-build acrylic paint, is designed specifically for stucco buildings. It bridges the gaps in cracks, sealing them from water penetration and hiding any slight imperfections from hard-to-see cracks. Perma-crete increases the amount of time that can pass before needing maintenance, and it is incredibly weather-tolerant. It stretches during heat expansion and tightens back during cool weather. Of course, our prep crew seals any spider cracks or visible issues first before getting to this step, but the two-pronged approach ensures long-lasting results and great value.

One of the difficult parts of painting a surface like stucco is getting into all the nooks and crannies, but we take care to use high-nap rollers or sprayers that will provide the best results. We will apply multiple coats where necessary, such as places where the stucco was stained.

Professional Brick and Stucco Painting

It may be tempting to take on this project yourself, and if you think you have a sufficient skill level and the required tools, it may a viable option. For most people, however, remember that brick and stucco are different animals than traditional siding. They require specific surface coatings and special tools to reach all the crevices. Working with the pros gives you assistance in paint selection, access to professional-grade tools, and a high-quality result.

As with all of our work, you’ll always get true craftsman-level precision from our trained staff — no subcontractors. Not to mention, you’ll get an industry-leading warranty on the work as well. We pride ourselves on complete, upfront estimates with no hidden costs. It’s a big reason that nine out of every 10 customers refer us to their family and friends. If you’re considering work to your brick or stucco home, give us a call today!

-Updated 2/25/2021