Painting Brick

[Shawn F.]

I am now to the point that I need to paint the interior and exterior brick of my 3000 Sq Ft shop. The interior walls are bare grey brick. The exterior is already painted and flaking off but I will be power washing all/most of it off since it's very old and comes off easy. What kind of primer and paint would you guys recommend here? I am going to go with white to help brighten the shop up as much as possible since I will be doing auto detailing out of it and this is very important for me.
The brick on the interior does have some very fine cracks and also a few inch wide cracks that I also need to somehow fill.

Any info, suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[blasto9000]

Attempting to paint the gray cinder-block walls of my old garage is what prompted me to purchase an airless sprayer. After an hour and wasting a half gallon of paint rolling it on to a small section of block, I said screw it and got the airless. (The block seemed to absorb a lot of paint, and the roller refused to roll, it just skidded.)

With the airless I was able to prime and paint the whole thing in just a few hours; the two-car garage, plus the attached workshop, upstairs hall and decided to do the front porch while I had all the gear out and some leftover materials.

The only thing about the airless is that you have to be much more meticulous about masking and prep than you would with a brush or roller. The airless gets paint EVERYWHERE. I suggest sealing all holes/doors/windows with plastic sheet, otherwise your paint job will be emitting all kinds of paint dust and I can pretty much guarantee you'll be giving your and your neighbor's cars a shoddy paint job in the process.

I didn't have any water intrusion issues (California house) but the guys at the hardware store made a big deal about it. Something to be aware of. Make sure the block is dry, dry, dry after washing, and even before that you'll probably want to tape a sheet of plastic over the block and let it sit overnight to see if a layer of condensation appears underneath.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks for the info! I have a sprayer and may hire my fathers painters from his construction company to paint it... Any idea on what brand and type of paint/primer?

 

[blasto9000]

I had to think about that for a bit... I know there are water-seal paints specially made for below-grade cinder block (which mine was). But since I had no moisture intrustion issues I just used normal latex paint.

BTW, right now I have one of the midsize Graco airless sprayers. It ran me $450 at a big box. Prior to that I tried the Wagner Paint Crew for $200-$250. The Paint Crew simply would not pump some paints, and if the paint was viscous enough, the Wagner would break an O-ring. (IIRC, it came with three replacements and I went through all three in one day.) The unit stops pumping if the O-ring breaks, so it's not one of those things you can do without or get partial performance from the pump.

I also tried the Wagner Power Painter, but it's a very slow machine, and very noisy. Overspray was an issue too; it didn't seem to have a very well controlled pattern. Graco on the other hand lays down a lot of paint in a predictable fan pattern, and you can throttle it for partial coverage too. It's quiet, powerful, long hose, and tall enough to straddle a 5-gallon bucket. Using 5-gallon buckets is a major cost and time saver; at least for me it has been, even for seemingly simple jobs.

$450 was steep at the time for me, but over the years it has been a very worthy investment. The down side is that every time a family member wants to paint their house (inside or out, including verandas), guess who they call for help?!

 

[Outlawmws]

I would first "prime" (seal) the block with something like Thompson's water seal (Maybe a painter type knows a better product?)l, otherwise it is too much like a sponge and will also wick moisture up behind the paint and it peels off...

 

[Zeke]

Starting with a sealer is a good idea. Don't over do it. Paint manufacturers have spec sheets on how to do most jobs.

 

[Shawn F.]

Wow, I never got another notification on this thread but wanted to say thanks for the info guys! I am thinking about going with Duramax from Lowes for the interior and exterior brick walls. It is a bit pricey but my painter friend told me it has a built in primer which will work well for the exterior since it's already painted and then the interior I can use it to but need to prime the walls first even though it has a primer in it. Supposedly it fills in small cracks and imperfections well too which I need because there are a ton of fine cracks.
As for the bigger cracks, any recommendations as to what I should use on these?

 

[robarosa]

Use painter's putty for bigger cracks. Most primers need top coating within a few weeks or months. Know of a house that had primer on for more than a year. When the owners came back to paint the top coat wouldn't adhere. I use semi-gloss for interior for easy cleaning and light reflection.

 

[Shawn F.]

Thanks robarosa! I plan to go with semi gloss white to brighten the place up. It really needs it because right now it seems very dark in there and cramped. It doesn't even look like 3000 sq ft because of that. I think once the walls are painted white it will make it look a little bigger and brighten it up some.

 

[WVBrady]

I would first "prime" (seal) the block with something like Thompson's water seal ...

I think if you used that, the paint wouldn't stick.

 

[Outlawmws]

I think if you used that, the paint wouldn't stick.

And why would you think that?

 

[1948]

youre talking about cinder blocks correct? not "bricks", you shouldnt ever paint brick, it traps moisture.... and i know this all to well....

 

[DIYKiah]

My buddy just did the base of an old farmhouse and sealed all of the brick foundation around the house and then went back over it with white paint... It really looked great and truly looks like a totally different house.