First step for how to paint your brick fireplace black? Don’t ask anyone their opinion about it. Seriously. Just don’t do it. They will have ALL. THE. THINGS. to say. Second step? Don’t be skeeeered!! It’s kinda drastic, I know. But if you love it, you love it. And it’s just paint! When we moved into our home several years ago, this red brick fireplace had been lightly whitewashed. Which made the fireplace look blue and purple. Not cool. So I painted it white because that’s what I thought I liked back then. My style has developed quite a bit since then AND we had a roof leak over the fireplace that caused the paint to bubble and peel. Also, not cool. Good news, we got a new metal roof so we won’t be having that issue again.
Knowing it was time for a change, I decided on black and asked my husband what he though about it and he was totally on board with it! I think he’s starting to trust my crazy design ideas. Mission accomplished. Like most bloggers, I turned to Pinterest to find out how to paint your fireplace black. And surprisingly I don’t come up with a lot of great tutorials so I decided to write my own. Now, keep in mind I had some prep that you might not have since you probably don’t have white paint sloughing off your fireplace like I did.
How To Paint Your Brick Fireplace Black
What You’ll Need:
Wire Cup Brush that fits drill
Kilz stain blocking latex primer
Behr Masonry, Stucco & Brick paint, in your choice of black (I get mine color matched to Sherwin Williams Tricorn Black)
2 inch angled paint brush (this is my fave one)
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First of all, I had to get the peeling paint off my fireplace. As you can see in the before photo below, it was peeling in mainly one area on the brick and one the concrete hearth. I used my trusty Ryobi drill with a wire brush attached to get all of the flaky paint off. This took about an hour because I really wanted to make sure my new paint didn’t peel off. Once I was done using the wire brush I cleaned the mess up, used a damp cloth to wipe the whole fireplace down and waited a couple hours to make sure it was very dry.
Then I used my Kilz primer to paint the whole thing, even the mantle. I used a small foam roller for 2 reasons. one reason is for the smooth finish. The other reason is it gets in all the grout between the bricks easily.I used a 2 inch angled paint brush to do along the walls and floor. The more you know 😉 I gave the primer 24 hours to dry just because I was a nervous nelly about this whole thing since the previous paint peeled.
The next day it was GO TIME for the Tricorn Black to go on! Super exciting!! I used the same method to paint the black as I did the primer. I wound up doing 2 coats. This Behr paint is great quality but painting black over white, you will pretty much always need a 2nd coat. You can also use the same brick paint on the wood surface of the mantle. Let this dry for a few days before sitting anything on it.
Then sit back, relax and enjoy the view!!
See it’s not scary at all and the impact is huge! I love contrasting colors (i.e. black and white) so if you do too, what are you waiting for it. Take the plunge now that you know how to paint your brick fireplace black.
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I absolutely looooove this! I paint my mantle black last year and got the sideeye from my mr. the whole time..until it was complete and he loved it! lol. Amazing job with your fireplace!
Ha! I get the side eye a lot as far as paint is concerned lol Glad he wound up loving it!!
I love it!
Have you used your fireplace regularly after painting it? Does the brick paint mind the heat from the fireplace?
My problem is that i can’t find paint that is heat resistant in black.
It’s wasn’t a problem for us but Rustoleum makes a heat resistant paint that you use on the inside of the firebox. Much heat really should t get on the outside where the regular brick paint is.
Thanks! I’ll look into it.
Heat on the exterior of the fireplace will not be a problem. I painted mine white and have gone through two winters using it. I am prone to some smoke issues which are my fault. For that reason, I may change to black which should look stunning against my light tan walls.
You can have latex primer tinted grey to make it easier to coat with a darker colour with fewer coats. Grey primer also works great as a base for bright red so it doesn’t show through as pink over white primer.
Hi! Was this a matte or satin finish?
It’s satin!
Fireplace looks amazing! I think you’ve convinced us to finally take the leap. Tell us about the wood paneling on your wall though!
Thanks! I loved our black fireplace so much. The wood above it is cedar planks. Here’s a post all about that: https://houseologie.com/cedar-shiplap-above-the-fireplace/
What is the grey you have on the walls? I like the color combo of the wall and fireplace.
My Home Depot says they cannot color match the Behr Masonry paint to Tricorn Black. They said that there’s no base paint in that selection. Did you have them color match using the White paint?
I love this. I’m planning to paint my fireplace black and your materials list is very helpful. I cannot wait to get started!