Pls Advise: Over-Greywashed Outer Brick/Hearth + Grout Questions

[WebGirlie]

Hello Everyone,

I found this site after hours of searching and looking for things like:
"Whitewash disasters and fixes"
"How to fix hearth grout"
"Is my grout ruined or is it supposed to be that way?"

So based on those searches, you can probably figure out why I'm posting

A bit of backstory. We recently converted our family room fireplace from wood to gas. It's been fine although like so many others, I never cared for the red brick. It is out of place with the rest of the family room. As we just bought the house a year ago and are operating on one lonely income while I continue to search for work, we are taking improvements slowly so the red brick hasn't been that big of an eyesore.

But then I went to a neighbor's house last week and fell in love with her whitewashed fireplace and had to have it NOW. Problem is that the rest of her family room had already been upgraded and decorated and her fireplace was in much better condition. Her bricks are in better condition - larger, smoother, and prettier colors - and the grout (or is it called mortar?) is smooth and even with the bricks. See the picture of the nice fireplace with the fire going...that's the one I liked.

She sent me the tutorial she followed and I used it. When I finished one coat, I didn't care for it too much, I thought it looked too white against my white mantle. So I bought some light grey and added that to the white and added even more water thinking it would add a little and well, now it looks painted.

But it looked painted after one coat. I think. None of the brick color is coming through. I wanted it more transparent (like the closeup with the pink). One suggestion was to use Magic Erasers. I tried that and it took almost an entire eraser on one brick. Remember my comment about being unemployed? I'm not spending that I tried Brillo pads and that just tore holes in all my rubber gloves. Tried different abrasive sponges and that ruined the sponges. I did try hot water and some TSP with a scrubby and it worked a little but I feared that without a plan, I would make a bigger mess.

So, where to go from here? Do I need to do something to the grout/mortar? My fingers are torn up badly and I am not good with projects so I have about a day of attention/frustration span left on this project. The colors are upsetting me a lot. I don't want monotone and I need help.

And why are so many of my bricks smudged in the corners? There is a closeup of 2 that is on the base but there are a lot of them like this or the corners are really smooth. Just wondering why.

I'm very appreciative of anything you might be able to do to help me with this. We are new homeowners and I'm not very good with projects, apparently. But I'm frustrated and I want this to look better than it does.

 

[bholler]

I am assuming hers is the first one and yours is the second. I dont think yours looks bad at all. But at this point the only way to go bsvkwards is either with chemical strippers which are not nice to work with or abrasives like sandblasting which is also not fun. So i would recomend either learning to like the way it is or just painting it. The reason it didnt come out the same is every brick is different. Some will be more pourous some smother etc. All of that will greatly effect the way a wash goes on. Sorry i couldnt be of more help but once you put paint on masonry it isnt easy to undo.

 

[WebGirlie]

Hi,

Thanks for your thoughts. Hers is the photo with the fire burning. Mine is the one with the identical before and after.

I don't really understand your response though. Why do I need to sandblast this or use a chemical stripper and remove it completely? You're saying that it cannot be simply faded down somewhat? It seems that since a Magic Eraser worked and TSP worked, as I wrote, then something as dramatic as a sandblaster is a little over the top.

Maybe my questions were unclear. So here they are specifically:

1. How can I make the greywash more transparent and/or bring some depth and color variance to the fireplace? Please view uploaded photo IMG_8836 were you can see blush tones coming through. That isn't why I uploaded the photo but it's a nice representation of what I'd like to see more of on the face of the fireplace.
- To be clear, I don't want to start over and I don't want to remove it completely. I also am not interested in painting over it. Just want to get color variance into it.

2. Also please see IMG_8836 and IMG_8837 for the grout/masonry. It is not even with the brick but very deep. Is that normal or is this indicative of a problem?

3. IMG_8837 - there are several bricks with the corners smudged like this and others with the corners broken and smoothed down. Any thoughts why? Is it just a cheaply made fireplace? Just curious.

Thanks again,
Marybeth

 

[begreen]

The best results I have seen for a more transparent look come from either diluting the wash when it's put on and/or by wiping it down before it dries.

At the current stage it looks like some sort of solvent will need to be used and quickly wiped off or a lot of elbow grease used.

What was material was used for the paint?

 

[bholler]

Hi,

Thanks for your thoughts. Hers is the photo with the fire burning. Mine is the one with the identical before and after.

I don't really understand your response though. Why do I need to sandblast this or use a chemical stripper and remove it completely? You're saying that it cannot be simply faded down somewhat? It seems that since a Magic Eraser worked and TSP worked, as I wrote, then something as dramatic as a sandblaster is a little over the top.

Maybe my questions were unclear. So here they are specifically:

1. How can I make the greywash more transparent and/or bring some depth and color variance to the fireplace? Please view uploaded photo IMG_8836 were you can see blush tones coming through. That isn't why I uploaded the photo but it's a nice representation of what I'd like to see more of on the face of the fireplace.
- To be clear, I don't want to start over and I don't want to remove it completely. I also am not interested in painting over it. Just want to get color variance into it.

2. Also please see IMG_8836 and IMG_8837 for the grout/masonry. It is not even with the brick but very deep. Is that normal or is this indicative of a problem?

3. IMG_8837 - there are several bricks with the corners smudged like this and others with the corners broken and smoothed down. Any thoughts why? Is it just a cheaply made fireplace? Just curious.

Thanks again,
Marybeth

Ok well i dont think it looks bad at all. But in order to get what is on there to appear more transparent you are going to have to take some of it off. To do thatvis going to require chemicals or pretty aggresive abrasives.

As far as the deep set mortar joints and mortar on the face that could have simply been the look they were going for on the interior there is nothing wrong with it. Or they could have just been bad masons as well i dont know.

 

[bholler]

But they clearly used a pretty rustic brick so i am thinking the look was intentional.

 

[RobbieB]

I would try a wire brush, not real stiff and your hands won't suffer.

 

[Andyman]

if you have a drill, you could try one of these: (and wear safety glasses)

https://www.harborfreight.com/wire-wheelcup-brush-set-6-pc-60475.html

 

[bholler]

if you have a drill, you could try one of these: (and wear safety glasses)

https://www.harborfreight.com/wire-wheelcup-brush-set-6-pc-60475.html

They will just leave black on the brick.

 

[Andyman]

They will just leave black on the brick.

good to know, Thanks.

 

[armanidog]

How old is the house?
Bricks vary in composition, some are pure red clay, some have clinkers or wood Ash added to the clay.
I would go to a Sherwin Williams store and ask what else you could do to change the current results.
If they do not know, they may know a contractor who might be able to offer some advice.
You may be able to use muriatic acid to wash some of the color off.