When we first walked through the house, we went crazy when we saw the fireplace. Although it was spring, I started hearing Christmas songs…”chestnuts roasting on an open fire…” Then we noticed the color. The owner painted the brick fireplace white, including the wood mantel above. Why would anyone paint bricks white?
So I did some digging on how to remove paint from a brick fireplace. Some options sounded pretty scary and extremely messy: sand blasting, lye, etc.
Then I found a forum where a few people recommended Peel Away so I did a little research and found tons of info on their website. Dumont Chemicals sells paint stripping products for various uses, and all of them are environmentally friendly.
So far, we’ve used Peel Away 7 for the wood mantel, since this product is gentler on wood surfaces. We followed up the application by cleaning with denatured alcohol, which worked way better than mineral spirits.
The Mantel – Before & After
We’ll try removing the paint from the brick next, using Peel Away 1. This product is more heavy duty. Pictures will follow!
By the way, Peel Away 1, Peel Away 7 and denatured alcohol are all available at Home Depot.
