Painting a brick fire place white...?

Question

I am renting a house where they said we can do what we like to fix it up.

The fire place was insulated and covered up, there is this ugly horrible yellow insulation sticking out of the vents, and they put a piece of plywood in the fireplace and insulated around it to block it off. So we will NOT be having fires in here.

I want to know what kind of paint is best for bricks, and what is the process.

We are going to make a fire place cover to cover up the plywood, and thought we could sand down the insulation to be at the same level (it sticks out further) of the bricks, and paint over this too.

Thanks.

Answer 1

you better check with him on this one...painting a fireplace is a little different than painting a wall...besides painting brickwork is a sin...

Answer 2

Sounds like it will be a big improvement.  You want the surface to be good and clean.  Brush it down to remove any loose grout and vacuum.  A good scrubbing would be a good idea.  When it is dry you can paint the surface with a latex masonry primer.  For the top coat you can use any good latex paint - you don't have to use masonry paint since you are indoors and primed.  Just decide if you want a flat look or glossy or something in between like satin.    You will probably need to use brushes and a roller - the roller will go faster but will not get into all the grout lines probably.  Use masking tape to protect whatever you are not painting around the edges.