# Painting exterior brick???



## MF Custom (May 3, 2009)

I will be painting exterior brick on a house soon. My question is what type of primer and topcoat to use???


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## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

After all the prep work is done prime with SW Loxon primer. Finish coat can be any exterior latex house paint, I like SW Duration.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

Ohio painter said:


> After all the prep work is done prime with SW Loxon primer. Finish coat can be any exterior latex house paint, I like SW Duration.


I like Resilience better the Duration, but its just a preference.


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

Ohio painter said:


> After all the prep work is done prime with SW Loxon primer. Finish coat can be any exterior latex house paint, I like SW Duration.


Or you can go wit Luxon XP, prime and finish with the same paint.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

JHC said:


> Or you can go wit Luxon XP, prime and finish with the same paint.


Never tried it. I think I would rather do a 2 part method. The way I was taught is primer is primer and paint is paint and they both have unique jobs to do. 
Mixing the two into one product makes me wonder if anything was sacrafised in the process. Maybe I am just the old school painter who is stuck in his outdates ways, man I hated those guys when I started out.


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## Driftweed (Nov 7, 2012)

Talked to my supplier today about this very thing:










I am looking at talking a guy into repainting his brick house. At first i thought "man this paint needs redone". Then I took my thumbnail and scratched at it, it was powdery.

Supplier said thas was calcite and to wash it off.

After that, use a brick sealer (clear color) then primer, paint as usual.

Something you may want to investigate is whether or not your going to have to seal the brick.


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## ModernStyle (May 7, 2007)

Seal-crete


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## JHC (Jun 4, 2010)

ModernStyle said:


> Never tried it. I think I would rather do a 2 part method. The way I was taught is primer is primer and paint is paint and they both have unique jobs to do.
> Mixing the two into one product makes me wonder if anything was sacrafised in the process. Maybe I am just the old school painter who is stuck in his outdates ways, man I hated those guys when I started out.


Lots of places I agree with you, interior GWB is one of those. This product has been in service for a while and used in many big commercial applications. Saves a ton of money over a three coat system.


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## Ohio painter (Dec 4, 2011)

Driftweed, I am not sure about the clear sealer, I would be getting another opinion on that one. Best to check what is in the sealer. If the sealer has silicone in it to repel water how does it not repel water based primer??? over simplified I know but why the need for a sealer?

With what you show in the picture I would stand by what I would do, good prep to get off all the chalking and loose paint, then Loxon and finish paint of choice. 

ModernStyle - I am with you I too don't go for the all in one paint and primers. 
Maybe I am more old school than I realize.


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## Driftweed (Nov 7, 2012)

In extreme cases, I would use primer & paint separately. But on an average job no need for it. 

If youre first to paint the brick, hell yeah separate them. But a simple recoat? Just up the quality of the paint. My 2 cents.


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## MF Custom (May 3, 2009)

Thanks for the replies...the exsisting brick is white and unpainted, pretty clean and in overall good shape. The SW primer sounds good, what about Ben Moore primers and top coats? how's the Aura exterior finishes holding up?


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## KDPaintingCT (Aug 8, 2013)

You could use Sherwin Williams Loxon concrete primer and apply a quality SW exterior paint like Superpaint or Duration. 
Good Luck!


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## GCTony (Oct 26, 2012)

Instead of stating a new thread, I'm thinking it's better to resurrect this old one.

We'll be painting brick with our in-house people. I'm not believing the new local SW person. She's more a residential/home owner type sales person. I have a 1970's looking brick, that tan stuff with the rough, tiny vertical lines in each brick. It's in very good condition but needs a color change to go with modernization of the rest of the shopping center. Most of the brick is protected by a canopy except for columns that are somewhat exposed to rain and sun. The two top priorities are 1) durability and 2) low maintenance. I'm looking for some advise/reassurance that I'm heading down the right path.

There's lots of small broken up areas such as columns between storefronts and a few courses under the storefront so I thinking this is a tape, spray and back-roll project.

Primer recommendation? A primer such as Luxon or should I use a block fill? Smoothing out the roughness some may not be a bad thing.

Finish. The SW rep is telling me to use an exterior house paint. I'm not buying this. I've been told more than once, there's a big difference to painting exterior wood and painting masonry. Masonry coatings need to "breath" Is there any truth to this? Any product recommendations? Any experience with the Luxon XP in this type of condition?

Finish. In the past, per Architects specs we've painted split face CMU and tilt-up with elastomeric but I believe that's to keep moisture out. Paint a brick veneer with it?

I'm thinking semi gloss???

How long before a repaint will be required?

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## GCTony (Oct 26, 2012)

Instead of stating a new thread, I'm thinking it's better to resurrect this old one.

We'll be painting brick with our in-house people. I'm not believing the new local SW person. She's more a residential/home owner type sales person. I have a 1970's looking brick, that tan stuff with the rough, tiny vertical lines in each brick. It's in very good condition but needs a color change to go with modernization of the rest of the shopping center. Most of the brick is protected by a canopy except for columns that are somewhat exposed to rain and sun. The two top priorities are 1) durability and 2) low maintenance. I'm looking for some advise/reassurance that I'm heading down the right path.

There's lots of small broken up areas such as columns between storefronts and a few courses under the storefront so I thinking this is a tape, spray and back-roll project.

Primer recommendation? A primer such as Luxon or should I use a block fill? Smoothing out the roughness some may not be a bad thing.

Finish. The SW rep is telling me to use an exterior house paint. I'm not buying this. I've been told more than once, there's a big difference to painting exterior wood and painting masonry. Masonry coatings need to "breath" Is there any truth to this? Any product recommendations? Any experience with the Luxon XP in this type of condition?

Finish. In the past, per Architects specs we've painted split face CMU and tilt-up with elastomeric but I believe that's to keep moisture out. Paint a brick veneer with it?

I'm thinking semi gloss???

How long before a repaint will be required?

Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Knight-Builder (Feb 19, 2015)

There's a great deal of truth to masonry coatings needing to breathe (same with the brick itself). If you're able to source a specified masonry paint, it would be my first suggestion. It goes on sans primer and is formulated as such (kinda like porch floor paint). Painted or not, masonry will always find a way to absorb moisture and some of that needs to make its way back out the face of the brick.

I always wished they had sandtex this side of the pond... It's a great masonry piant that does the job.

As for not trusting the sw rep regarding an exterior paint finish due to lack of breathability, would a blockfiller undercoat not sacrifice breathability anyway? (I don't recall if they're breathable or not.)


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