How to remove paint from brick?

graffiti remover might work

Also sold as hair spray. Get the cheap stuff. Brick is pretty porous and it might take a lot of applications. Not sure if you will notice a difference in the color of the brick after your done.

I am replacing wrought iron rails on the carport with aluminum columns. There is some old paint on the brick that I need to remove. Any suggestions other than a wire brush?

Thanks for your reply.

Sand blast...

Since brick is porous it can be very difficult to remove paint, as it soaks into the pores. I have found it easier to first chisel off the blobs as much as possible, then take a brick or brick chip to the paint store, having them computer-match the color and get the texture (flat), then just paint over the nonmatching paint, as a touchup job. You might also consider buying one of the newer premixed sample bottles of paint, doing a rough match by eye.

That sounds best. Any idea how much that costs. (I"m not being sarcastic.)

I was going to say that, depending on the kind of paint and how much, maybe a razor scraper. I found for brick, the best kind is the cheap box cutter that is just a thin double fold piece of metal with a thinner double fold inside that holds the blade. Most sold these days are only useful as a box cutter, but some had at the opposite end something that would grip the back of the single edge razor blade.

It only holds it in the middle, and then ends are free to flex, so the blade doesn't break near as often as the ones that hold the non-sharp blade edge all the way across.

It worked very well for me to get extra mortar off and if the paint would chip off in chunks, maybe this blade would get that started, at surface level, like it did with the mortar.

Meirman

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