I raised this problem in another section, but have a new angle that I think needs to be addressed seperatly. The problem is that in thinking I could get our painted fireplace back to its original brick, I could use a paint stripper and all would be good. All is not good. It just made a mess, and did get off some paint but not enough. The first try was with a citrus based stripper. I tried again with a more industrial type that burned through my gloves, but still didn't get off enough paint. I am now just trying to get the brick to be clean and smooth enough to repaint. The strippers left little chucks of paint all over the brick, and spots where it will still peel off a bit. I tried hand sanding some, which didnt help much. I am thinking of using a palm sander on it, but I'm still not convinced this will work. I just want to prime it and paint it, but if I do that now it will look rough and will probably start to peel off eventually. I have been told that a strong primer like "Gripper" should be good, and maybe if I use several coats, this will help, and at this point I'll try just about anything.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you, Turaco