I finally found a way to get old paint off brick without wrecking the mortar

Tried pressure washing a brick wall in my backyard last month and it just blasted craters into the old mortar joints. Switched to a gel paint stripper from the hardware store on a small patch and let it sit for 45 minutes. Then used a plastic scraper and a stiff nylon brush instead of a wire one. The paint came off clean without damaging the brick or the mortar lines. Has anyone else had better luck with chemical strippers over sandblasting for old Edmonton brick houses?

2 comments

2 Comments

king.wyatt1d ago

Blasted craters into the old mortar joints" - that's exactly what happened to my buddy when he tried sandblasting his 1920s house here in St. Albert. Looked like a honeycomb after. I'm glad you had better luck with the gel stripper though. I used the same stuff on a brick fireplace and it worked great, just had to keep the plastic wrap on it so it wouldn't dry out too fast in the sun.

nathanj5623h ago

70lbs of soda media for a 3ft section on my 1912 bungalow taught me the hard way too, @king.wyatt. That stuff eats old lime mortar like candy. Ended up patching everything with a repointing mix and it held up alright but took forever.