Painting brick houses is something that the homeowner can do to improve its appearance. If the bricks look worn down, damaged or otherwise unattractive, you can't really replace the bricks, but you can do the next best thing. Painting a brick house can be a complicated and time consuming process. If you don't do it right, you may wind up constantly maintaining the paint, which cost you more money than it's worth.

If you follow these recommendations for how to paint a brick house the results should be well worth your effort.

1. Preparing a brick house for painting:

Before beginning to paint a brick house, there are a couple of things that you must do to get the brick ready for painting.

· Remove any foreign substances from the surface. Scrape off any loose paint or any other foreign substance that may be stuck on the bricks using a scraper. If there is any mildew use bleach to remove it. If you think the bricks have any lead-based paint, consult the specialist before you start removing it. Exposure to lead paint can be hazardous to your health.

· Clean the brick. Use soap and water to wash off dirt that may have seeped into the brick pores. When you are done, go over the bricks with water to remove any soap left behind.

· Patch the cracks using either 100 percent acrylic or siliconized acrylic caulk to seal any cracks within the bricks. You may need to repeat this step several times, since the sealing material may not fully fill the cracks on the first application. For best results wait at least 3 hours between applications.

2. Apply a priming paint:

A primer is a coating material that helps the finish paint adhere to the surface of the brick, increases durability of the paint and provides some protection for the bricks underneath. Use the paint brush to apply the primer to the bricks. For best results, use an exterior latex primer. Be sure to be very thorough. If you leave any gaps, they will eventually show up on the finished coat of paint. You should be especially thorough with the sealing material between bricks, since the grout is more vulnerable than the bricks themselves.

After the primer is applied, wait until it is completely dried before you begin painting.

3. Applying the finish paint:

Once the primer is completely dry start applying the finish paint using a paint brush. You can use either acrylic latex exterior paint or elastomeric paint. The elastomeric is more water-proof and is more suitable for repainting. In other words, if you decide to repaint your brick house with another color in the future, it would be easier to paint over.

After you applied one coat of finish paint, you may need to apply another to fill in the gaps. However, this may result in uneven surfaces, so you should try to be as thorough as possible the first time around. You can choose from a variety of flat, satin, or semi-gloss finishes, depending on your preference.

That is all there is to it.

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