Painting Rear of House?

The back of my 1899 house was painted when I bought it almost 40 years ago. Since then I’ve had it re-painted a few times, most recently with Throlastic several years ago. We had some water infiltration through a crack in a mortar joint under the gutter during the severe weather last summer. Our roofer suggests just pointing that area, but the mason who pointed the limestone and Roman brick in front [VERY well] last summer suggeste stripping the paint and repointing the entire rear facade [for a price that seems pretty reasonable]. I’m not sure that if the brick was actually meant to go unpainted. I know brick in much older houses was intended to be painted, but I’m not sure about my relatively late house. Anyone know?

BobMarvin

in About Brooklyn 11 years and 3 months ago

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mlight | 11 years and 3 months ago

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Bob- I’m facing a similar question to yours–I’d really love to strip the paint from the bricks on the back of my building (also built 1899), but I haven’t even gotten estimates because I’ve assumed it’s just too expensive. May I ask you how much your mason quoted? (And his name?) And what have you decided to do?

snowman2 | 11 years and 3 months ago

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My back was mostly worn off Thoroseal. An experienced restoration contractor advised me to have the bricks gently brushed to remove loose Thoroseal and then just point. I did it about 20 years ago and have no problems. The brick needs to breathe and painting it traps moisture and sets it up to absorb water through cracks in the paint which becomes trapped and deteriorates the brick and your interior walls. Several years ago I watched my neighbor have the back of his house stuccoed. It was intact brick that he had been painting and he was convinced that it was going to be maintenance-free . As it was going up it was clear that it would fail. It involved slamming nails into the brick to hold wire lathe to the brick. In a few years the stucco was cracked and taking in water which became trapped in the brick. He had the entire stucco job removed and pointed the brick.

Arkady | 11 years and 3 months ago

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I did both since various coverings & cleanings over the years had undermined the ‘finish’ of the bricks. Pointing & Thoroseal.

Augustiner | 11 years and 3 months ago

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EIFS /stucco with a 3 inch insulation will take care of your leaks and give you a nice and cosy back wall. Unless it’s a problem if you loose the brick look in the rear of your house

ventilated | 11 years and 3 months ago

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Though some facades have been painted for aesthetic reasons, the vast majority of Brooklyn houses with painted brick, or coated with Thorocoat or Thorolastic, were coated to disguise structural defects, from hairline cracks to massive defects in mortar. I second Jock, and refer you to these Brick Industry Association notes: http://www.gobrick.com/Portals/25/docs/Technical%20Notes/TN6.pdf http://www.gobrick.com/Technical-Notes/Links-to-Technical-Notes

jockdeboeraia | 11 years and 3 months ago

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The right way to do it is get rid of the paint and re-point, replacing brick as needed.

BobMarvin | 11 years and 3 months ago

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Whoops– make that severe weather last WINTER.