First time ever restoring brick: Rescuing our 1936 coal-burning fireplace from the crime of modern latex and the 90-year-old limewash. (And a question at the end!)
Hey r/CenturyHomes, r/DIY, r/HomeImprovement, r/Renovation
I wanted to share a progress update on a project that has completely consumed my life over the last few days. Trigger Warning: I will never use the term Brick by Brick flippantly again. We have a massive brick fireplace in our (new to us) 1936 Tudor basement. Historically, it was an old coal-burning fireplace for a large home.
I have absolutely zero experience with brick restoration—this is my very first time ever trying to strip or rescue historic masonry, and it has been a massive learning curve.
1. The "Before" (Painted Brick)
When we moved in, the entire fireplace was buried under a thick coat of bright teal latex paint.
- The Initial Attack & House Archaeology
I slathered the brick in Dumond Peel Away 1 and left it for 48 hours. When I started scraping, it turned into a toxic, goopy oatmeal slurry. But it did reveal something incredible: beneath that 5-year-old teal latex layer was a thick, ghost-white layer of original 1936 limewash.
Peel Away 1 is for Older Paint and makes a slurry of new latex instead. of peeling.
3. The Despair Phase (And a shoutout to my daughter)
This is where the project almost broke me. The top mantel row of bricks was smooth and non-porous, so the paint lifted off easily. But the front face of the arch is made of highly textured, wire-cut historic bricks—they acted like absolute sponges for the paint and lime.
I hit a total wall. I threw everything at it: vinegar, terry cloths, Dawn Powerwash, Goof Off, a hot steam cleaner, and even Windex. My daughter and I spent hours upon hours down on the basement floor scrubbing until our arms ached, and we were barely making a dent. Looking at that clean top mantel row against the stubborn, white-hazed face genuinely made me want to cry.
After Peel Away 1 and hours of failed options.
- The Drill Failure vs. The $8 Gun Accessory Hack
I figured a power tool would save our backs, so I bought heavy-duty brass wire wheels for my power drill. Total failure. At high speeds, the rigid bristles just skipped right over the deep valleys of the brick and violently smeared the wet latex sludge around without lifting it.
The breakthrough came when I realized I could reactivate the dried residue with plain hot water and a tiny, toothbrush-sized soft brass wire brush from a paint aisle tri-pack. Because the manual brass bristles were fine and flexible, they could actually hook into the micro-texture of the brick and rake the limewash out of the pits without scratching the 90-year-old clay.
My daughter and I ground that first toothbrush down to absolute nubs, so I hopped online and found a major saver: a 12-pack of soft-brass gun-cleaning toothbrushes for $8. They are designed not to scratch precision gun barrels, which makes them the absolute perfect tool for historic brick. I also picked up a tri-pack of larger wooden-handled soft brass brushes to cover more ground.
After Scrubbing with the Brass toothbrush.
5. The Indoor "Power Washer"
To handle the massive, muddy rinsing mess inside the house without flooding the room, I bought a 1-gallon hand-pressurized garden sprayer and filled it with warm water. It gave me just enough targeted hydraulic pressure to blast the liquified slurry off the brick face and down into a catch bucket.
6. Turning Hours of Work into 30 Minutes
Right now, the fireplace is a work in progress. I wrapped the right side in Dumond Smart Strip (which is engineered for modern latex) to eat through the remaining teal layer overnight, while the left side got the Peel Away 1 treatment for the 1936 limewash.
After last night with the Smart Strip
But on the exposed sections, the workflow is finally down to a science. I dip the large wooden brass brush in a 5-gallon bucket of warm water, and scrub the face with heavy horizontal and vertical agitation until it turns into a thick, foamy white slurry. Then I switch to the gun-cleaning toothbrush using circular motions to clean out the mortar joints, nicks, and pits, followed by a spray rinse.
This morning's run took me exactly 30 minutes total for a massive section, compared to the hours of soul-crushing misery my daughter and I spent fighting it the day before.
Post slurry rinse and re-slurry
7. Where it Stands Now (I Have Hope)
The wire-cut texture of the historic 1936 clay is finally breathing again, and seeing the variation in the natural brick tones is incredibly rewarding.
After 3 rounds of scrubbing this morning (about 30 minutes of actual labor)
There are still stubborn white flecks of old limewash stuck deep inside the nicks, pits, and mortar joints—especially around the top of the arch. Goof Off did absolutely nothing to touch them.
I Need Your Advice!
As a first-timer, I'm stuck on the final detailing. Since original 1936 limewash is basically calcium carbonate, I'm wondering if a mild acid wash like Lime-A-Way (applied carefully with a toothbrush and rinsed immediately) would dissolve these final white ghosts, or if that risks damaging the historic mortar joints?
How do I clear away the excess mortar at the top of the arch?
Excess Mortar hiding the detail of the thin layer of brick, maybe? Or maybe it's just mortar?
Thanks for letting me share, and I appreciate your input!