I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

You have probably scratched the surface of the brick bringing out the terra
cotta colour of the base clay. Don't start applying linseed oil without
testing a small area, like the wire brushing, it is a one way trip. If you
don't like it there is no going back. Also you should have tried the wire
brushing on a hidden area before you did the whole fireplace. If you were
trying to get rid of dirt on the surface a nylon brush probably would have
been better. Always test before you barge ahead.

"frank1492" wrote in message
...
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

I think the brick was in much worse shape than you imagined!
Lots of black smoke stain, etc. Nylon wouldn't have touched it.
As bad as it is now, it is much better than before and could
be lived with. I will test a small area with the linseed, but I
understand there are stains available as well. Are you familiar
with any of them?
BTW I assume the linseed could be applied without mineral
spirits dilution, correct?
Thanks very much for your help
Frank






On Tue, 15 Aug 2006 11:29:49 -0400, "EXT"
wrote:

You have probably scratched the surface of the brick bringing out the terra
cotta colour of the base clay. Don't start applying linseed oil without
testing a small area, like the wire brushing, it is a one way trip. If you
don't like it there is no going back. Also you should have tried the wire
brushing on a hidden area before you did the whole fireplace. If you were
trying to get rid of dirt on the surface a nylon brush probably would have
been better. Always test before you barge ahead.

"frank1492" wrote in message
.. .
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

frank1492 wrote:
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

I've always heard that you should clean brick by rubbing it with a
brick of approximately the same color. It has worked pretty well for
me.

I have a brick like that, but the surface of this brick is quite
irregular, sounds like you'd have trouble making contact between
the two bricks over the complete surface of each.
I tried wetting the surface of a brick or two with just plain
water. I figured that might simulate what they would look like
if oiled. They looked pretty good so I will probably go the linseed
oil route.
Thanks.
Frank





On 15 Aug 2006 10:19:32 -0700, wrote:


frank1492 wrote:
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

I've always heard that you should clean brick by rubbing it with a
brick of approximately the same color. It has worked pretty well for
me.

As another mentioned you probably removed the "face" of the brick and
are into the body of it. Bricks have a face material that is applied
over the main body before firing this is what allows for different
looking brick colors and texutres. NEVER use a wire brush on brick
always use a natural bristel or man made material (plastic,nylon,ect.)

As I have mentioned before in this group I really do not like masonry
sealants but I believe this would be a perfect application for such. Im
assuming why you went over your brick was because it had soot on it? If
this fireplace is in use the sealant is perfect for this and the oil
would be a huge mistake....oil and dust (or soot) are atracted to each
other like bees and flowers. Yes it would bring out the color but so
would a sealant and it would (seal it) so clean up would be much eaiser
and since it is inside and nobody is walking on it (hopefully) this
probably would never have to be reapplied or atleast not for a long
time.

frank1492 wrote:
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank

Thanks Italian-
The brush that I used was a grille (barbecue) brush with very
soft copper bristles from the look. I don't think I got very far into
the outer coating at all, despite the concerns of you and others.
The fireplace will NOT be used. Still I will consider the
sealant you have recommended. One reason is that I don't like
the smell of linseed oil, which I suspect would not go away for
a long time.
I am sure it is very important to make sure the brick looks
the way you want it before applying the sealant. I am still going
to try to clean the brick with TSP unless you recommend
otherwise, before the final step.
One other question: I have very dirty looking mortar at
this point. What would be the best way to brighten that, or
will the TSP work?
The brick had mostly soot and some other discolorations.
Frank






On 15 Aug 2006 17:24:43 -0700, "Italian"
wrote:

As another mentioned you probably removed the "face" of the brick and
are into the body of it. Bricks have a face material that is applied
over the main body before firing this is what allows for different
looking brick colors and texutres. NEVER use a wire brush on brick
always use a natural bristel or man made material (plastic,nylon,ect.)

As I have mentioned before in this group I really do not like masonry
sealants but I believe this would be a perfect application for such. Im
assuming why you went over your brick was because it had soot on it? If
this fireplace is in use the sealant is perfect for this and the oil
would be a huge mistake....oil and dust (or soot) are atracted to each
other like bees and flowers. Yes it would bring out the color but so
would a sealant and it would (seal it) so clean up would be much eaiser
and since it is inside and nobody is walking on it (hopefully) this
probably would never have to be reapplied or atleast not for a long
time.

frank1492 wrote:
I just went over my old brick fireplace with a wire brush and find
that the brick has now become a dull orangy red. What's the best
way to bring back the color? One website says 50% linseed oil
and 50% mineral spirits.
Help much appreciated!
Frank