Tips on Painting Brick Exterior White

Learn tips and tricks for painting your brick exterior white and totally transform your home!

Before we get started, we want to say--do not start this project until you have verified with a reputable painter that the type of brick on your home can be painted. Some brick houses should never be painted and it can cause major issues (ie. mold, mildew) down the road if you paint your brick and it's not able to breathe properly! Once you get the green light to paint--make sure to use Loxon Paint. More information below on that!

It's no secret that paint truly has the power to transform your home, inside and out. We had been wanting to paint the exterior brick of our home for quite some time but couldn't decide on a color or when we should do it. Then one day we drove by a house in our neighborhood and fell in love with the color! It was the perfect soft white and looked great with their landscaping. Seeing the paint on a home really makes a difference and so I slipped a note in their mailbox asking for the paint color.

Our lovely neighbor sent me a text later that day and told me it was Greek Villa by Sherwin Williams. And so with that--we decided to get the project going! We ended up hiring a friend to do the actual painting of the brick but we helped him a lot along the way and learned some tips and tricks that we thought may be good to know if you're thinking about painting your brick house white.

In case you're scrolling this article looking for the paint colors only--I won't torture you like most recipes do and will give you the colors up front so you can go about your day! White: Greek Villa SW 7551 (Loxon) and we painted the door Cool Avocado SW9029. Make SURE the paint you buy for the exterior brick is Loxon paint. This special type of paint is made for brick and allows it to breathe. You can read all about it here on Sherwin William's website. We highly recommend verifying with a painter before starting your project that the type of brick is able to be painted. Don't start your project until you do this!

Once you've gotten the green light to proceed with painting, follow the steps below to transform your home!

Step 1: Remove the Shutters

We decided that we wanted to keep the shutter off of our house so the first thing we did was remove them. If you want to leave your shutters on, we recommend leaving them and just painting around them since it could damage the brick taking them off and them screwing them back in.

Step 2: Pressure Wash

Before painting any area, you have to make sure it's free of dirt and dust. We didn't a light pressure washing of the entire house and let it dry for 2 days after to make sure the brick was good an dried out. We also painted our house in January when there's not a lot of pollen (like there is here in the spring) or leaves etc. that could cause it to get dirty again quickly.

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Step 3: Buy the Right Paint

We've already talked a lot about making sure your house can be painted, so once you've verified the brick is good to go, make sure to buy Loxon Paint. We used Greek Villa (SW7551) from Sherwin Williams. The color is a creamy white but still very fresh looking. Make sure to get drop clothes, painting tape and enough rollers and paint brushes.

Step 4: Tape Off Windows and Doors

This is the least fun part but so necessary! The easiest thing to do is buy thin plastic sheeting from Lowes or Home Depot and with painters tape, tape off all of the windows and doors so they're completely covered from any paint splatter.

Step 5: Paint!

Once your house is all prepped and ready to go, you can get to the fun part--paint! We recommend starting in the early morning and giving yourself a few days because it always takes longer than you think! And now matter how much paint you buy, you will probably end up running to the store for that one extra can. We painted our house first and then our door last. The door we decided to do in Cool Avocado (SW9029) and the earthy tone looks so good against the crisp white!

Step 6: Let Dry and Do Touch Ups

After you've finished, give it a day or two to dry and then go back and see if any spots on the brick had bled through that you'll need to retouch. We had one spot on the side of our house that you could see where we ran out of paint and the 1 coat side vs. the two coat side really showed. But after all the touchups we are really happy with how it turned out!

Things We Learned

• Painting the Steps: We painted the steps white too and now we wish we had painted them black or left them as is because they really show all of the dirt. No matter how much you sweep or hose off it's kind of inevitable so we will probably end up painting them black because I'm too OCD to let this slide!

• Windows: Now that we've painted the house white, we're realizing we want the window frames to be a little darker to contrast so there's not too much white. This will be a project for next year since we do need new windows but just something to keep in mind!

Whatever route you decide to go--painting your house white can be such a fun and rewarding project! We can't wait to see how the house looks this spring once all of the trees get their leaves again and the grass comes back.