This project has been a humdinger. Moving along v-e-r-y slowly, but it is getting done. Decided this morning to paint the inside of the fireplace with heat-resistant paint while I have the logs out and all. Will also clean the gas-log fire tube. It has a lot of sand around it, so I'll clean it gently and vacuum it. Hopefully if we use it ONCE this winter, it will fire better.
I am doing laundry today, watching two children, and have to leave in 90 minutes for Good News Club, so my time is limited on this project. But so far, so good.
I've surprisingly had a lot of questions about doing this from readers that have lurked heretofore. How funny!
There was much to read online about "how" to paint a fire place or interior brick. I was wondering how it would go for me because I chose the least aggressive approach.
Here's what I emailed a reader this AM: I have changed my perspective on things. I used to be go,
go, go until it’s finished (which I paid for later with aching muscles and
joints, etc.). Last night I probably kept it up longer than I should
have, but I wanted to work until a certain time. I still left time enough
for clean-up of brush, etc. This is a very long-term project. The
color I’ll be painting the fireplace and rest of the room is a new one for the
room. It is also the color of our foyer, hallway, area going down steps,
and part of the kitchen. But I realized last night that I don’t need to
keep going until all of that is finished. I can just do the fireplace and
living room. There are no continuous walls between there and any other
part of the house. Then I can tackle the other rooms one section at a
time. I hope I can keep to that mindset. This is a huge job, and no
one else is going to be helping, unless I can rope my daughter, Rachel, into
wielding a brush soon. We’ll see.
On the positive side, I was unsure if what I was doing was going
to work. I had read so many different approaches to doing this. I
just scrubbed the bricks with a dry scrub brush, paying special attention to
the top “ledge” of each brick. I brushed off a ton of sandy debris
(probably brick and mortar crumbles from over 40 years). I am using the cheapest primer I
could find, and it seems to be covering and sticking extremely well. In
fact, I don’t think I’m going to need to use another coat of primer, and one
coat of paint should be fine!
Well, it's back to the paintbrush for me! Going to get in another good hour of work at least. TTFN!
