How do you take paint off of brick?

Tudor brick home built in 1926. Homeowner painted the fireplace. We want to know the steps to restore the fireplace back to the original brick. Thanks!

Answers:
Getting paint off of anything is always a messy business. With brick, it's extra messy, and hard, because the mortar between the bricks is not at the same level.

Sandblasting works, but requires a lot of equippment, and gets a lot of sand (potentially wet sand, depending on the machine used) all over the room... better for exterior work.

Chemicals may work, but I am not impressed. Usually this just dissolves the paint, and you have to wipe it off. The paint spots you're sure to miss will often seep deeper into the cracks and crevices... but if the paint is some sort of earth tone, this may not be too big a deal, might just make it look like "used" bricks. As a bonus, chemicals usually do not damage the bricks themselves, which would otherwise get some amount of apparent weathering.

A wire brush is probably the second best way to do it. They don't get sand all over like a sandblaster. You have more control over what gets removed, and what does not get removed... but doing this by hand will literally take forever.

Rotary wheels with wire bristles on them can be attached to dremel tools, electric screwdrivers, drills, or even some rotary saws. They sacrifice some of the accuracy of a wire brush for a much faster overall process. This will probably take less time than using paint remover chemicals, but slightly more time than a sand blaster. You're likely to get paint chips and bits of brick and mortar dust everywhere, but at least there will be no wet sand. You might be able to find rotary wheels of different sizes and thicknesses... one like a big roller would be great for the brick surface. A much thinner one should get the horizontal mortar between the brick layers, and a very small one could get the detail work in the vertical mortar between individual bricks in a layer.

Other answers:
Sandblasting is the easiest in my opinion.
you can use paint remover but it stinks and it's dangerous.
Sandblasting is the easiest in my opinion.
you can use paint remover but it stinks and it's dangerous.
wash it or scrape it off
Paint stripper and sandblasting. Call a professional. They have the knowledge and tools.
Sand blasting works but messy. Try a paint removing torch.
:You should hire a sandblaster; it will do it quickly and efficiently.
I cant tell you the best way to do it, but I can tell you sandblasting can be very dangerous. Not only to your home, but there are little particles in sand, called silica, (it's airborne) and it can get in your lungs and cause something similar to asbestosis (from asbestos), it's called silicosis. It caused respitory problems. If you choose the sandblasting method consider hiring professionals, and/or wear really good face masks not the plain paper M3 masks.
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