Dear Suzy,
We live in a 1945-era house in South Austin. It looks like it’s brick, but
the “brick” is apparently actually brick-size concrete blocks with some kind of
coating that makes them look like brick. The house also has a room added on. It
is made of cinder block which has been plastered or stuccoed on the inside. The
outside has been painted, but that’s all the finish it has.
My question is twofold: Is it possible or advisable to paint the fake
brick? Some of the cladding has come off, and we’ve had the house repainted in
places and the mortar was smeared on the brick, and it generally looks like
crap. I want to paint it but my wife argues that a big selling point in brick
houses is that they don’t have to be painted, and if we DO paint it, that
advantage is gone. She has a point.
The next part of my question is this: The outside of the add-on has no
finish, except paint. The joints are obvious, as is the texture of the cinder
blocks. In short, it ain’t very pretty. What is the possibility or advisability
of stuccoing this surface? Can I do it myself (I’m not completely inept)? Would
I have to apply some kind of mesh first, or could I slap stucco right on the
painted cinder block? Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks. —
Jeff
Dear Jeff,
Your wife might have a point about the merits of brick, but her argument loses
its punch if the brick looks like crap. But do you think a coat of color will
actually enhance the crap? The smeared mortar will just look like painted
smeared mortar, no?
You might want to save your energy for stuccoing the bomb-shelter addition.
(My great-aunt Pearl, whose house was destroyed three times by tornadoes,
finally just gave up and moved into her storm cellar. I’ll always relate the
look of bare cinder blocks with her odd, underground dwelling.) My advice on
this point is no more concrete (get it? concrete?) than on the question of
painting the brick. This quote from Build and Repair With Concrete (a
Quikcrete publication with Don Knotts on the cover) will depress the hell out
of you: “Painted concrete or masonry must be sandblasted to remove the paint
and improve the bonding characteristics of the scratch coat.” Attaching wire
lath is another alternative. But either way, if you happen to be tired of
listening to your wife’s well-considered opinions, this kind of project can
drag on to the point that you probably won’t have to worry about having a wife
after six months of construction rubble and growling cement mixers.
Are you sure you want my advice? Then e-mail your questions to me at
Suzebe@aol.com or snail mail ’em to The Austin Chronicle, PO Box
49066, Austin, TX 78765.
This article appears in November 22 • 1996 and November 22 • 1996 (Cover).