Should You Paint Your Brick Exterior in St. Louis, MO?

When you have a brick exterior on your home, one of the things that come up is whether or not you should paint — there is after all a good aesthetic that comes with an unpainted brick exterior.

On the other hand, there are a number of downsides that come with a painted brick exterior, one being how how it is just about impossible to undo it once you have fully done it.

That being the case, let us now consider whether you should paint your brick exterior in St. Louis, MO.

The Paint Job Cannot Be Reversed Easily

The nature of brick is unlike many other surfaces when it comes to painting and other things — once you paint a brick surface, the porous surface will take in the paint and not just have it on the outer surface.

If you try to remove paint from the brick, you will succeed to some extent but the brick will still be somewhat discolored.

To get the brick back to the original state will not be possible without damaging the brick itself.

It Is Easier To Clean After Being Painted

As mentioned above, brick is a porous material which means that it is a bit more difficult than other materials that are not porous or even less porous.

The dirt actually gets trapped in the brick itself, and has to be scrubbed quite well to get it clean.

Once you have painted the exterior of your brick surface with paint you make it a nonporous surface, which makes it considerably easier to clean.

You May Need To Clean More Often

Having a painted brick exterior will make the presence of dirt more obvious to you as it will be more visible on the surface.

That being the case, it doesn’t mean you will need to clean more often, just that it will be more clear to you when you probably should consider doing it — and if the appearance of dirt doesn’t bother you, you need not do it.

Of course, the fact that it will be that much easier to clean your house should make the fact that it may be necessary to perform the task more often somewhat more palatable and less daunting

Your House Will Be Better Protected Against Rain And Snow

Once you paint the exterior of your brick home, you will find that it is much better protected against rain and snow and (if you choose the right sort of paint) better protected against the harmful effects of UV rays on your home.

There are paints that are better suited for UV protection and even the best ones have a sort of expiration on them in that the protection only lasts so long before the home needs to be protected but this kind of thing lasts several years, fortunately.

Your Home May Become Damaged Water Leaks Underneath

After you paint the exterior of your brick home, you need to be careful to ensure that it does not have any sort of cracks on the surface where water may leak in.

These would be the sorts of cracks that could be fine enough that they would be hardly noticeable but a good inspection should reveal it — water that gets in underneath the surface of your painted brick home could cause damage over the long run.

If you use the kind of exterior paint that can ‘breath’ as it were this would not be so much of a problem for you as it would permit water to escape through the paint surface.