I have a watched a couple of Youtubes and it seems fairly foolproof (I will be a good test! 😂 ) with the right mortar for the "whitewash." Has anybody here done this: Any pro tips? Is there a preferred brand/variety of white mortar?



[URL unfurl="true"]https://www.hgtv.com/how-to/home-improvement/german-smear[/URL]

High heat mortar mix

Thanks Danny. I got so many negative comments on this on another forum that I think I will just paint the thing. Just wanting to jazz up a tired old fireplace inexpensively to help me sell the house.

I will send a pic up tomorrow sometime but the wife did ours. We just did the grout lines though and it turned out awesome. Wasn't very messy and for prep we just blew it off with an air hose. We had deep black mortar grout lines and the white really made it pop.

Just google youtube for German fireplace schmeer, or similar, quite a few videos and it doesn't look like a tough job. From the few I watched, looked pretty str8 forward and no real way to screw it up.

What color is your current brick and mortar? We were going to schmeer but went with a lime coat wash and so glad we did. Looks great and brightens up the room.

I vacuumed the brick thoroughly, then brushed and sponged it down with a TSP solution, followed by a primer coat of Zinsser 123 Bullseye. Not much character here of course, but it makes the room feel bigger and brighter. I'll probably paint it a sand color but have to settle on flooring and wall colors first.

Nice and the lighter color makes room look larger.

Yea, that looks pretty darn good.

Thanks fellas. I'll post again when it is completed. I look forward to the finishing touch -- building a "fake beam" mantel and hanging it on a French cleat.
This is the idea:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfhyNNnhmDw

I bet if you paint it with a light touch roller that allows a little white on the brick to show thru, it would give you that old style look. If it doesn't tun out like you want, then easy to fully coat it.

Interesting...

Good idea, Western.