Outdated Colors
Orange and salmon-toned brick reads as old. A soft white, warm gray, or deep charcoal instantly modernizes the space.
Fireplace Painting and Refinishing for Eastside Homes
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Heat-rated coatings
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Dust-controlled prep
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Local Eastside crew
Trusted and Insured Fireplace Painting
A lot of Eastside homes built through the 1980s and 90s came with a big brick or stone fireplace as the centerpiece of the living room. The masonry is solid, but the color rarely matches how people decorate today. Fireplace painting is the fastest way to update that wall without tearing anything out.
Peacock Painting handles the whole job: covering your floors and furniture, prepping the masonry, and applying coatings made for the warmth a working fireplace gives off. Most projects wrap in a single day. A fireplace is a natural extension of the indoor work our crew already does, which you can see on our interior painting services page.
Why Homeowners Paint Their Fireplaces
A fireplace pulls your eye the moment you walk in. When the brick or stone clashes with everything else, the whole room feels off, no matter how nicely the rest of it is decorated.
Brightening the Room
A dark masonry wall can swallow light. Painting it lighter opens up living rooms, which helps in homes with smaller or north-facing windows.
Selling or Staging
A clean, neutral fireplace photographs well and helps buyers picture themselves in the home. It’s a low-cost update before a sale.
Our Surface Preparation Process
1
Protect the Room
Floors, mantels, and nearby furniture get covered. We tape off walls and trim so the only thing that changes is the fireplace itself.
2
Deep Clean the Surface
We scrub away soot, dust, and grease. Paint will not bond to a dirty fireplace, and soot bleeds through if it isn’t removed first.
3
Repair and Fill
Cracked mortar joints and loose spots get patched so the finished surface is sound and even
4
Prime and Seal
A masonry-specific primer seals the porous surface and blocks stains, giving the topcoat something to hold onto.
Brick Fireplace Painting
Brick is the most common fireplace we repaint on the Eastside. It’s also the one people most regret rushing. Brick is porous, so paint that isn’t sealed correctly will blotch, soak in unevenly, and peel near the firebox.
We clean years of soot and dust out of the surface, seal it with a masonry primer that grips the texture, then work paint into every joint and brick face by hand so no bare mortar lines show through. If you’d rather keep some of the brick’s character, we also offer a German smear or limewash-style finish that softens the color while letting the texture show.
Stone Fireplace Painting
Stone fireplaces, whether natural fieldstone or a manufactured veneer, have deeper recesses and rougher faces than brick. That texture is part of the charm, but it makes coverage trickier.
We brush and back-roll to push paint into the gaps so the finish looks consistent from every angle, and we spray the deepest pockets on heavily textured stone when that’s the right call. Homeowners on Mercer Island and in older Kirkland neighborhoods often prefer a muted, earthy result over a flat white, so we tint the coating to a warm greige or soft taupe that keeps the natural feel while clearing out the dated tones.
Paints, Primers, and
Coatings We Use
The right product depends on whether your fireplace is decorative or sees real fires, and how close the painted area sits to the firebox.
A properly primed and painted fireplace holds up for years with almost no upkeep. The most common reason a finish fails early is skipped prep, which is why we spend the time on cleaning and sealing before any color goes down.
Masonry Primer and Sealer
The foundation of every job. It locks down the porous surface, blocks soot stains from bleeding through, and keeps the topcoat from soaking in unevenly.
Acrylic Latex Topcoat
For the brick and stone faces away from direct flame, a quality acrylic latex holds color well and cleans easily. Eggshell and satin sheens are the most popular.
Heat-Resistant Coatings
For surfaces near a working firebox, we switch to heat-rated paint built to handle elevated temperatures without yellowing or cracking.
Limewash and Mineral Finishes
When you want a softer, weathered look on brick, a breathable limewash gives an aged finish that still shows the masonry’s texture.
The Benefits of Fireplace Refinishing
A single day of work changes the entire feel of the room it sits in. Here’s what homeowners notice most after the project is done.
- A focal point that finally matches the rest of your decor
- A brighter, more open-feeling living room
- A modern update without the cost of a tear-out and rebuild
- Better photos for listing or staging your home
- An easy-to-wipe surface instead of dust-catching raw masonry
- A clear before-and-after that you’ll see every single day
Compared to ripping out masonry and starting over, refinishing is a fraction of the cost and disruption. You keep the structure that’s already there and give it a finish that fits your home today.
Serving Bellevue
and the Eastside
Peacock Painting works throughout the Eastside, so a local crew can be at your home quickly for an estimate. We paint fireplaces in newer Bellevue builds, classic Mercer Island homes, and the established neighborhoods around Kirkland where dated brick is common.
Because we know the housing stock here, we have a good sense of which finishes suit which homes. To meet the team, visit our Bellevue painters page, or learn more about the company on the Peacock Painting homepage.
Frequently Asked Questions – Fireplace Painting
Because the work is contained to one wall, most brick and stone fireplace projects on the Eastside fall into a modest, mid-range price band. The exact number depends on the size of the fireplace, the surface texture, and whether heat-rated coatings are needed near the firebox. We give a firm written quote after seeing it in person or from a clear photo.
Yes. A solid painted finish looks clean and intentional, not cheap, as long as the brick is sealed and the paint is worked into the joints by hand. If you want to keep more of the natural character, a limewash or German smear finish lets the texture and a hint of the original color show through.
It is when the right products are used. For surfaces close to a working firebox, we apply heat-resistant coatings rated for elevated temperatures. The decorative brick and stone faces farther from the flame are finished with durable acrylic latex. We match the coating to how your fireplace is actually used.
It can. Once the masonry is sealed and primed, repainting it a different color down the road is straightforward, much like repainting a wall. That’s one reason painting is a lower-risk update than replacing the masonry outright.
Most fireplaces are cleaned, prepped, primed, and painted in a single day. Heavily textured stone or surfaces that need extra repair can stretch into a second day. We’ll give you a clear timeline with your estimate.
Let's Talk About Your Home
Ready to Update Your Fireplace?
Send us a photo of your brick or stone fireplace and we'll tell you what's possible. Estimates are free and there's no pressure to book.