Painting Brick and Masonry Exteriors in North Texas

A huge share of Dallas-area homes are brick or brick-and-stucco, and masonry is the substrate people most often get wrong. It holds moisture, it's alkaline, and it moves with our clay soils. Coat it like wood siding and you'll be scraping blisters in two summers.

Test before you quote

• Check for efflorescence — the white crystalline bloom that means water is moving through the wall and carrying salts out with it.
• Do a tape adhesion check on existing coatings; older homes often carry three or more layers of paint and elastomeric.
• Look for hairline stair-step cracking in mortar joints, which points at foundation movement rather than a coating problem.

Prep that actually sticks

Masonry gets pressure washed at a controlled pressure — too much and you drive water into the wall or blast out soft mortar. Efflorescence is brushed off dry, then the source of the moisture is addressed before anything is coated. Failed mortar gets tuckpointed, cracks get an elastomeric patching compound, and the whole surface is allowed to dry thoroughly, usually a full day or more after washing.

The right coating system

Bare or previously unpainted masonry needs an alkali-resistant masonry primer — standard primers saponify against fresh alkalinity and lose their bond. Over that, a breathable 100% acrylic masonry finish lets vapor escape. Elastomeric coatings bridge hairline cracks well, but they're also the most common cause of trapped moisture and sheet peeling when applied over damp or rising-damp walls, so we specify them selectively rather than by default.

One thing worth saying plainly: painting brick is permanent. Once it's coated, it needs to be recoated for the life of the house. If you love the brick, limewash or a professional cleaning may be the better call.