Old paint on brick is one of the most common calls we get, and one of the easiest to get wrong. A storefront painted three times since the 1970s, a loft wall hiding under grey latex, a heritage facade peeling elastomeric paint in sheets. The owner wants the brick back. The job is to take the paint off without taking the face of the brick with it. The photo above is from an interior job in Toronto: the same wall, half stripped, with the blast pot sitting between the before and the after.
This is a regular part of our dustless sandblasting work, and brick, block and stone behave nothing like the steel most people picture when they hear the word sandblasting.
Why aggressive methods ruin brick
A clay brick is only hard on the outside. The kiln fires a dense skin a few millimetres thick, and under that skin the body of the brick is softer and more porous. That fired face is what sheds water, resists frost and gives the brick its colour. Dry sandblasting at steel pressures cuts straight through it. The wall looks clean on the day, then the exposed core starts drinking water, spalls over the first few winters and never stops shedding red dust. Soft moulded brick from the 1800s and early 1900s is the most vulnerable, and it is exactly the brick heritage owners are trying to save.
High pressure washing does its own damage. Water at 3,000 psi or more gouges soft mortar joints, drives moisture deep into the wall, and still leaves well bonded paint in place.
What dustless blasting does differently
Dustless blasting mixes water with the abrasive inside the pot, so the media leaves the nozzle wet. The water weight carries the particle, which means far lower pressure still cuts the coating, and it kills the dust cloud at the source. That is what makes an occupied building or a public sidewalk workable. Paint and spent media run down the wall instead of hanging in the air.
The paint film is the target, not the brick. A coating is weaker than the fired face when pressure and media are chosen for it, so the paint lifts and the brick underneath stays whole. Our dustless vs. traditional sandblasting guide covers the process in detail.
Dialling in media and pressure
There is no single setting for brick. We start soft and move up only if the paint refuses to lift. Fine crushed glass or a soft mineral media at roughly 40 to 60 psi handles most latex and oil paint on common brick. Thick elastomeric or epoxy coatings may need a sharper media or a little more pressure, still nowhere near what steel takes. Stone, block and dense engineering brick tolerate more. Soft heritage brick and lime mortar get the gentlest setup, nozzle held back and kept moving.
Every job starts with a test patch. We pick a low, out of the way section about the size of a sheet of paper and strip it with the planned settings, then look at it dry. The face should be intact, the colour even, the mortar joints untouched. If the brick is softer than expected, we drop the pressure or change media before touching the rest of the wall. The owner approves the patch before the real work starts.
Containment and cleanup on a working storefront
Most brick stripping happens on buildings that are open, on streets with foot traffic, or inside units still in use. Pure Blast is fully mobile, so the compressor, pot, water and containment come to the property. We tarp the sidewalk and planting beds, mask windows, doors, signage and light fixtures, and set barrier screens where pedestrians pass. The slurry is contained at the base of the wall and picked up, not swept into the storm drain. Inside, floors are covered and openings sealed.
Neighbouring tenants stay open. A typical storefront is done early morning or on a quiet day, with the sidewalk back to normal shortly after the last pass. We run this work across Toronto, Mississauga and the rest of the GTA.
What to expect after
A small storefront or a single interior wall is usually one day. A full facade or a large commercial interior runs two to four days including setup, masking and cleanup.
The brick will not look like it was laid last week, and it should not. Expect natural colour variation, the odd brick that was always darker, and faint ghosting in the deepest pores of heavily textured brick. Mortar joints that were already soft or cracked will be obvious once the paint is off, because paint was holding them together. Plan for some repointing on any wall older than fifty years. We point out the joints that need attention so your mason can price them.
Exterior brick should dry fully before any breathable sealer goes on. Interior brick usually gets a clear matte sealer to control dusting, or is left raw.
Getting a quote
Send a few photos of the wall, a rough measurement, and what you know about the paint: interior or exterior, how many coats, what needs protecting, and whether the building is open during the day. Brick is priced by the square foot, adjusted for coats and access, and a quote usually comes back the same day. If a small detail area on carved stone is a better fit for laser paint removal, we will say so.
Common questions
Will blasting damage my brick?
Not when the media and pressure are set for brick instead of steel. Low pressure dustless blasting removes the paint film and leaves the fired face intact. We prove it on a test patch before the rest of the wall is touched.
Can you strip brick while my business stays open?
Yes. The water in the process suppresses the dust, and we mask, tarp and screen the work area. Most storefronts are done early morning or on a slow day with the sidewalk reopened the same day.
Will I need repointing afterward?
On older walls, often yes for some joints. Paint hides soft and cracked mortar, so the weak joints show once it is off. We flag them so a mason can price the repairs.
If you have a painted brick, block or stone wall that needs to come back to the original material, call (416) 930-1350 or send photos through the quote form. We will tell you what it takes, what it costs, and what the brick will look like when we are done.