How to German Schmear (Mortar Wash) a Brick Fireplace 

We LOVE all your projects Jenna! Can't wait to see it all.

Can't wait to see how this beautiful house turns out!!!

turned out so great! I can't wait to see the finished cottage.

I think it's awesome. I'm impressed. I'm going to try this. I love doing things like this.

Wow, this looks AMAZING! Gave it such a cottage look, can't wait to see your other transformations 😄🕊️

I love the happy music of these episodes!

You are a genius! Enjoying this series so much! Can't wait for the next episode! I learn so much from you!

Can't wait to see more & learn more.

Very nice! I had not seen this video, but got a look close to this. I never picked up a piece of sandpaper and the look I got is similar to this, but actually mine looks somewhat more rustic and not quite as white as this. I will try to post it on RU-vid but I did not record myself doing the process. Our fireplace was not used to burn wood so was pretty clean, we just vacuumed it and ran a damp cloth over it just in case and waited a day. Went to an area paint store and his instructions were great-I showed him a photo of the fireplace. Spot on instructions. 1) paint all the grout first, simply using latex wall paint. Applied with a sponge brush. I thinned mine slightly and since my grout lines were nice and uneven, it was a bonus for a more rustic look. 2) Buy RustOLeum brand chalk paint. I bought the antique white. Cheaper and got better reviews than the 'original' and expensive brand bearing a woman's name. I bought a sea sponge and tore it in half. I bought sponge brushes (only used 2, one for each paint) and instead of dipping the sponge directly into the chalk paint, I applied the paint onto the sponge using the sponge brush. I sponged on the paint turning the brush in lots of different directions, and added more paint here and there, haphazard pattern. 3) have a terry washcloth handy with a dish of water. Rub paint off with the damp washcloth wherever you want more brick to show through. Some bricks were left barely touched, or portions of a brick were left barely touched. Add more white paint to corners to make the bricks more "rounded" than square. I did a hearth and a wall fireplace, start to finish in about 5 hrs. It's gorgeous and was easy and not laborious at all. Thrilled with the outcome. If you want to sand some paint off, go for it, until you get the look you want, but while the chalk paint is still wet, the dampened washcloth worked great. Didn't even spend $25 for all and tons of chalk paint left. Go for it, you will love it!

Very helpful!! Thanks for sharing! Just subscribed!!

Love your videos ...love your style x

Citristrip is the wrong stripper for this project, use Kleen Strip as it won't dry out or be absorbed into the brick.

A previous owner painted the fireplace with latex paint, which looked terrible. That Citrus Solve stuff worked great, BUT 1. You have to put it on very thick and 2. Let it dry for well over 30 minutes. It will start to bubble, and then you can peel it right off, even using a palette knife. 3. It won’t work on mortar, and will dissolve that. Excited to try this mortar wash technique, because after stripping off that awful paint, the brick doesn’t look good after all. Definitely going for shabby chic.

Beautiful! I'm about to tackle our fireplace. It's nice to see painting options. I might do this german wash style or just paint it white. Note sure yet. I'll make a video to show my progress. You are an inspiration, thanks! Subscribed and liked!

I have a completely painted fireplace and I want to try this look. Do I have to remove the paint to do this look? my husband tried sanding it down which would be the fastest way, but like you said, you use a lot of paper.

looking so cute

Have you ever done this to exterior brick? I'd like to do this, if I can find a technique and a product that's quicker.

How was the mix of the mortar done? Can you do it manually?

Jenna Sue, what type of paint did you use on the knotty pine paneling in the cottage remodel?

I have done the same thing. End up adding too much mortar and a little to white. I have started sanding it a bit but im noticing that the colour of the sandpaper is coming off and leaving the brick with a bit of a tint. Did you experience the same thing?

lovely!!!!!!!!! 😄 😄 👏

I have Chicago brick floors that were previously sealed. They are almost the same color as my kitchen cabinets as is. I want to lighten the brick floors and thought that white washing be a good idea; however was told that because the bricks were sealed, I could not do a traditional white wash. Any ideas of how I could get a white wash look on a sealed brick floor and it be durable?

So what if it’s already painted white? Should we paint another color atop it then smear?

can you do a house tour after?

It looks great!

I'm wondering why you would not have waited to install the floating mantle until after treating the brick to avoid getting any paint on it? ... but I really like the look!

This is very nice. How much would you charge to do something like this ??????

clean and strip too would clean the bricks better

Who puts yellow paint on brick? I love the new look. Think you helped me come to a decision. After living with a natural red brick fireplace for over 25 years, I had the brick painted white. Now, guess what? Of course, I am not satisfied and want some of the brick to show. I am off to find a wire brush for an experiment.

I really like the final result of this fireplace better than most german smear techniques I have seen on RU-vid. Most people are getting the mortar way too think and being way to specific on how they remove the mortar. This causes a finished result that looks too white and spotted. Your fireplace has that random look with more of the brick exposed. That is how it is supposed to look.

What type of prep did you do to the brick before you started smearing mortar?

Can this be done on brick in the exterior of a house?

Don't leave the stripper to dry, it's active in 30 seconds!!

how much did the contractors charge you?

What type of mortar did you get and where did you get it? My wife went to Lowes and they said brick mortar would dry grey.

Is this similar to the treatment Chip Gaines called German schmeer (sp?) in one episode of "Fixer Upper"? The fireplace looks really good, Jenna!

People power wash bricks with everything from just water or a baking soda mix to walnut shells or other nut shells which works great on the outside, but not sure about inside. If the rest of the house isn't finished or the floor is taken up and you don't care about it, I guess the walnut shells could be done inside by someone. Just make sure you protect the sheetrock around it!@!! LOL (a lot more than just tape)

next time mortor wash first. it will be easier and cleaner

Why not just paint the brick white?🤔

So excited to see these video's! We're changing our house all by ourselves and your tips will come in handy! We blog everything but our pictures arent that great yet.. Do you use camera lights? Www.wordpress.com/projectzur

Only thing is....now everyone has a white fireplace

ew

That does not look good. You should have painted with dark gray chalk paint. Let dry. Then painted with simplicity white chalk paint. A little gray will show through the white paint giving a much better and cleaner look.

So sad to see brick ruined

Ruined it totally

You ruined it.

Always hilarious watching a pretty girl fumble through these projects like they're trying to be Martha Stewart or something. The smartest thing she did was hire the men to install the mantle. Should have done that last though. You need to wet the brick before applying the mortar, and the mortar was way too thick. it will flake off in a couple years. You could have got the same effect by using limewash with 1/3rd the effort. Used the wrong stripper too, those bricks will flake off first.