I'd start with a small sledge and a masonry chisel, which will be more controllable than a power impact tool. Unless the adhesive is soft, you would go through a lot of blades with a multi-tool and it might not have enough length to detach those larger pieces.

Unfortunately, whatever you do, some of the glop that was used to adhere the stone veneer is going to remain on the brick and you will have a difference in texture because this adhesive material will have filled in the crevices and not be fully removable. However, after you get the veneer off, a power washer may be able to detach some of the glop without damaging the brick.

Thanks for the advice! I assumed it would do (some) damage or leave (some) artifacts behind, but hoping the painted, 70 year old brick will help it out texturally.

I’ll check out a masonry chisel first and see if I can start chipping away at the rocks. Hopefully the “artist” attached them as poorly as they designed the “artwork” 😆

Good luck! Come at them from the side with the chisel and hopefully they will start popping off.

It looks like premixed tile adhesive with that creamy whitish look. They hopefully will pop right off but you will have to scrape off the glue little by little. So sad.

I wonder if that adhesive will soften with heat? Once you pop the stones off you might try a heat gun to soften the residues.

Word! I'll keep that in mind, once I start pulling the stone off.

@Joseph Corlett, LLC I've never used a chipping hammer. Are they fairly easy to control? I don't want to damage the brick behind the stone.

I would try a hammer and chisel or a mason's hammer, which has a hammer on one end and a flat blade on the other. Before resorting to (essentially) a small jackhammer. If they are really hard and tedious to get off manually, maybe the electric tool is the way to go. But you risk more damage to the bricks.

I say this as a non-mason who has messed around a bit with bricks, hard mortar, adhesives, and removal of same.

After a bit of YouTube-ing I think I'll probably rent the hammer @Joseph Corlett, LLC suggested. HD rents a Makita hammer with variable speed control. I'll try it on the stone in a less conspicuous place before going whole hog, but it looks really manageable.

I'll update the thread with the good or bad news, ha!

Make sure you don't damage the brick surface if you're going at it with a power tool.

How much of the brick is covered with the black stone?..it may be possible to just cover the area with an interesting alternate material…taking a pic of the whole area of concern could offer another alternate solution …that could avoid too much unpredictable damage

Bosch bulldog rotary hammer and a SDS chisel bit. Variable speed control will let you procession chip away all that ugly. Curved wide chisel is recommended to clean away top brick without touching the original brick.

I wouldn't even think about dickin' around with a hammer and chisel unless you have a months worth of Sundays to waste and don't mind smashing your hand over, and over, and over. Trust me, I've burned out 2 Bosch bulldogs in my life time and It didn't bother me a bit to go and buy another, because I used them so much and well worth it, so get a bulldog! I'm telling you the bulldog will turn the work into fun.

After you chip off the veneer stone using the wide curved chisel at the angle where it doesn't chip into the house brick it's time to bring out the Heavy duty 6" stiff wire wheel on a 6" grinder. I guess a 4" grinder will work with a wire wheel but will take longer.

doesn't matter what they used to adhere the veneer the wire wheel will take it off. The house brick is going to be much harder than whatever they used and it will come off. Then time to paint.

Fair warning; If you start slamming away with a chisel and BMFH at the wrong angle you may crack a house brick or knock the brick mortar loose. The bulldog does a 100 small impacts with less force than one slam with a hammer. You've heard of the phrase death by a thousand cuts, well it applies to removing your veneer too,

Maybe a prybar with a wood wedge to protect the brick. In fact, the wood wedge or wood shims should be used if you try a power tool to protect the brick.

Following - As someone who spent the past weekend removing a painted popcorn ceiling and cursing all those youtube videos that made it look so easy, I'm loving this demolition project!

Plus, can someone go back and find the Houzz comments where some genius told the prior owner that putting this stone over the brick was a good idea?

Looking forward to your progress. Keep us posted.

Mike:

It's usually better to test with things like this. If there is a poor bond you may be able to remove it all by hand in several hours. If not, it's off to the rental store. Good luck.