Fred thanks, I'm so excited to work on our ugly dated brass doors.

Just about done...edge still needs to be painted, but I haven't gotten a chance to finish that yet. The plan is to brush on black high heat paint since it's a pretty small area. So far, I love the change - very pleased! Hoping to see more before & after pics! :-)

Fred, Could you use the rub on for other brass items? Like shower surrounds and faucets instead of the paint? Which product did you use on each side of your sample? They look great!!

I believe the blued part is on the left and black on right (top two products) It may not be the best for something that gets cleaned with chemicals once in a while. I read that a housekeeper ruined a patina on a copper powder room sink on here using standard bathroom cleaners. If you don't mind it looking a little rustic, you can re-apply it if that happens, or find a really durable clear coat to protect it. (like car paint)

So, Dawn Desorcy how did you do that? I loves these ideas. I think I will do it this weekend.

Thanks so much for this great info! I, too, will lose the brass this weekend. Is it best to use black spray Rustoleum or to use a brush and paint it on. Do you just tape newspaper over the glass and brick? What else is good for this grateful novice to know?

Please do not brush.

Anything that can be removed and taken out to the garage, do it. Bifold doors are easy to pop out, as are most louvers.

Mask off anything you don't want paint on, sand surfaces with 400 grit wet-or-dry paper and spray a couple of light coats.

Satin black, not gloss, not flat.

silvermist13, the metal front of our fireplace comes off completely, so I took that outside, taped off any areas to remain black and sprayed on the silver high heat paint. (Actually used tape and newspaper to cover larger areas). Then I did brush on the tiny trim edge (probably less than 1/4 inch wide), with black high heat (Rustoleum) paint. None of our local retailers had any finish other than satin (I think?). And, to be honest, the trim is not perfectly done, but it looks pretty good. Apparently high heat is one coat only (for the brush on stuff), so keep that in mind, too. I covered way more than necessary when brushing on the black paint, but it made for easy clean up (and no black on the tiles to clean up!).

Good luck! I can't wait to see the before & after pics!

Thanks! I bought my paint and hope to give it a go this weekend!

So, this may not be as easy as I hoped. We can't get it off the fireplace, and I don't know how to paint the hinges so they still work and are uniform. Any ideas??

Don't worry about painting the piano hinges. They'll be fine.

It looks like the door and brass frame might come off together in one go. Did you look inside for signs for attachment?

If that doesn't seem possible, just mask of the glass well, put something down to protect your brick and go for it. You'll want to paint the doors inside and out.

Ok, I will carry on......my hubby is the one who tried to get it off and he couldn't do it so I don't know what the problem is...it would be so much easier. Thanks for the tips!

Obvious question: do you actually use the fireplace enough to justify keeping it? I imagine removing it entirely in favor of a low wall and a cabinet that will allow you to hide that mess of wires to the left.

Ugh! Don't even get me started about all the wires in my house! Focus on the fireplace, not the wires :) My hubby actually just cleaned up those wires (after me asking for at least a year). We are actually selling this house so we don't want to spend a whole bunch of money but if we were staying I would totally redo my fireplace.

So, I completed it! I still have a couple of touch ups but I like the look of it. I would recommend that if you can remove the door/frame and spray it outside do so! The fumes are nasty. Otherwise, wear a mask and maybe some goggles. Thanks for the tips :)

Good job!

Looks great, silvermist13!! You did a great job!

Thanks for the detailed info everyone!! I am going to update this weekend!! YAY!!!

Thank you, thank you Fred S.: the gun bluing worked a miracle on my shiny brass fireplace surround. I sanded with an electric sander, brushed on a product called Perma Blue ( a gun blue paste) and amazing. In 1 minute, I washed it off, and I had a rich patina.

I am so inspired by all the pictures of the painted fireplace doors. Definitely going to try it!

3 words - Oil Rubbed Bronze.......!

TORI BLACK HOME

Interior Design
Los Angeles
CALIFORNIA

www.toriblackhome.com

These suggestions are great! We are in the process of a family room remodel...and love our insert - but not the brass trip. Thanks all.

Do I need to prep the brass first - sand or prime - or ok to spray the rustoleum high heat black directly onto it?

I just sprayed mine directly on to the brass. That was 14 yrs. ago and they still look great.

Thank you Depo!!

anyone know where to purchase high heat oil rubbed bronze? cannot find it anywhere.

We had a similar fireplace and most of the brass actually popped off, it was an overlay. The one on top was actually part of the fireplace and was easily painted with heat resistant spray paint.

@toughtown, Stovebright makes a color called "New Bronze" that I think will be close to what I think you are looking for. Any reputable fireplace store will be able to order it for you. We keep it in stock.

What about brass handles Steve S, would your product work on them also?

Assuming you meant me, the chemicals will work on all kinds of metals. What you get for a look in the end depends on if it is solid brass, or a plating, or even how thick the plating. I have used it on a few doorknobs with mixed results, depending on how much work you put into it. If the knob has a clear finish on it, it can be hard to get it off in places, making the look inconsistent. If there is no finish on your handles, or if it is easy to sand or steel wool them to bare brass, then the bluing is easy to get consistent and into the cracks. Brass comes in many different alloys, meaning, the percentage of copper to zinc changes, and some may include other metals. These differences will effect the finished look. The only way to know is to test it in an inconspicuous spot. I think one of the pictures above may have been a brass plated piece that was sanded in parts down to steel, and then blued. It still gives a very nice and different patina than bright brass, and is not just flat black paint.

So glad I saw this feed before I painted my brass face fireplace. I would love to just pitch it and start over but I can't afford a renovation. I went to close the doors on it after vacuuming and adding some accent lights, and the whole front nearly fell completely off :( All the natural stone looks great, just needs a cleaning...but the brass face is an eyeball sore All tips were great. Fred, I think I'm going to try yours if I can figure out how to keep it anchored and block my vent.

My brass fireplace accents are very shiny, see attached picture, you can clearly see the Lego box and Hot wheels track in the reflection. Do I need to sand before spraying with the Rustoleum High Heat spray paint or will the paint adhere w/o sanding? Am nervous about sanding because I don't know if the scuff marks will look uneven if I don't do a good job sanding. Would appreciate some advice!

OLDDDDDDDDDD post

Fine sand paper in same direction will work good. clean with vinegar.

@paklehouzz, I'm pretty sure those polished brass babies are held on by magnets. Give 'em a good tug and find out.

Your fireplace looks like an old Majestic, which we installed a ton of (actually, several tons of).

If not, all of the previous advice still applies: light sanding with 220 grit or finer, mask the area off, use fireplace paint from your friendly local fireplace store.

Thanks. The top piece seems to be held in by a couple screws on each side that are very hard to access. The bottom piece comes right off, maybe the screws are missing since I see a couple holes on the sides. I can sand & spray the bottom piece outdoors but I'll have to do the top piece in-place.

Oh, well. It will be worth it.

Don't skimp on masking the area off. The paint overspray will come off the tile easily, but is a pain to get off the grout. Trust me. ;-)

Hubby is refusing to let me spray paint in the house so I'm back to trying to remove the top brass piece. See attached. It is held on by this bracket (the one with the circle), and the bracket is attached to the wall by the 2 visible hex screws which are too difficult to access. It does not seem to be held in by magnets. I pulled very hard and it won't come off, it just pulls the bracket, and I'm afraid more pulling will pull the bracket off the wall. Any advice how to get this thing off??

UPDATE: Finally got it off by tugging the other side which came off easily, then using the trim to twist this bracket so that it came off at an angle. Thanks for all the advice!

Another update: I sanded the brass trim and used Rustoleum High Heat spray paint, and it looks great. I had also bought the Rustoleum High Heat brush-on paint, and decided to touch up (with a foam brush) the grill area at the top which had lots of chips in the paint (from wayward toys). So I think I made by problem worse because now instead of grayish areas of missing paint, I have a dozen small areas of shiny new paint that really stand out from the rest of the grill. Please see attached.

What do you all recommend I do? Sand those shiny paint spots back down to the gray (is it even possible) and spray paint the entire thing with the High Heat spray? I'm reluctant to use the brush-on paint again because I don't think my technique is good enough. Thanks in advance for any advice!

I'm afraid you already know the answer - sand it to smooth out the touched-up places and re-spray it. I'd recommend using a fine grit sanding sponge.

Thank you, COASTROAD Hearth & Patio. What can I expect the final result to be if I only sand the touched-up places and don't sand the whole thing? I just don't want it to look worse than it is now, esp. when the light reflects off it, looks like a bunch of grease marks!

I spray painted ours with Rustoleum High heat paint. It was very quick & easy, a couple hours start to finish.

hey, @paklehouzz, you only need to sand the touched-up areas until they feel smooth to the touch with the surrounding areas. You don't need to sand everything. New spray paint will stick fine to the recent paint job.

Sorry if I'm asking a dumb question, but can the entire brass surround just be taken/pulled off? We are going to be moving into a house that has one of those and was wondering if this is an option. Or does a gas fireplace require all of that for safety?

This post is 3 years old

I found this post to be very useful when I de-brassed my fireplace. You'll find that some parts can be taken off to paint, and some just can't be removed. Wiggle the parts and figure out how they're secured. Mine were a combination of push-button and snap-in. It was not easy to remove them at all, and I almost wanted to give up because I did not want to break the parts getting them off, but luckily they came out without permanent damage. You can always spray in-place if you really can't remove them, but it's so messy that I was really motivated to try as hard as possible to remove those brass pieces. Good luck!

Thank you paklehouzz for the useful information. I will have to inspect the screen as soon as the cement in front of the previously sunken floor dries :-)

"Or does a gas fireplace require all of that for safety?"

Sort of. Without digging up the exact codes, since I don't know the exact situation...

If it is a "listed" gas fireplace that is built that way from the factory, it must remain intact.

If it is a gas log set put into a wood burning fireplace, it needs to be there to keep all the conditioned air in your house from escaping. When a gas log set is installed in a regular fireplace, the damper in the chimney that usually closes out the outside weather is removed or permanently blocked open for safety reasons, so the glass doors are necessary.

Fred S. Why did you not recommend BC Black Brass which states to use for yellow metals? Thanks. I'm also wanting to blacken up my "brass" around the gas fireplace. Would love a sort of verdigried, dark color, most like the right finish from your photo.

Well, probably, mostly because I have never seen that product ;) or maybe I have and don't remember because I already had the other two on hand. ;)

I also prefer more of a patina effect than just changing the color to black,..which paint can do just fine. I prefer the left side with "blueing" just my preference. I would assume that something made more specifically for yellow metals would give you a more consistent black, or less "fake patina". The aluminum black is cheap enough that you could do a test with both to see what you like better ;)