Austin reacts to the way the woman goes through her process by pointing out that the sealant she is using is intended for tile and is not safe for use near a fireplace, and that the paint she is using is not a stove primer. “Watching people paint fireplaces makes me physically uncomfortable,” he says as he watches the scene.
The original poster then fought back, responding to commenters on her video and seemingly outshining Austin himself. “I got a lot of unquote comments from 'experts' saying I shouldn't have painted it because the fireplace would get so hot it would produce toxic smoke,” she says in a rebuttal video. Then she uses thermometer to show that the bricks near the fireplace did not heat up to the maximum safety limit for paint, which is 200 degrees. (She did not respond to BuzzFeed News' private messages seeking comment.)
So who is right?
Russ Dimmitt, director of education for the Chimney Safety Institute of America, a certifying body for chimney sweeps, says painting a fireplace is almost never safe, but his main concern is the paint retaining moisture and damaging the brick. “As an industry, we do not recommend painting brick as a practice because it can cause problems with the durability of the brick and mortar,” he told BuzzFeed News.
The rise in popularity of painted fireplaces worried Dimmitt so much that he turned to some DIY television shows to try to alert them to the problems. “They said, 'It's television, don't worry about it,'” he recalls.
However, not all building experts consider a painted fireplace to be a major disaster. Austin Jenkins, a Tennessee home inspector who gives TikTok tips. Inspector A.J.told BuzzFeed News, “Painting a fireplace is relatively safe.” He added: “I mean, I was drawing my fireplace, if that says anything. He noted that the international building code, which mandates that nothing flammable be located within 6 inches of a fireplace opening, probably applies more to wood trim and other materials than paint.
Austin isn't a hardliner when it comes to not painting your fireplace. He simply emphasized that in this case you should not use latex paint (which is flammable at certain temperatures). “If they're going to paint it, I recommend using an earth-based pigment, like lime grout, something that's not flammable,” Austin said. “Another option is to use stove paint or high-temp paint. It's nonflammable up to 1,200 degrees.”
Indeed, he made a duo of videos with home flippers using stove paint and got his approval.
