Hello all
I am helping a friend to decorate and am currently looking at how to paint inside the fireplace back wall, mix of bricks and stone.
I have cleaned the back wall with some nasty chemicals but there is still soot residue 
Does anyone have any idea of what paint to use please? I am also toying with the idea of using some large floor tiles to cover the back, thoughts, ideas welcome 
Is it ever going to be used as a fireplace again? If not and it was mine Iâd seal it off top and bottom and line it with plasterboard or plaster it and paint on top.
If it is planned to use as a fireplace, then you will need to use a stain block paint to stop the soot, followed by heat resistant paint. I forget what the stainblock is called here. itâs hideously expensive but works a treatâŠa workman forgot to put the top on the oil tank on his compressor and sprayed mucky oil all over one of our new walls. So no matter how much we washed it we could still see the stains. One coat of stain block and as good as new.
If you are thinking of tiles then again be careful about heat, as some tiles wonât resist high temperatures. We put a new stove in one room, and lined the wall behind with the stones tiles we used on the floor (and before someone protests the wall was already insulated with fireproof insulation). You can also use porcelain tiles made for fireplaces.
I am not sure if they have such a thing in France, or how effective; but I would be tempted to find a sand blaster machine ( or equivalent), to clean the brickwork and if necessary repointâŠnot even sure if there are services such as these in France.
Call me crazy, iâm just a lover of nice features and stone / brickworkâŠ
cover it all up âŠsacrilege , but there are many things I donât quite get about the way buildings are treated in France.
AĂ©ro gommageâŠit exists but also v expensive. Sablage is the sand equivalent but rather harsh.
Hello VĂ©ronique, it is still going to be used âŠ
Thank you Jane, I will investigate further with stain block
Hello Glenn, yes there are sandblaster services here, the problem is it isnât my house, I am trying to do as much as possible on âa shoestringâ for a French friend who has a very small budget ! 
Yes thatâs me, doing the best I can, note that afterwards I had already covered the hole in the wall and âconstructedâ a new wall over it. The back of the fireplace is driving me nuts though ! 
Plus all the brickwork that supports the mantle was covered in mauve paint, not now though 
How about something like this
These are tiles from bricodepot, covers up loads of sins
Bâ, my Wife painted tiles with paint, for ceramic tiles, fired them in our oven, they are on the wall behind the woodburner (for several years), very effective.
Next time I am in our âbig townâ I will price up tiles. Think that it may be the best solution, thank you everyone who replied
Having the bricks in their âoriginalâ sate would look good. Sandblasting probably too harsh and I suspect pressure (water) cleaning would not be a good idea indoors - have you tried detergent and a scrubbing brush on a small area?
Hi Paul, yes I have tried detergent and even some âharsherâ chemicals because, like you, I believe the bricks would look good in their original state, alas nothing works 
If you do use tiles Ann, make the gap between them wider than normal, and use grout made for the purpose, itâs flexible, so will tolerate the expantion of the tiles, with heat 
Ann, before giving up hope, try some oven cleaner, used for cleaning gunk built up on ovens it worked very well on our lime stone and left some character behind. Sorry I never thought to take a picture before and after.
I use woodash to clean burnt on stains on glass and aluminium, it might be worth trying it in the bricks as well.
The slate tiles donât need any gaps, they fit together with a âstepâ at each end. Effectively, they are 4 strips of slate, 2.5 cm wide, 20 cm long glued together. As long as the surface behind is sound, normal wall tile adhesive works.
Muriatic acid should do it, eventually.
