How can I make a fire engine red wall look like brick,without striping

You might consider the home improvement sells of faux brick that is actual brick but only less than an inch thick. It goes up in panels. Or you could use laser light to make a straight line as you paint on some "grout" looks, and the shades on the brick. I would look at an actual photo of a brick wall and copy how it looks. Blue tape for painting does not mark the all if you chose to use tape to keep straight lines.

Hi Christine, Here's a link that may help: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/492862752945033157/

Have fun!!

I would tape the wall and create the bricks first. Use 3 or 4 colors to create shading. Let that dry for 2 or 3 days. Then tape again but this time put the tape on top of the bricks to create the grout lines.

Where the tape line is, you can paint it white, like a mortar.

They make brick stencils, you could paint the wall white or off white first and then stencil the red brick on over the top.

Thank you all for your suggestions..I'll send in pics when I tackle this job😃

You should be able to paint that line, and not worry about the tape. The tape should come right off, and no harm done. J.

Hi Christine,

Do you have your heart set on brick or do you just want to cover the red without stripping the paint? I had this same problem in one of our homes. I wanted to sit and cry because it was not only fire engine red, but also gloss paint!! I tried painting over it and the paint simply peeled off. It was a nightmare for a time. However, after talking to an expert at the paint store, I painted the entire wall with oil base Kilz. Has to be oil base. Can't remember if I lightly sanded first or not. Was a newbie at that time in my life. Today I would do a quick sanding to rough the gloss. Maybe I used liquid sandpaper. Either way, the Kilz did the trick. Think I did two coats and then painted with the room color of choice. Today I would have had the Kilz tinted the color I wanted the wall to ultimately become. We lived in that house for 6 years and never saw a speck of glossy, red paint peaking through again. PHEW!

Since that time I have used Zinsser 1-2-3, as well as Kilz, and do more sanding and prep than when young and .........

The other day I saw on Hometalk where a lady used mudding compound and did a really neat faux brick on her wall. It was great looking. Lots more work involved than a couple coats of paint, but terrific brick look and very realistic. You might want to see if you can find it. She taped the wall in a brick pattern, slathered on the mudding compound, painted the "brick" in 3-4 different colors for realism, removed the tape and painted the "grout" lines. Not sure I remember the procedure correctly. But, it was cool.

Lots of wonderful advice from people so far. Hope you enjoy the process you elect to try. Sure the wall will look fabulous when you are finished.