Rutland Products - 81V Premium 1400 Degree F Hi-Temp Brush-On Paint, 16 fl oz, Black

After reading other reviews, I was nervous about my ability to paint the firebox using this paint. Would the paint be too sticky, not cover well, or give me permanent brain damage from toxicity? I arranged to have my dog stay offsite during the day so he wouldn’t be exposed to the fumes. Before starting to paint, I dressed in old clothes and donned a KN95 mask, latex gloves and onion goggles. I closed doors to other rooms, turned on overhead fans, opened windows and set up a box fan to create maximum air circulation. Prepping the firebox was completed the previous day. Finally I was ready to remove the lid of the paint. Well, yes, it had a strong odor, but luckily for me, it wasn’t overpowering. After stirring it, I began to apply the paint. First I tried a small natural bristle brush, but it didn’t spread well. Next I tried a foam brush, and that worked very well (thanks to the reviewer who suggested this). The paint spread across the bricks quite easily, but I had to paint the mortar and textured indentations separately with the side of a smaller foam brush, pushing the paint into cracks, crevices and corners. The foam brushes disintegrate quickly and I went through all 9 that were in the assorted set purchased at big box store for less than $10. The entire paint job took just over 1 hour. It took about 2/3 of the can. The can is very small and only narrow brushes can be used if applying the paint straight out of the can (which I did). After cleanup, I began airing out the house. I sprayed Febreze throughout the house and moved the fan around to blow through each of the closed off rooms (which still got the odor in them). It took 7 hours from the time I started painting until the air was sufficiently clear to bring my dog home. Overall, it was a very satisfactory experience, and I am happy with the results (see before and after photos; don’t worry, I’m replacing those ugly logs that look like reptiles—that’s the reason I painted the firebox in the first place). Note: I have not lit the fireplace since painting, so I don’t know if it will produce strong fumes. I’ll update the review once I know more.

I rebuilt my fireplace and then put the Rutland 1400 degree Hi Temp Paint inside the fireplace to give it a refresh look, even though the smell was really bad it was easy to brush on and look amazing after it dried. It’s been too hot to burn a fire to see if it holds up to the heat but I will try it this winter. I bought one quart size can of paint and it was not enough it went on really thick, and I had to buy another one to finish the job.

Looks great on the old beat up mortar and ugly bricks. Holds up well. No peeling. Use foam paint brushes for sure. Have a ten pack of foam brushes, you will need them. Can is small, but it's enough to do entire fire box properly. It took every drop, so do not waste any! Shake/ mix well prior, and move diligently until done, as it dries quickly. It's flammable, so don't start fire when wet! I let dry for 2 days, the cured it for an hour with flame. Use it every night. My picture is with out the screen so you can see. Looks better with screen in place. Thanks Rutland! Great product!

It says low VOC, but the odor says high solvent. I purchased both the 1200 F and 1400 F versions of Rutland paint. The 1400 F is definitely a little thicker which means it is closer to a one coat coverage application if covering a lighter color. So 1400 F is better for a thick coat but also thus doesn't cover as much area. However the 1200 F gets in to cracks better so if you have a rough surface with deep cracks you may want the 1200 F. The 1200 F is also lower cost, but may take 2 thinner coats to hide light colors. For application technique you want to avoid back brushing thus put it on and keep moving and don't cover the same area twice as it tends to lift and roll and build exposing the surface underneath. Both versions are high solvent and even when covering a primer coat that had dried for 24 hours you have to be careful because the new coat will start dissolving the lower coat. In my case this was easy to see because the coat below was a light color of high temperature paint. Make sure you have good ventilation as they are both high solvent content.

I used this paint to refinish my 22 year old gas fireplace, which was in our house when we bought it, and was essentially neglected for a long time. In this process I learned that gas fireplaces rust on the inside as a result of the combustion products from natural gas, so they should be cleaned and repainted often. This paint produces a solid, flat black finish on the metal surface that looks great, but the application process is tricky. I found that the paint was like trying to paint with glue or honey - it was thick and sticky and did not easily brush out on the surface. It also dried very quickly, even though it was in the 60s when I painted, making it impossible to smooth out brush marks. After it dried, it did level out somewhat, but it certainly isn't a dead smooth finish. I also found that a second coat seems to dissolve the first coat - a bit like shellac does, but without the nice smooth result. That's acceptable for the inside of a fireplace I guess, but probably not the outside. As a result I used almost the whole can to get adequate coverage - but perhaps that's the point. If you were using normal paint it would take perhaps half the can to get good coverage. So it did work for its intended purpose, but it wasn't an easy task. My advice is to do one thick, wet coat, as fast as you can. I found the smell OK, as long as the windows were open. Now a little about the price. One gallon of this stuff would cost $376(!), so it better work. I imagine we are paying such a high price for a paint that will cope with 1400 degrees. A new gas fireplace starts around $3500 (ridiculous for a sheet metal box, but that's another story) so this is way cheaper than that. In summary, I had to adjust my expectations a bit and be prepared to use a different approach to applying the paint. But it did get the job done. I wouldn't recommend it for a sooth surface that you want to get a perfect finish on, that's where you should use the aerosol version. You can save some money using the 1200 degree version of this paint, but the reviews aren't as good. I would buy this paint again, despite the issues - but at least I know how it works now and what to expect.