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Interior brick floors

5 years ago

We just bought a house and the kitchen, laundry room and half bath all have brick tile flooring. The seal on the brick tile is starting to flake and is turning yellow. (Not to mention the previous owners had cats and it reeks of cat urine)
What is the best way to go about stripping the sealer to the natural brick then resealing it?
We were also thinking of painting the brick or white washing it. Any thoughts?

Featured Answer

Alix Stpe
Original Author

5 years ago

Unfortunately ripping them out was not an option. We decided to strip them and refinish. How do they look?

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Comments (15)

User
5 years ago
Call a janitorial maintenance company that handles commercial accounts. But start investigating replacement. You won't like cleaning that even if it’s in perfect shape.
apple_pie_order
5 years ago
Brick floors are a complete hassle to wash, rinse and dry quickly before the water pools in the mortar lines, even when they are sealed. I would get rid of all the brick pronto. If you love it, have it professionally stripped and resealed, then get a specialty machine with brushes that also vacuums the dirty water up. It needs to be a heftier machine than the Hoover Floormate.
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Birdgardener, since my children are young the whole house is their playground so I'd like the area surrounding the upstairs tv lower key (free of kids art, toys etc) The only other thing besides brick that has intrigued me is the image below (from houzz) that is remarkably similar to my setup and I like the idea of these decorative light boxes though they serve no purpose as far as I can see. Marti8a there is no visual relationship between the wall in the loft den and the room below which happens to be my dining room. The bench that I have set against the railings blocks the TV and most of the wall, it's all hidden from the view of those in the foyer or front door below. mary - your contribution was pretty thought provoking, I think you hit on my major anxiety, permanence. I visited a hardware store and the process to mount this brick is like laying a tile brick combo - troweling on thin set, piping in mortar. Yikes! There's no going back from that. I'd love the idea of screwing in something like ply or luan (not familiar with that product though) into the joists and mounting the veneer to that. I guess have to do more research to do. thanks for the compliment mitchdesij!
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Usually I come to Houzz for advice, and so many have been generous with suggestions I thought I might "give back" by offering a few discoveries that have worked for me. One of which would be restoring interior brick flooring and steps. The person who owned the house before me apparently waxed the flooring, but the finish had worn off in highest traffic areas and the brick was faded and discolored. After cleaning the floor thoroughly, I took a chance and rubbed cherry wood stain into the bricks, which instantly revived and unified their color. Then sealed the floor in polyurethane. That was a couple of years ago, and it still looks great! Best of luck with your home challenges! creekgirl
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Shannon_WI
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I think to spend money to clean and refurbish would not be a good use of your money. My friend’s home has these brick floors and she has mentioned all the problems described above. But my friend also complains how loud they are to walk on. And they’re not comfortable to walk in barefoot. She is ripping them out and replacing with wood everywhere. It will be $$$, but she expects to stay in the house till her kids graduate from college, and her kids are currently in grade school, so she feels it will be worth it.
houssaon
5 years ago
I vote to rip them out, especially since they have cat urine in them, which will never go away.
Lisa A
5 years ago
Alixstpe, what did you use -- machine wise -- to accomplish this? It looks like you added grout or something to level it all out.
Rawketgrl
5 years ago
Your dog is adorable!
Alix Stpe
Original Author
5 years ago
Before and almost after!
Rawketgrl
5 years ago
Did you paint the cabs yourself? looks great... almost done!
Alix Stpe
Original Author
5 years ago
Lisa, we had to strip the floors first which was a pain! We eventually found lacquer thinner did trick after trying several other products. Once stripped down to the brick tile we used grout to even it out and give it a aged brick floor look. After the grout dried we went over it with a sander to smooth is out (and to add character) and applied a semi gloss sealer. We were nervous but it looks better then we could have imagined!
Alix Stpe
Original Author
5 years ago
@Rawketgrl, yes! We used cabinet paint from the local hardware store they hold up! So far so good!
Rachel Lee
5 years ago
Nice job reworking those floors!
Alix Stpe
Original Author
5 years ago
@Rawketgrl and thank you, she’s spoiled rotten
PRO
Jenn Gers Design
5 years ago
Excellent job refinishing and working with what you have!
wcjo
5 years ago
Nice job on the floor alixstpe! Is your floor actually real brick (with sealer on top) or is it a tile (made to look like brick) with the sealer? I have the same large area with tile (not real bricks) and the color drives me crazy.

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