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Has anyone done an exposed brick look on an interior wall?

Addition Planner

5 years ago

And if so, what product did you use, and were you happy with it? Approximate cost per square foot would be appreciated.

We will be expanding the wall of one room of our house. Rather than trying to match the rest of the room, which is painted paneling, I was thinking of doing an exposed brick finish. It would make sense, as this wall was originally the exterior of our brick house. I know there are "thin brick" products, but searching the boards for that term brought up mostly threads from people who were using it on their home exteriors.

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PRO

Missi Smith Design Co.

5 years ago

Yes - in my kitchen and I loved it!! I got it at Floor & Decor and it was very reasonable. I had my tile guy do a "mortar wash" on it to make it look older.

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Comments (22)

PRO
Anglophilia
5 years ago
Yes, but it was a wall in an addition which actually was the exterior brick wall of the house, pre-addition.
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I would love to go with the plugmold under the upper cabinets and an airswitch for my disposal no matter what kind of backsplash I end up with. I guess my main concern with that is that I don't know what the current state of the brick is, since it's covered now. I don't know if there are holes where the current outlets are and, if there are, whether they could be patched decently. I'm doing soapstone countertops, so if I left the brick for the backsplash, I was picturing possibly having a four-inch backsplash of soapstone. Would this make sense or would it look better without it? Could I put outlets into the backsplash? As for the code, I'm not sure what that says here, but I'm sure the GC will know. The brick wall is the wall where my sink and range are. The left wall and bottom wall are cypress paneling, and the only part of the right wall to be exposed will be the backsplash, and I guess that would have to be drywall painted the same color I paint the brick. I am picturing the coffee maker on the little bit of counter between the range and eating area and, possibly, the toaster in the area to the right of the sink but more likely closer to the fridge. Other than that, I won't have any appliances out and plugged in all the time. As far as the number of outlets in the kitchen, there should be plenty of outlets on the wall to the right, as well as in the island. The cleaning I'm not so worried about because it would be painted with a masonry paint and, therefore, pretty easy to wipe clean. We currently have the painted brick in two of our showers, and it's super easy to keep clean there. So, I figure if I can keep mold and mildew off it, grease won't be that difficult. I'll try to get a pic of the painted brick wall in my bathroom to give you a better idea.
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I assume you will be using real brick not wallpapered brick. Interior brick comes in 1/2 the thickness of regular brick. For a 1920’s home and I am really jealous of that you could use an antique brick. That’s what I used on our Cape Cod style home in the kitchen. We bricked the entire south wall including above the stove. On the other side of the kitchen we bricked the kitchen fireplace. There is no brick on the outside of our home. Best of luck to you. You have a 100 year old home, like I said I’m so jealous.
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csant87
5 years ago
We did it on a wall in our home salon. It is thin brick. It was about $1300 for materials and I installed it myself.
Addition Planner thanked csant87
Addition Planner
Original Author
5 years ago
@MissiSmith -- That's beautiful! Do you know what kind of product it was? Was each brick piece individual, and were they real brick or brick-look tile? Did it just go on with thinset or did it need more support?
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
That looks surprisingly good, csant.

What is your exterior material?
Addition Planner
Original Author
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
@csant8 - That looks great! Any particular brand of product you recommend? I guess I'd ask you the same questions I asked Missi -- did it go on just like a backsplash, or did it need more support? Was each brick an individual piece, or was it like interlocking tiles?

Also, thanks for including the price...I think our walls would be about the same square footage (mine will have two doorways cut out of it) so that helps me get an idea. Although DIY installation is probably not in the cards for me.
remodeling1840
5 years ago
Belden Brick makes real brick,then slices the front and sells the resultant 3/4” bricks. There are many patterns and the cost for the colors we chose was $.75 per brick.
PRO
Missi Smith Design Co.
5 years ago
It is the Brickweb

Castle Gate Thin Brick Panel -
Addition Planner thanked Missi Smith Design Co.
PRO
Missi Smith Design Co.
5 years ago
It comes in sheets - it is a thin brick veneer and goes on the wall just like tile.
PRO
Missi Smith Design Co.
5 years ago
$7.99 a square foot
Addition Planner thanked Missi Smith Design Co.
csant87
5 years ago
The exterior of my home is also brick. The brand of thin brick I used was old mill. They are individual bricks. For installation I primed the drywall, nailed metal lathe over the entire wall, did a scratch coat on the lathe, then mortared the bricks on.
grapefruit1_ar
5 years ago
We have an exposed brick wall. It is made of bricks, real, actual bricks.
arcy_gw
5 years ago
Same here. Exposed REAL BRICKs behind a wood burning stove.
PRO
Missi Smith Design Co.
5 years ago
The bricks on tile sheets are also REAL bricks ... they are just thin cuts. Much easier to install. I have done real sized bricks on an arch in our basement and it was gorgeous but expensive and very time consuming to install.
My3dogs ME zone 5A
5 years ago
https://www.mechanicsurplus.com/search?q=Brickweb+Thin+Brick
PRO
Virgil Carter Fine Art
5 years ago
If budget is a problem, have you considered a wall-size photo of bricks...?
ulisdone
5 years ago
General Shale thin brick on drywall. This is only photo I have of a 42” wide “chimney”. Don’t know actual footage used, but about $350 for bricks I believe.
Addition Planner thanked ulisdone
tyest1989
5 years ago
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Old-Mill-Brick-Brickweb-Castle-Gate-8-7-sq-ft-28-in-x-10-1-2-in-x-1-2-in-Clay-Thin-Brick-Flats-Box-of-5-BW-37006CS/203431777
Lars
5 years ago
I would think thin-cut bricks would be fine, but I would not like a faux brick painted finish. In the 1950s, the I Love Lucy show had what I assumed was brick wallpaper that always looked wrong at every corner, where it was obviously fake.

How many walls in the room are you doing? For me, corners are the tricky part, but that would not be an issue if you are doing one wall.
User
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
Fake brick and real brick was a popular look at one time. Today’s fad isn’t going to look any better in hindsight either. It might as well be wallpaper as to how most people use it. And that is completely wrong. If it doesn’t look truly structural, skip it completely.

Fake brick walls just look stupidly fake.
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Addition Planner
Original Author
5 years ago
@Lars -- No, I wasn't thinking about a painted finish. :-) I was talking about applying either thin brick products or brick-looking tiles. It's just one wall, and will have two big doorways cut out of it, so I don't think square footage will be a big issue, and I shouldn't have to deal with any corners.
bry911
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have done brick interior walls twice.

Thin brick is ridiculously expensive, so I made my Higgins jig and cut regular brick with a 20" brick saw that I rented. I ended up paying a bit less than a dollar per square foot for brick slips.

The second time I just used queen brick as I was installing over a footer and the engineer approved full brick. Once you factor in time it was even cheaper.

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