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faux exposed brick

johny1 | Posted in Construction Techniques on June 11, 2009 09:49am

hello everyone,

I am trying to create the look of exposed brick peeking out from an old plaster or stucco wall. This will be going on an interior wall in a bar/gameroom i am building. i have already purchased a few boxes if owens-corning veneer brick. i want it to look as real as possible. the only information i can find is for faux painting. Any ideas?


Edited 6/11/2009 2:50 pm ET by johny1

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Replies

  1. Piffin | Jun 12, 2009 12:31am | #1

    You could install some Slimbrick,and then plaster over it sporadically, maybe add some tint to th eplaster to get an aged look.

     

     

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    1. johny1 | Jun 12, 2009 12:44am | #2

      that was kinda my plan. was going to install patches of brick veneer with construction adhesive on the drywall, then maybe mud the rest of the wall. don't know if i should use bucket compound or something else. still sounds like there should be an easier way.

      1. Piffin | Jun 12, 2009 01:41am | #3

        if it was easy, anyone could do it.but if you can do it, Lowes can help, LOLI wouldn't use bucket mud premixed. It will shrink and sow alligatoring on deep spots, and will be too smooth. 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

      2. MikeHennessy | Jun 12, 2009 04:49am | #4

        Premix DW mud won't do it for ya. It won't dry right because it'll be too thick.

        If it was me (and it ain't), I'd put drywall on the wall with cutouts where I wanted the brick. Apply the brick. Add plaster around the edges and over the brick a bit so it looks "rough". Either that or put some brick here & there & plaster the rest of the wall w/ real 2- or 3-coat plaster.Mike HennessyPittsburgh, PAEverything fits, until you put glue on it.

  2. sungod | Jun 13, 2009 06:15am | #5

    There are great examples of it at DisneyWorld and Disneyland. Lots of Mexican Restaurants have it too.

  3. Henley | Jun 13, 2009 06:35pm | #6

    Lay your "strategically" placed bricks.
    (including the joints)

    Then I'd suggest stucco as it probably will look the best,
    but certainly will be the easiest to work with.

    A nice heavy scratch coat (or two) and the finish coat
    aught to give you the needed thickness.

    Try experimenting with letting the mud kick pretty hard
    then working it for that crumbled look. This will take
    some experimenting but you'll find a look you like.

  4. ruination | Jun 14, 2009 12:59am | #7

    Cut ragged holes (er, I mean holes having the shape of naturally deteriorating plaster) through the existing drywall where you think you'd like to see the brick peering through (plan accordingly for studs!).

    Cut some plywood that will fit through the hole but when turned will cover the entire hole when placed on the outside surface of the drywall (inside the wall).  Arrange and install your veneer brick/mortar on that board.  Then insert that piece through the hole and fasten it with adhesive or drywall screws to the outside surface of the original drywall to completely cover of the hole you made in your wall from the inside. 

    Finally, use whatever, mud with sand mixed in or plaster, for example, to cover the edges of the drywall to create the edges of the "broken" plaster.   Your original drywall becomes the faux layer of plaster with the bricks recessed naturally behind.  

    - r

  5. User avater
    McDesign | Jun 14, 2009 02:07am | #8

    Faux the whole thing - DW did this a long time ago . . .

    View Image

    View Image

    View Image

    Forrest



    Edited 6/13/2009 7:09 pm ET by McDesign

  6. User avater
    Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 04:12am | #9

    Rip out the drywall. Build a brick wall. Plaster over it.

    Then have some of the biker boyz in the 'hood come in and spend a coupla hours whacking it with chains and baseball bats and shooting at it.

    Dinosaur

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

    1. brownbagg | Jun 14, 2009 04:17am | #10

      make a brick stamp and stamp some wet stucco

      1. User avater
        Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 04:36am | #11

        He said, " i want it to look as real as possible."

        No fake brick or stamped brick or 'veneer brick' or  is gonna look real at those close quarters. It's gonna look like, uh, fake. Using the French word for fake (faux) doesn't make it any less fake; just more pretentious.

        Fake is fake is fake. He wants it to look real from two feet away, it's gotta be real.

         

        Dinosaur

        How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

        1. brownbagg | Jun 14, 2009 05:31am | #12

          then cut some red brick on the brick saw about 1/2 inch thick and glue them to the wall

          1. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 05:41am | #13

            Yeah, but wouldn't it be easier to just build a bloody brick wall instead o' slicing the face off all those bricks??

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          2. User avater
            Dam_inspector | Jun 14, 2009 06:21am | #14

            Whose blood is on the bricks?

          3. Piffin | Jun 14, 2009 02:30pm | #15

            slimbrick IS real brick and can be applied to look like it if you know how to tool the joints. No need to cut it, you can buy it that way 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          4. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 07:41pm | #18

            slimbrick IS real brick and....

            Yeah, I guess; but what I was thinking is this: He wants the place to look like a 150-y-o tenemant with crumbling plaster over brick. I lived in a place like that on East First Street in Manhattan for 15 years (altho I quickly stripped all the plaster and cleaned and shellacked the bricks); you cannot find new bricks that look like that, whether full-thickness or 'slimbrick'. You'd have to tumble them for days in a cement mixer, one small batch at a time. Probably take a month and cost you a new mixer barrel, and drive the neighbours nuts with the noise.

            Worse, the so-called 'antique' brick manufactured new looks about as real as one of those Styrofoam¯ 'exposed, hand-hewn antique beams' my parents had glued to the popcorn ceiling of the den in their suburban Pittsburgh McMansion.

            But you can go out to any inner-city demolition site and for a few cases of beer and a trailer rental drive off with enough authentic antique brick to whomp up exactly what this guy wants.

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          5. Piffin | Jun 14, 2009 08:04pm | #19

            "But you can go out to any inner-city demolition site and for a few cases of beer and a trailer rental drive off with enough authentic antique brick to whomp up exactly what this guy wants."LOL, don't even need to do that. I have a pallet full of them out by the shop, and a few yards more in my dump hole. 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          6. User avater
            Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 09:29pm | #20

            Well, then! Invite the OP up to visit with a few cases of Guinness and a trailer....

            Dinosaur

            How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

          7. User avater
            Huck | Jun 15, 2009 03:20am | #21

            I saw it done recently where they blocked certain areas of the rough framing, and bricked in solid the small blocked areas.  I'm sure they'll cut the sheetrock around those areas, and give it the broken plaster look.View Image"...everone needs to sit on a rock, listen to the surf, and feel the ocean breeze in their face once in awhile."

            cambriadays.com

          8. johny1 | Jun 15, 2009 05:21pm | #22

            thanks for everyone's input. I should tell you that i do already have slimbrick that i was planning on using. I am ok with the look of it. Not 150 year old looking, but definitely used. I have also installed hand-hewn hemlock beams at 8', vaulted ceiling is 11'.

            Here's what i've done so far. I prepped before drywall by installing 1/4" hardiboard in strategic locations & drywalling over it. The idea is to cut out sections of drywall & install slimbrick in cutouts so finished thickness is more or less flush with the drywall. then the plaster part comes in.

            From what everyone's saying it sounds like i had the right idea. I'm not a plasterer by any means. I'll try to practice on drywall scraps.

            Anybody use this stuff called Texturi?

             

          9. Henley | Jun 16, 2009 04:29am | #23

            I've been teaching myself how to work with plaster the last
            six months or so and I'd suggest a good deal of experimenting
            before going for it. Quite frankly the working time is far shorter then a
            novice is ready for especially if your trying to mud around obstacles
            like faux bricks. Not trying to rain on your parade, just giving a heads up.
            Seriously after six months I think I could pull it off to my satisfaction
            (But I am very picky).

    2. jimjimjim | Jun 14, 2009 07:14pm | #16

      Dino,

      That's way too much work.  He doesn't need to rip out the existing drywall.  Just start by building the brick wall in front of it, then continue as you recommended!

      Jim x 3

      1. User avater
        Dinosaur | Jun 14, 2009 07:25pm | #17

        I like the way you think!

        Dinosaur

        How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

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