Brick wall finish options inside and out
There are a huge number of masonry and decoration methods that can incredibly decorate the facade of a brick house, as well as the walls inside the building. Perform high-quality masonry, while still creating a complex relief, as in the photo above, without being a professional in this matter, it is almost impossible.
But, finishing the brick wall from the inside is within the power of anyone who wants to create an original interior with their own hands.
The content of the article
Types of brick and its purpose
Before we talk about the design of masonry, we will consider what types of bricks for construction and decoration (seeBrick home decoration: inside and out) apply today.
So:
- By purpose, the brick is divided into building, facing, refractory (fireclay), heat-insulating and paving. In connection with the topic of our article, we are interested in the first two groups.
- So, the construction types of bricks include: white brick (silicate), and two types of red bricks - ceramic and clinker. All of them have completely different production technologies, and the appearance of the brickwork made from them is also different.
Silicate brick
Silicate brick has two main ingredients: lime mixture and sand. In principle, such a brick can be produced not only in white, but also with the addition of pigments.
Naturally, its color will vary.
So:
- The production of a batch of silicate brick requires much less time than the manufacture of ceramic bricks. That is, the production process is six to seven times faster.
Accordingly, with a decrease in labor costs, the cost of products decreases. Therefore, the price of silicate brick is lower than ceramic, not less than 25-30%. - In addition, silicate brick has other advantages. Firstly, it has good sound insulation.
Secondly, the masonry of silicate brick has a lower thermal conductivity. This means that the wall may have a smaller thickness.
- But there are also disadvantages. Silicate brick weighs 5 kg, compared to 3.5 kg of ceramic.
Therefore, even a thinner wall may have more weight. To reduce the load on the foundation, the masonry is often made of hollow bricks. - Among the disadvantages of silicate brick are low resistance to humidity and extreme temperature extremes. In this regard, silicate brick is not used for masonry and furnish furnaces, as well as for construction in the northern regions.
The surface of the masonry is made of silicate brick, has a very good appearance, allowing without any difficulties to complete the interior design of the premises. And such architectural styles, where the brickwork is left without a plaster layer, abound.
Here, for example, the interior of the house, made in the antique style.
Ceramic brick
Red ceramic brick is perhaps the most used structural material: not only among other types of bricks, but also in comparison with other building materials.
So:
- Brick gets its color depending on the type of clay used in the production. Most often it happens red clay, which is abundant in our country.
But there are other colors of clay, up to white, used for making bricks.
- Accordingly, the shade of the finished product may vary. There is even a chocolate brown brick.
But, for the construction of walls, they use mainly red - the rest of the colors more often relate to facing options. - For wall masonry, both solid brick and porous, that is, having voids, can be used. Hollow options lighten the weight of the wall, and much better retain heat in the house.
But for the construction of the zero cycle: columnar foundations and socles, use only solid brick.
- Design of brickwork can be carried out during the construction of walls. Good masters know many ways to perform textured masonry, creating patterns and drawings on the walls.
Such skill is acquired only with experience - no instruction will teach this. If you want to try your hand at this job, start by reading the technical literature on the basics of masonry. - Facing the facade with brickwork is also possible on the house, which is built from other structural materials: concrete, cinder blocks, wood (seeFinishing the facade of a wooden house: we select the material) For this, facing brick is used.
On our website there is an article detailing how the brickwork of the exterior walls of the house is done - read, watch the video.
We will not focus on clinker brick. This type of brick, as the most durable and, accordingly, expensive, is used mainly in construction and landscape design.
Clinker wall, has a more even and smooth surface. This simplifies its interior decoration, similar to the ceramic brick finish.
Decorative brick
What is the difference between a facing brick and a decorative option?
These two concepts go side by side, but there are still differences:
- Cladding brick has a hollow structure and smooth surface, and can be used both for wall cladding and for masonry. We mentioned this above.
- A wall made of such a brick does not need plastering. Moreover, the brick in the laying process can be laid not only flat, but also on the edge.
At the same time, the hollow surface is not in the thickness of the wall, but on the front side of the facade, creating a magnificent relief. - Decorative brick has: various configurations; chips that make it look like a stone; colors; surface reliefs spoon and poke. The dimensions of such bricks are also far from generally accepted standards, and can be various curly elements, or resemble tiles, which are used to finish the walls under a brick.
- Such a brick is not used constructively. But in terms of wall decorationIts possibilities are almost endless.
When erecting a house of clay brick, craftsmen can simultaneously use ordinary solid brick, and decorative. Naturally, the wall is decorated on the side of the facade. - The interior wall design, performed with the help of decorative bricks, or even its imitations, requires a competent approach and creative imagination. Brick decoration in an apartment located, for example, in a prefabricated house, will help to create an unforgettable, stylish interior typical of a brick house.
The most important thing in brick design is the skill of a bricklayer, because uneven masonry can adversely affect the quality of the coating, and even the most beautiful brick can not fix the situation.
Brick design
Why did designers love brickwork so much? It seems that there is nothing special in ordinary brick, but the walls erected from it have long been attributed to decoration elements.
So:
- Properly executed brickwork has the property to uniquely transform any interior: whether it is a small apartment, or a huge mansion.
- What is most interesting, the unplastered brick wall can be seen in almost all architectural styles. And not only in residential premises, but also in public.
The thing is how exactly the brick is decorated, and how the interior design is done. - And even if the brick itself was not used in the decoration, it has been successfully replaced by stylized panels and rolled wall coverings. Thus, a brick wall is finished.
- A picture imitating brickwork can have more than just wallpaper. These are decorative plasters and paints, ceramic tiles, self-adhesive film, flexible acrylic tiles.
And in our example from the bottom, the pattern for a brick has shock-proof tempered glass - skins, which are used to finish the working wall in the kitchen.
- As for the direct participation in the decoration of the room of the brick itself, the options for its decoration can also vary. If we talk about the loft style, where the wall without decoration is a typical element of the interior, the brickwork is not particularly decorated, even if it is old, and the edges of the bricks are not quite even.
- In this case, dust and dirt are simply cleaned from the surface, and it is treated with a water repellent. Such processing is done in all cases when painting of the masonry is not planned.
- Hydrophobic impregnation protects the wall from moisture, mold, odor saturation, and makes the surface smooth and shiny. Brickwork is processed both indoors and outdoors - this helps to maintain a good appearance of the wall for many years.
- Back to the design. In the image above, we see that it is such, old and not very even brickwork that is involved in the design of the wall adjacent to the fireplace. Against the background of the rest of the walls, covered with decorative plaster, this masonry makes a striking contrast.
Moreover, the fireplace itself is also made of brick, only refractory.
- And here is another fireplace - in the interior of the living room, decorated in a Mediterranean style. Only now, the wall is faced with decorative bricks with a "rock" relief.
Such a relief makes the surface look like stone cladding. - If in the styles of shabby chic and loft, the deliberately aged surface of the brickwork is welcomed, then, for example, in the hi-tech or art nouveau styles, it is carefully aligned: it is putty and painted. By decorative jointing, a clear brick geometry is created.
- In a room where there is an unplastered brick wall, there must be an element that makes up the contrast. It can be a magnificent suspended ceiling, chic lamps, an expensive parquet floor.
- Elegant furniture against the background of an unassuming brick wall also looks very stylish. In our example above, such a contrast is a rack aluminum ceiling with a gold coating.
- A brick wall is often painted in the same color, without seams. And the color of the paint, in this case, can be used very different: from milk, to chocolate or black.
It all depends on the concept of interior design.
As you can see, there are many ways to decorate a room using brickwork in the decor. Of course, you shouldn’t finish the whole room like that, but one wall, or a fragment of it, will only decorate the room and give it a special chic.
To begin with, try to make such a wall on the loggia, or on the balcony - you will surely succeed, and not only beautiful, but also cheap.
