Paint on brick: how to choose and use

There were times when, when decorating buildings, they tried to plaster the brickwork without fail, but people fell in love with its original relief so much that materials imitating this, in general, simple geometric pattern, began to be used almost everywhere. These are tiles in the form of bricks, and wallpaper for painting "brickwork", and various types of facade and interior panels.

With the help of the video in this article, we will explain to our readers how to fit the masonry or its imitation into the design of the room, how to paint the brick, and what composition to treat its surface with - as well as present a lot of other interesting information on this topic.

Some historical, and even more modern interior architectural styles, cannot be imagined at all without natural brickwork. At the time when these styles originated, masonry was left unfinished for the simple reason that stucco was too expensive.

Yes, and materials have not yet been invented that could protect the brick from aging, exposure to the external environment.

So:

• Over the years, the surface of the brick took on a picturesque appearance, blackened somewhere, efflorescence appeared, moss made its way through the seams. This gave the idea to modern designers, and today the imitation of aged brickwork, one might say, is at the peak of its popularity. To do this, you do not need to be sophisticated, artistically paint the brick, trying to add age to the new masonry.

• The walls can simply be lined with brick or clinker tiles (see) with the appropriate design, and one of these options is shown in the photo above. Such a finish is carried out with hand-molded decorative clinker tiles, and the result is such that it is almost impossible to distinguish imitation from natural masonry.
• Actually, the consumer has not only tiles, but also decorative bricks with the same appearance. It can be used for cladding the facade or interior walls only during the construction of a house, therefore, there must be a project that provides for such a finish.
• If the house is old, and the idea to decorate the interior in a loft style, or to update the facade came during its operation, it is much easier to use tiles, because the brick is heavy and must rest on the foundation. Of course, the price of such a tile is quite high, and facing one square of the wall will cost about 2,700 rubles.

• For those who do not have material opportunities for such a cladding, there is nothing left to do but paint the brickwork, for example, white, which also looks very stylish - or use wallpaper for painting with the appropriate pattern or relief. A roll of such wallpaper can cost as much as a square meter of tiled cladding, but at least 5m2 per roll, so the finish is five times cheaper.

Note! There is another, simply wonderful option that can be used for interior design - this is a decorative gypsum brick. Firstly, it allows you to get a beautiful relief, and secondly, the brick can be painted in the color scheme that you like best. And thirdly, such a brick can be made at home and at no special cost.

And yet, loft, modern or country styles involve participation in the design of natural brickwork, and our instruction is dedicated to it. In the next chapter, we will tell you how to paint a brick, and perform other work related to preparing the masonry for finishing.

Painting unplastered walls

Before proceeding with painting work, or other decoration of the masonry, it must be prepared for finishing. And it does not matter what it will be: painting a brick balcony, or designing a wall adjacent to the fireplace - if it is not planned to plaster the masonry, then its surface will be prepared in the same way.

• Although, much depends on the initial state of the walls - there is a difference: it is a freshly erected masonry, or your house is already a hundred years old. The beauty of brickwork is done by grouting, and there are many ways to do it. When brick walls are supposed to be plastered (see), the seams are not filled with mortar at all, but they lead the masonry “into the wasteland”.

This improves the adhesion of the plaster to the base, and eliminates the need to make notches on it. And if, for example, during the overhaul of an old house, when a layer of plaster that has lost its strength was removed from the walls, empty seams were found in the masonry, as part of the decorative surface finish, they will have to be filled with mortar with their own hands.

Processing masonry seams

This work is, of course, painstaking. But if you consider that unplastered brickwork is usually left as an accent on only one wall, or only certain fragments in the interior are decorated: a rough stove, a wall between windows, or a niche, then this is not so difficult to do.

• First of all, the surface is cleaned. Even when laying is carried out in a wasteland, when plastering, the solution gets into the seams. When cleaning the walls to the ground, some of it remains in the seams, and in order to fill them with fresh mortar, the old one must be removed and sand and dust removed with a brush.
• Cleaning is done with a narrow chisel and a hammer, but this must be done carefully, trying not to damage the brick. You will also need another tool - flat jointing, with which you will process the seams, giving them a shape.

• To fill the joints, a solution of the brand MP * 75 is needed, but before applying it, the cleaned masonry should be washed - especially if it was previously plastered. After washing, it should dry for several days. Then the wall is primed, not forgetting about the seams. One layer of soil is not enough, the masonry must be processed at least two times.
• Only after the surface has completely dried, you can start stitching work. First make horizontal seams, and then vertical. The voids between the bricks are three-quarters filled with mortar, and let it stand for 30-40 minutes until the mixture sets a little. Keep in mind that it should not lose elasticity, so do not fill the seams immediately over the entire area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe finished surface.
• Apply the solution for two or three rows, and when it comes time to work on them, you can fill in a few more. Then, using the stitching, you begin to form the seams filled first. Slightly press the tool into the solution, and remove the protruding excess with a regular clerical knife with a wide blade.

• With the same simple tool, putty the seams in those places where the notches remained unfilled with mortar. After you have nice smooth grooves, you can start sealing the vertical seams. Here special attention must be paid to ensuring that they are well tied with horizontal seams.

Advice! Do not forget to regularly moisten the joint with water - this will help smooth the surface better. In addition, the solution sticks to the dry surface of the metal, and by moving the tool along the unhardened seam, it can simply be ruined. Do not worry if the mortar accidentally gets on the surface of the brick. Since you have already primed it, any dirt will be easily washed off.

• In this case, there is no difference: the silicate brick will be painted, or it is a laying of traditional clay bricks - all work is done in the same way. When processing seams, you repeat the contour of each brick. Especially carefully it is necessary to fill the seams in the chimneys of fireplaces and stoves, since carbon monoxide can enter the room through them.
• And it doesn't matter if some of them are uneven - it would even be strange to see perfectly even bricks in a centuries-old wall. In principle, this unevenness is the beauty of the old masonry, it is not without reason that it is even imitated with the help of decorative bricks or ceramic tiles.

Your task is not so much to level the masonry, since this is simply impossible, but to make it embossed, beautifully edging its elements with seams. Old bricks framed by new smooth seams look very impressive. If necessary, you can putty those places where there are potholes or broken corners.

How to paint a brick

If you have a desire to leave the masonry in its original form, then the puttied places are simply tinted with an ordinary dish sponge. Although, some even prefer to leave potholes without sealing - after all, this is all a matter of taste. But you still need to sand the masonry.

• Firstly, it is easier to remove the dirt that has eaten into the brick, and secondly, its surface will be smooth and more pleasant to the touch. After the sealing of the seams is over, the surface to be treated must be vacuumed.

• If you are not going to paint the brick in a different color, but plan to leave the masonry as it is, it needs to be primed one more time. A multi-layered primer will “glaze” the surface, completely blocking the entry of moisture. Thus, the masonry will not get dirty, absorb unnecessary odors, and will also be reliably protected from destruction.

Advice! It is better to apply the primer with a sprayer, since when working with a roller, only the surface of the brick is primed, and the composition almost does not get into the seams. If you still use a roller, then try to moisten it abundantly, or additionally walk along the seams with a brush. Make sure that there are no drips, and rub them until all the soil is absorbed into the surface.

• As a final touch, the joints, or the entire surface of the masonry, can be treated with a decorative glaze, for example: Feidal Ambiente. Wood is usually treated with azure, and this composition can be applied to almost any base. It simply rubs into the surface, giving it a golden sheen.

• Azure is transparent in texture, but it can be tinted with full-tone paints offered by the same manufacturer. Thanks to tinting, you can achieve not only the traditional terracotta shade characteristic of brick - there are other options.
• It is impossible not to mention such a drug as Sopro KLO, which is called clinker oil. This is nothing more than a mixture of mineral oils, and it got its name because it is intended for processing clinker bricks and tiles, as well as other porous materials. The task of the drug is to protect the surface from contamination, give it a gloss, and emphasize the depth of color.
• It does not form a film on the surface, such as varnish or oil paint. Therefore, the masonry can "breathe", that is, pass steam through itself. Ceramics treated with clinker oil look as if they have just been washed - but remain completely dry.

• This is a great option not only for old brickwork. Sopro KLO can also be applied to the surface of facing bricks - this will only prolong its service life and make its surface extraordinarily beautiful. By the way, if there are difficulties with cleaning the masonry in the process of preparation, then the same manufacturer also has such a preparation that will help to cope with this.

In general, any paint can be used for painting bricks: both water-dispersion, and alkyd or oil. The main thing is that it should be designed for the interior or facade - depending on where the brickwork will be painted.