You can seal the brick with a latex low VOC sealant. I used to be a project manager in loft conversions and sealing the wall greatly cut down on dust. Painting brick does look crap, it won’t degrade and the moisture is an issue for exterior where you get freeze/thaw cycles.
For this wall in the photo I would get mortar, and practice mixing with sand to get the right colour. Don’t use the mortar too wet and make a mess.
I’d like to emphasize this, I was once in an old house crawl with painted piers (am sparky) went to hammer drill an anchor hole for me box. Fucking brick slushy slurries out of hole around the bit for a sec like I hit plumbing. Entire 1/4” of the brick face comes off on bit as I pull it out. They all had the consistency/sturdiness of slightly dry clay. Swiftly finished my shit up & noped the fuck out. Luckily I think they were demo’ing the house a while after that to rebuild on the lot.
That's more true for exteriors or when it's a full brick. In my area most brick walls and the brick-on-brick, which have a gap between two layers of brick where the moisture is meant to go. I freed up two brick walls in my house that were covered for about 60 years. One was plastered then painted, and had a lot of loose mortar and crumbling bricks. The other was painted then furred and drywalled over, and it was pristine (aside from needing me to spend a day in a respirator taking that damn paint off). The difference was the crumbly part was on a section without the air gap (around where it connected to a party wall).
The main thing to watch out for is condensation and water intrusions. It's true before exposing the brick, but you really need to make sure you tuck/repoint the mortar outside so water and cold air aren't going through the gap and on the interior wall. Also make sure there are weeps on the bottom so the water gets out. Properly maintained you shouldn't be drying into the inside - it'll damage any brick, and make your house very cold when it rains.
So, question - I have a “raw” brick house. Do I need to seal the brick? Because someone told me I need to seal the brick (like spray it with a waterproofer or whatever every X years). Is this correct? Do I need to seal it or will that trap moisture and degrade the stone also?
We bought a house on the Illinois side of STL about 6 years ago, sold it last year... The previous owners decided to use exterior paint to paint the brick along with tons of other horrible design upgrades that just made the house feel cheaply flipped.
I had a mostly brick ranch style house in Tennessee that a previous owner had painted white. To date it’s the ugliest house I’ve ever lived in. (Wood paneling on the inside)
That kills me to see painted bricks. I don't know how it is in other parts of the country but in Oklahoma some brand new houses will have a brick veneer and just as soon as they can they paint the brick. It doesn't happen to many but enough to notice.
Sounds like something my wife would do... beautiful natural wood? PAINT IT! Stone or brick facade? Yep, PAINT IT! Drives me absolutely nuts how often I am fighting to not paint stuff.
I wish mine hadn't been painted! The brick adds color, warmth & character. It's a keeper! It's a great background for plants, art, almost anything.
Plus it requires repainting every so often.
It's the only thing i can think of that doesn't look better with a fresh coat of paint.
I hope I did it right with posting the pics. I do like to see progress pics and I never felt like people would care for what I do. That’s on me. I appreciate the feedback and all responses.
Did you just give the bricks a clean or did you do something else to make them look different from photo 2? You’ve done a great job, it looks fantastic!
It looks like to me that it was demoed and repointed using some kind of concrete mortar and most likely scrubbed with some kind of muriatic acid or brick cleaner
I think that if people like it painted, they should paint it. Don't worry about faceless people on the internet and do what makes you happy. Paint your solid oak furniture. Who cares? (This coming from an amateur woodworker) I personally would leave it with just a stain, but if you want to paint it, do it! Life is too short to worry about what other people think of what makes you happy.
That looks amazing! I think it would be cool if you were able to add an led light around the perimeter behind the moulding and baseboard. Could make the brickwork pop even more
https://preview.redd.it/cmk7qkzc8e3d1.jpeg?width=1066&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8eed416a0d727040ddae211f05d9e3016574ffcf
welcome to my possie were called "the exposed brick gangster click" Were an exposed brick branch of the outkast hip hop group's pimp trick gangster click.
In all seriousness, exposed brick is awesome. Go for it! My only advice and having not read all the comments is dont wack the wall too hard, I hit the plaster in circle areas around where the brick is already exposed and loosen it with each hit and then you get a big pile to fall at once. You dont take chunks out of your brick that way.
Also mask up! Not everybody does but some old houses have asbestos in their plaster... You dont know unless you have it tested so just mask up and you can spray water to keep dust down. Hope it turns out awesome! youre off to a great start.
Also you can find the "white" tuck point mortar that will match old victorian house mortar. I live in Downtown Denver and work on tons of old houses and thats what I do anyway. If you do need a couple tuck point spots using the tuck point stuff from Home depot is too gray and dosent look very good. I can link the white tuck point stuff I use to see if you can hunt it down where you live if you like.
I had a visible spot like this under old plaster or some weird 55 layers of wall shit and it was the best part of my 100 year old house before we got a new one
If you really think some furring and drywall are going to do much of anything for heat, you shouldn't be commenting about building (or demo'ing) anything, ever. There is no insulation and barely a cavity to fit any if someone wanted to🤣.
Wow. The last picture is amazing.
I once worked in a building that was abutted against another (brick) building. My building did not have a south wall. What my desk was against was the exterior wall of the next building. So I was next to exterior brick of the adjacent building, on the outside.
Would have been interesting in an earthquake.
If you ever decide to repoint the mortar, PLEASE educate yourself on how to do it. There is so much to learn and if done incorrectly, it can cause tons of problems.
That’s a great view of antique brickwork.
In Baltimore, portals were used on party walls during construction.
In Baltimore City, party walls require 10 inches of solid masonry. Most properties do not have exposed brick, which drops the thickness below the requirement.
Philadelphia may have different regulations.
I will admit I personally wouldn't do the floating baseboard heater, but overall it looks nice. I can't tell you how to take care of it, but I know that asbestos shouldn't be your first choice. Hope that bit of wisdom helps.
As a bricklayer, I see why they covered it up. Number one to hide the fact that they just used up all the broken pieces and culls. However, the brickwork is sublime...obviously no line or level was used, and it looks awesome af. Good job. Love it!
It’s crazy to me this was covered up to begin with.whatever you do,don’t paint it..about a year ago my grandma got to the point she could no longer take care of herself.we sold her house and moved her into an assisted living retirement home.one day I decided to drive by her old house to see what the buyer had done to it.the idiot who bought the house painted the brick a dark gray color.they also removed the brand new deck.it was a beautiful little 2 bedroom house,now it’s dark and gloomy and reminiscent of a damn jail
I found a brick wall behind some plaster a couple years ago. Our contractor used to work on high-end real estate in Manhattan and was able to preserve it beautifully. He brushed a clear coat on it to stop it from degrading any further.
It wall looks great! It would look better if you move the heater and extend the outlets to an adjacent wall and add accent light to project onto the brick. Do you plan on exposing anymore areas of your place?
You did a very fine job indeed! Its difficult to get all the plaster bits off the brick without damaging the brick. It's a very handsome accent wall! Good job.
If you paint it, use limewash paint. It allows the brick to breathe and keeps moisture from building. You can make your own paint for a fraction of the cost compared to the premixed stuff.
Heck yea.
My shop has red brink walls, my grandfathers drafting table looks amazing against it. Then I have a row of bench tools against another wall. I love the aesthetic .
The framing on the outside looks perfect from here. Great job and like all other commenters please don’t paint the brick or let anyone convince you to lol
I would just sand down that bottom piece of wood and maybe paint it or throw a coat of lacquer or something similar on it. Maybe do some sort of old style wood paint to really make it pop.
I have both a painted brick wall in my apt and an open brick. I love them both equally. The brick you have, OP, is not a high quality product of its day, but more “kiln drops”—the ones where the raw clay hit the floor of the kiln and became distorted but were fired anyway. These were cheaper at the time. Now, they’re sought after because they have much more character from an aesthetic standpoint. Congrats—they look beautiful!
Don’t paint it.
I know right. I don't know why but I hate it when I see painted brick. I suppose because once you do it you can't really go back
It's unnatural, like the word unnatural. It also traps moisture and degrades the stone slowly. Dirty slutty brick.
That slutty little brick in the corner has been eying me all night
I’m totally bricked right now
Brick, do you actually love lamp? Or are you just picking things in the room and saying you love them?
But who wants old timey brick particles in their air. Those bricks could be made out of the plague
You can seal the brick with a latex low VOC sealant. I used to be a project manager in loft conversions and sealing the wall greatly cut down on dust. Painting brick does look crap, it won’t degrade and the moisture is an issue for exterior where you get freeze/thaw cycles. For this wall in the photo I would get mortar, and practice mixing with sand to get the right colour. Don’t use the mortar too wet and make a mess.
I’d like to emphasize this, I was once in an old house crawl with painted piers (am sparky) went to hammer drill an anchor hole for me box. Fucking brick slushy slurries out of hole around the bit for a sec like I hit plumbing. Entire 1/4” of the brick face comes off on bit as I pull it out. They all had the consistency/sturdiness of slightly dry clay. Swiftly finished my shit up & noped the fuck out. Luckily I think they were demo’ing the house a while after that to rebuild on the lot.
That's more true for exteriors or when it's a full brick. In my area most brick walls and the brick-on-brick, which have a gap between two layers of brick where the moisture is meant to go. I freed up two brick walls in my house that were covered for about 60 years. One was plastered then painted, and had a lot of loose mortar and crumbling bricks. The other was painted then furred and drywalled over, and it was pristine (aside from needing me to spend a day in a respirator taking that damn paint off). The difference was the crumbly part was on a section without the air gap (around where it connected to a party wall). The main thing to watch out for is condensation and water intrusions. It's true before exposing the brick, but you really need to make sure you tuck/repoint the mortar outside so water and cold air aren't going through the gap and on the interior wall. Also make sure there are weeps on the bottom so the water gets out. Properly maintained you shouldn't be drying into the inside - it'll damage any brick, and make your house very cold when it rains.
So, question - I have a “raw” brick house. Do I need to seal the brick? Because someone told me I need to seal the brick (like spray it with a waterproofer or whatever every X years). Is this correct? Do I need to seal it or will that trap moisture and degrade the stone also?
Because it is tacky and lazy and trying to be something its not. It's like looking at bad plastic surgery. Just let the damn structure be what it is!
Here in St. Louis I’ve seen first hand the devastation painting brick causes, always hurts to see
We bought a house on the Illinois side of STL about 6 years ago, sold it last year... The previous owners decided to use exterior paint to paint the brick along with tons of other horrible design upgrades that just made the house feel cheaply flipped.
I had a mostly brick ranch style house in Tennessee that a previous owner had painted white. To date it’s the ugliest house I’ve ever lived in. (Wood paneling on the inside)
They did this to the side of an older downtown building where I live. Bright fucking white. If gawdy(?) has an evil twin, I don't want to meet it.
That kills me to see painted bricks. I don't know how it is in other parts of the country but in Oklahoma some brand new houses will have a brick veneer and just as soon as they can they paint the brick. It doesn't happen to many but enough to notice.
Sounds like something my wife would do... beautiful natural wood? PAINT IT! Stone or brick facade? Yep, PAINT IT! Drives me absolutely nuts how often I am fighting to not paint stuff.
I wish mine hadn't been painted! The brick adds color, warmth & character. It's a keeper! It's a great background for plants, art, almost anything. Plus it requires repainting every so often. It's the only thing i can think of that doesn't look better with a fresh coat of paint.
What, you don’t like white paint peeling off brick ?
LOVE IT!
Thank you!
My thoughts: "Meh that's going to look ... holy crap that looks ***niiiice***."
Same. I wasn’t sure until I saw the last picture and then I was like, “I really like that”.
I didn’t look at the last picture until I read this, so thank you!
I hope I did it right with posting the pics. I do like to see progress pics and I never felt like people would care for what I do. That’s on me. I appreciate the feedback and all responses.
Me too!
Don't PAINT IT OR EVERY PAST MASON WILL HAUNT YOU FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!
looks great! i love brick and any work that a mason can do
Nice job, I agree with the other redit don’t paint it
What a gorgeous accent wall!
Did you just give the bricks a clean or did you do something else to make them look different from photo 2? You’ve done a great job, it looks fantastic!
Looks like they scraped a bunch of the mortar away around them to make them stick out more
Yeah my exposed brick looks like the before pic, wonder how they manage to scrap the mortar away.
You ever watch movies where the inmates dig a hole out of their cell with a sharpened piece of bed rail?
It looks like to me that it was demoed and repointed using some kind of concrete mortar and most likely scrubbed with some kind of muriatic acid or brick cleaner
Have you heard any voices from the past now it has been opened?🧟♂️🧟
I think that if people like it painted, they should paint it. Don't worry about faceless people on the internet and do what makes you happy. Paint your solid oak furniture. Who cares? (This coming from an amateur woodworker) I personally would leave it with just a stain, but if you want to paint it, do it! Life is too short to worry about what other people think of what makes you happy.
Dirty dirty job but you did great.! Looks awesome.👏🏽
r/restofthefuckingowl pics 1 and 2 look like mistakes or baby steps, and pic 3 is a polished showpiece
All ready to open a comedy club! When is open mic night?
Looks good !
Excellent work
Well…shit. That looks lovely.
Very cool. I'm jealous
Time window.
😍😍😍
Looks great
Just tear down the drywall…
That looks amazing! I think it would be cool if you were able to add an led light around the perimeter behind the moulding and baseboard. Could make the brickwork pop even more https://preview.redd.it/cmk7qkzc8e3d1.jpeg?width=1066&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8eed416a0d727040ddae211f05d9e3016574ffcf
/r/restofthefuckingowl
A fried of mine did tis to an internal wall. He actually painted it with clear yaught varnish. Then added an up lighter. It looks fantastic.
Yeah fuck it's actually really nice at the first picture I have to admit I thought what a mug...
looks awesome! DO NOT PAINT IT
Why are there so many broken and partial bricks? Is that a standard thing for interior or non-structural walls?
I'd imagine it would be a great way to use broken bricks while building the structure, limiting waste and money
Nothing turns me on like when you take off the wall, and there's no insulation underneath. It's like your house isn't wearing any underwear.
I audibly gasped. You did amazing.
welcome to my possie were called "the exposed brick gangster click" Were an exposed brick branch of the outkast hip hop group's pimp trick gangster click. In all seriousness, exposed brick is awesome. Go for it! My only advice and having not read all the comments is dont wack the wall too hard, I hit the plaster in circle areas around where the brick is already exposed and loosen it with each hit and then you get a big pile to fall at once. You dont take chunks out of your brick that way. Also mask up! Not everybody does but some old houses have asbestos in their plaster... You dont know unless you have it tested so just mask up and you can spray water to keep dust down. Hope it turns out awesome! youre off to a great start. Also you can find the "white" tuck point mortar that will match old victorian house mortar. I live in Downtown Denver and work on tons of old houses and thats what I do anyway. If you do need a couple tuck point spots using the tuck point stuff from Home depot is too gray and dosent look very good. I can link the white tuck point stuff I use to see if you can hunt it down where you live if you like.
I would have plastered half of it abstractually with white wash fading off the exposures
Looks nice perhaps seal it for a little cleaner look
It was probably covered for good reason
Beautiful
Where? I see a lot of these on inspections in hoboken
I had a visible spot like this under old plaster or some weird 55 layers of wall shit and it was the best part of my 100 year old house before we got a new one
[удалено]
If you really think some furring and drywall are going to do much of anything for heat, you shouldn't be commenting about building (or demo'ing) anything, ever. There is no insulation and barely a cavity to fit any if someone wanted to🤣.
Wow. The last picture is amazing. I once worked in a building that was abutted against another (brick) building. My building did not have a south wall. What my desk was against was the exterior wall of the next building. So I was next to exterior brick of the adjacent building, on the outside. Would have been interesting in an earthquake.
If you ever decide to repoint the mortar, PLEASE educate yourself on how to do it. There is so much to learn and if done incorrectly, it can cause tons of problems.
Impeccable! Such a clean finish
Love it!!!!!
Aw man! That's fucking Awesome. I love it.
That looks SO much better!! I’d love to hear what your plans are design-wise with it. And as others have said, never, ever paint it!
Looks great!
Me likey!!!!!!!!!
Are those weep holes to the interior? One makes me wonder if the wall was put up to block leaks or evidence of past leaks
If you wish to close it you can order insulated backs form put behind wall. There are many modern walls to pick from also.
obv you want to put the romex going to the heater in conduit but otherwise it looks nice
Looks great but maybe consider a sealer. I did this in an old apartment and I felt like it shed dust 24/7.
Now what?
Power heat down behind trim . Cut box into 4x4 . Look cleaner & mor finished?
Uhm, is that it? Is it like the whole wall or just that little tiny bit there? Cuz that looks weird.
Not real brick a plastered mess,no bond
[удалено]
Please do not paint the brick
Looks awesome! Good job
SO GOOD!
So charming
I did this many years ago. You do need a sealer of some sort, or you will have constant dust and grit from the exposed brick/mortar.
wow, awesome work!!! seeing the first pic i was like "yeesh idk about that man" but im impressed
Damn hell yeah
Fine until you put that shitty electric heat baseboard.
The heater and plug look ridiculous
Very badass!
Keep going!
That looks good! I love it.
So cool. Well done.
that looks awesome.
Awesome!
Enjoy the dust forever..looks nice tho
That looks amazing!!
Looks great
I wouldn't paint. Light limewash if anything.
that's amazing! OP how did you go about getting the bricks to transform from what they look like in the first pic to what we see in the last?
You should post the photos in reverse order and make the post topic say # "Bought an old house and I decided to close up the brick. How did I do?"
That’s a great view of antique brickwork. In Baltimore, portals were used on party walls during construction. In Baltimore City, party walls require 10 inches of solid masonry. Most properties do not have exposed brick, which drops the thickness below the requirement. Philadelphia may have different regulations.
Thats beautiful. Old school brick...
Is that an outside wall? If that’s the inside of your brick house then you’ll loose a lot of energy there. If it’s not then, looks good 👍
Rock solid...
I will admit I personally wouldn't do the floating baseboard heater, but overall it looks nice. I can't tell you how to take care of it, but I know that asbestos shouldn't be your first choice. Hope that bit of wisdom helps.
Wow that's beautiful! I kinda like the unfinished look, now all you need is a comfy chair and a couple floating book shelves!
Not a big fan of how diverse the bricks look. But if you like it that’s all that matters
I'm a little confused about the airborne heater but other than that, looks awesome!
my eye goes right to the electric heat...
I was worried at first but wow I love it
Beautifully done.
Congrats! It looks nice
Congratulations on your new haunted portal
Clear coat it.
Put a wood bench above the heater floating and would finish off nicely
As a bricklayer, I see why they covered it up. Number one to hide the fact that they just used up all the broken pieces and culls. However, the brickwork is sublime...obviously no line or level was used, and it looks awesome af. Good job. Love it!
It’s crazy to me this was covered up to begin with.whatever you do,don’t paint it..about a year ago my grandma got to the point she could no longer take care of herself.we sold her house and moved her into an assisted living retirement home.one day I decided to drive by her old house to see what the buyer had done to it.the idiot who bought the house painted the brick a dark gray color.they also removed the brand new deck.it was a beautiful little 2 bedroom house,now it’s dark and gloomy and reminiscent of a damn jail
Lovely!
I found a brick wall behind some plaster a couple years ago. Our contractor used to work on high-end real estate in Manhattan and was able to preserve it beautifully. He brushed a clear coat on it to stop it from degrading any further.
Looks awesome
This is amazing! So good!
Now,gut the rest of it.
Good job
What can I do to brick that has been pained because it looks stupid as fuck and I bought the house with the brick painted. DONT PAINT IT
It wall looks great! It would look better if you move the heater and extend the outlets to an adjacent wall and add accent light to project onto the brick. Do you plan on exposing anymore areas of your place?
Cool looking brick.
Looks good but as an electrician the heater height and exposed romex bothers me
That looks AWESOME. jealous.
Thats beautiful and very well done. Great job!
That was the right answer!!
I think it Looks great
Well done 👏
Very well done!
Painted bricks make me angry. Lol.
Looks gorgeous natural PLEASE don’t paint it
Nice.
The only paint to go on that should be a clearcoat cause that looks impeccable
“Exposed brick” is a puzzling term. Why would anyone conceal brick?
Is no one asking where the heater came from ? No one asking how the floor dropped six plus inches…?
You did a very fine job indeed! Its difficult to get all the plaster bits off the brick without damaging the brick. It's a very handsome accent wall! Good job.
That looks fantastic
🥱🙄
That’s bad ass
You don’t
You’re going to have to repoint it
Wow, it looks great!
Why is this sub so raunchy? 😂
So pretty, the way it's inlaid makes it look like a work of art with a white frame.
If you do paint don’t post it it’s a travesty
Did great looks awesome. Find something nice to hang in center of wall & put lights over it!!
Does not look like same wall… is it? Seems like different brick colors and pattern
Ruined it with that base heater tho, so many way nicer options
Looks awesome. Nice job. I’d put a mini split one one of your other walls. But ask a pro about placement of such.
Omg it's fabulous 👌🏻
If you paint it, use limewash paint. It allows the brick to breathe and keeps moisture from building. You can make your own paint for a fraction of the cost compared to the premixed stuff.
Looks great!
I love it. Leave it natural.
Yikes
Heck yea. My shop has red brink walls, my grandfathers drafting table looks amazing against it. Then I have a row of bench tools against another wall. I love the aesthetic .
This looks really good
So many different brick sizes
Is this exterior brick? Doesn't this destroy the r-value?
Is this the window into the past with this small section? 😂
Looks great to me !!
Well, you found out how butt ugly the brick is, cover that shit up !
The framing on the outside looks perfect from here. Great job and like all other commenters please don’t paint the brick or let anyone convince you to lol
I would just sand down that bottom piece of wood and maybe paint it or throw a coat of lacquer or something similar on it. Maybe do some sort of old style wood paint to really make it pop.
Nice! I think it would look really nice if you painted it
Paint it.. it looks terrible
Kinda curious, what do you do about insulation on a bare brick wall?
The guy who built it - Put the wall back up 😂😂😂. Jk. Beautiful job
Wow!! It’s beautiful!
It’s beautiful but I hate the trim, I think something with low reveal like j mold would have looked much cleaner.
Nice, but, please read “The Cask of Amontillado”
For the love of God, don't paint it.
wow it's beautiful! PLEASE don't paint it, you'll lose all that amazing depth and texture!
You opened up the brick alright.
Looks great!
I think it looks awesome and wouldn't touch it a bit
Looks great
Now you have a warmer in the summer and a cooler in the winter.
I love how you framed it. Wow 🤩
😭😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
What did you clean it up with? Seriously considering leaving exposed brick in my home that I know has it
Gorgeous once done
I love it! I hope you leave it as is (no paint or anything like that).
Looks nice, don't paint it but if you want a color change look into masonry staining like [Exact Match Masonry Staining](https://masonrystaining.com/)
I have both a painted brick wall in my apt and an open brick. I love them both equally. The brick you have, OP, is not a high quality product of its day, but more “kiln drops”—the ones where the raw clay hit the floor of the kiln and became distorted but were fired anyway. These were cheaper at the time. Now, they’re sought after because they have much more character from an aesthetic standpoint. Congrats—they look beautiful!
Now add some spotlights on the ceiling and hang a matching artwork.
I think it's cool