The article will describe in detail as much as possible how to lay decorative brick on the wall with your own hands. For many years in the interiors of country houses and apartments you can find decorative brick or stone. This material is sold in any construction stores, a wide selection of colors, sizes, due to this you can perform a unique decoration of the walls in the rooms. The advantage of the material is that it can be attached to the walls of absolutely any material. And it will look as if the wall is made of natural expensive brick. Expanded clay includes expanded clay, sand, perlite.
The main features of the brick
Before laying decorative brick tiles, you need to carefully study its varieties and features. This will allow you to choose the most suitable type of material. Let's look at what materials an artificial brick is made of :
- Clinker is a very durable material, its surface is resistant to wear. On sale you can find bricks from this material in various colors. Such a brick is used both for the inner lining, and for the outer.
- Gypsum is a rather fragile material, but it has one significant advantage. This, of course, is weight - the product can even be glued to walls made of drywall, plywood, and other fragile materials. Initially, all blanks are white. They are painted at the last stage of production. By the way, on sale you can find artificial bricks without painting. You can do it yourself.
- Polyurethane is a fairly popular material, has a low weight, and is used for wall decoration in houses and apartments. Most of the bricks from this material are white, but you can also find painted ones.
- Polyfoam - even it is used to make bricks. It is used exclusively for indoor decoration. The disadvantage of the material is that it is very fragile. But it is light in weight and can be mounted on walls of any material.
What material is best to use
If you decide to wall the wall inside the house, it is best to choose plaster bricks. They are cheaper than clinker and porcelain, they are inferior to them only in terms of strength. But they are stronger than any polymers. You can even make gypsum tiles yourself - just mix PVA glue, gypsum and water, and then pour the mass into a special form.
After drying, you can proceed with the installation of tiles on the wall. It is also worth noting that laying decorative gypsum bricks will not cause difficulties. It is enough to follow simple rules, which we will talk about later.
How to count the material
Before starting work, you need to carefully calculate the amount of material. To do this, you need to measure the height and length of all the walls on which you plan to put decorative brick. Multiplying the length with the height, you get the surface area. If there are several walls, then you need to fold all the areas. If there are window and doorways, it is necessary to subtract their area - this will significantly reduce costs due to the fact that all calculations will be carried out as accurately as possible. After you receive the final value of the area, you need to add 10% in reserve. You also need to consider that the material can be both flat and angular (this is placed in the corners).
Instruments
In order to lay decorative gypsum bricks, you need to stock up with this set of tools:
- Tape measure.
- Ruler.
- Level.
- With a pencil.
- Glue.
- Spatula.
You may also need a saw for cutting decorative bricks. The glue can be different, it all depends on whether inside or outside you are finishing. Adhesive compositions are liquid or dry, pasty. It is also recommended to purchase crosses to make the same seam everywhere.
Choose glue
And now let's talk about how to lay decorative tiles under a brick. And more precisely, about the types of adhesives:
- Cement-based tile adhesive. It is used when laying tiles. It can also be used to glue any type of cladding.
- Gypsum plaster - ideal for indoor work. The mixture has a white color, it is not visible under the artificial brick.
- Silicone sealant is an effective, albeit unusual, installation method. The advantage of the composition is that it turns out to lay the bricks as densely as possible against the wall.
If you are looking for a glue composition for outdoor work, you need to choose a frost-resistant. Otherwise, the mixture will begin to crumble and fall off with the decorative brick. A prerequisite is to use exclusively prepared composition.
Bricklaying options
It is not very difficult to cover the walls with decorative bricks ; the material is made in the form of a panel. Therefore, laying on the walls can be done as you like. Only the type of brick depends on which technology to choose. Pay attention to the fact that the spoon is the longest edge of the brick, and the bonder is the end part.
Laying the spoon type - this is one row of stick and 4 spoon. If you use the bonding method, then all the masonry will be made from the corresponding parts. The type of masonry is also different, but the most common can be distinguished:
- Brandenburg - is made of two long and one short rows. The brick is glued in such a way that the butt side is in two rows from each other. Be sure to do an offset of each row by about ½ brick.
- Gothic masonry is done using short and long rows of bricks alternately. Be sure to do an offset between the rows of ½ brick.
- Cross masonry is the most difficult, bricks are laid on the wall by different sides in turn. Similarly, as in the last two cases, it is necessary to make an offset of ½ brick each row.
These are only the most common masonry options, in fact there are much more. There are both simple and more complex options. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the maximum number of types of masonry in order to choose the most suitable option.
Brick laying procedure
If you have encountered the installation of decorative or tile, then sticking a brick on the wall will not be difficult. These procedures are generally very similar, they have no significant differences. First, it is necessary to draw one line on the wall on which the installation is being carried out, it will be a guide. Be sure to draw this line using the level. All work needs to be done, guided precisely by this line. Otherwise, it will visually appear that the masonry is uneven - the fact is that the bricks will float to the side.
Start laying decorative brick on the wall with your own hands from the lowest point. It is recommended that you first lay the entire tile on the floor in order to assemble the scheme of all elements as accurately as possible. First lay all the smooth pieces, only at the end you can use clipping. Apply glue as thin as possible. And you need to apply it to the wall and decorative brick. It is most convenient to apply glue with a spatula with teeth, but it is much better to remove excess with rubber. All excess should be removed immediately. The problem is that after drying it will be difficult to do.
Basic installation rules
The cost of laying decorative bricks (when hiring specialists) is from 400 to 1000 rubles per square meter. And 400 rubles is the cost of rough laying, and 1000 rubles. - fair.
But you can do without the help of specialists. In this case, you can save a lot of money. It is enough to follow simple rules when performing installation:
- Insert crosses between the tiles to make the same seam on the entire wall. If it is not possible to purchase crosses (which is unlikely), you can use simple nails.
- All seams at the end of work must be wiped. For this purpose, you need to use gypsum or special grouts. All work is carried out using a rubber spatula.
- In order to preserve the coating, it is necessary to apply a layer of wood varnish. In this case, the material will not darken. This is usually done in the hallways and corridors.
- The interior of the living room can be decorated using paint. It is very easy to apply to decorative bricks. A painted brick will look much better than uncoated.
- Laying bricks on wallpaper is allowed. Agree, the room in which the lower part is lined with brick and the upper one is covered with wallpaper will look original.
- Be sure to align all walls before starting work. To do this, you can either plaster the surface or mount drywall sheets on the walls. Alignment of the walls with the help of plywood sheets is also allowed - this is a fairly strong, but lightweight material.
Conclusion
Please note that finishing and grouting should be done no earlier than one day after the completion of all work. This time should be enough to dry the adhesive solution. Grouting can be done with a spatula, syringes or bags. As we mentioned earlier, all excess adhesive must be removed immediately. Once the glue has dried and grouted, you can paint the material or open it with varnish. This will give a unique masonry.