Repair is said to be like a fire. Of course, it serves good purposes, but it takes a lot of time and effort. That is why our resourceful fellow citizens are constantly trying to find ways to do without expensive finishing materials and technologies, using spectacular and convincing-looking substitutes.
Such visual effects include imitation brickwork. It's no secret that in the hallway or bathroom, this solution looks very stylish. But there are several problems here.
Firstly, the cost of a brick has long been able to turn a simple repair into an event that will hit your budget with a blow comparable to the consequences of a mediocre hurricane. Secondly, imagine the amount of work that will have to be done when transporting the required volume of bricks to the upper floors of a multi-storey building! Involuntarily, you will start looking for a way to get around all these obstacles.
A simple and effective method
Upon a closer look at the repairs that our compatriots make in their houses and apartments, one can find out an extremely curious fact: it happens that imitation brickwork costs almost more than a wall made of natural brick! How is this possible? A mystery that can only be explained by the mystery of the Russian soul. But let's get back to business. This is why imitation is called so as to assume the most economical and fast production possible.
And therefore we present you the simplest and cheapest method of finishing, perfectly imitating brickwork. Of course, you can choose ceramic tiles with a similar pattern, but the laying masters may not be within reach. If we talk about complete "cheap", then wallpaper with imitation of brickwork is far from the best solution when it comes to normal repairs. However, let's cover this method in more detail.
How to glue wallpaper with "bricks"
First of all, you need to buy the "right" wallpaper. Do not choose their simple paper varieties, as such a “masonry” will look frankly cheap and vulgar. You should purchase heavy vinyl wallpaper, which can create a certain effect of volume, giving the whole composition completeness.
Accordingly, the glue for them must be chosen one that could withstand their considerable weight. Please note that real brickwork is never unnaturally even, and therefore you should not carefully prepare the wall before gluing. Naturally, large potholes and cracks need to be repaired, but fanatical leveling of the surface is not required.
Among other things, don't repeat the blunders of many rookie designers. If there is some kind of ledge on the wall, never wallpaper them with imitation bricks on their folds! It looks just awful. In general, in this case it is better to leave all the corners free, painting over the vacant space to match the wallpaper.
And more. Do you remember how you cut holes for sockets in the wallpaper during the renovation? Alas, this is not possible in this case. It is better to limit the zone with the outlet to an empty space, acting similarly to the case with the corners.
Become the owners of the "factory"
First, we'll have to think about making some great molds in which our imitation texture will be made. We suggest you make them from high-quality thick cardboard with a thickness of about three millimeters. We think that if your school had labor lessons in ancient times, then it will not be difficult for you to cope with this work. Don't forget about the jumpers: the imitation looks most impressive when their thickness is within 10 mm.
The worst thing is the choice of material from which our imitation brickwork will be made. The ideal option is an inexpensive acrylic putty, which has excellent performance. If you like accuracy in everything, then you can even add paint of the appropriate shade to the composition so that the “masonry” is indistinguishable from the real one.
However, if you still doubt yourstrength, leave the native white color: later it can be easily repainted as your sense of beauty requires.
Correctly preparing the base
The visual appeal of the finished structure will largely depend on this stage, so we do not recommend hacking. If the walls are not perfectly even, it is advisable to correct this misunderstanding before starting work. We close up all the recesses and potholes with putty, remove all areas that can chip or crumble as efficiently as possible.
Finally, we can get to work! In order to have the most even imitation of brickwork, it is better to install supports with your own hands in advance (beams are quite suitable). We immediately determine all the most problematic places, for example, areas near sockets and others, turning off the voltage supply to them in advance. If we are talking about a bathroom, it is better to make sure in advance of the quality of all taps and pipes. After that, make sure that the putty has already acquired the desired consistency.
We install the form lovingly made by us on the wall, fixing it with supports if necessary. It is highly desirable even before that to choose a spatula, the dimensions of which will fully correspond to the internal measurements (bricks). After that, you can start filling the internal cavities with putty.
We do not recommend trying to do this perfectly: such an imitation of brickwork looks very unusual. With your own hands, it is better to make it more natural, deliberately leaving it on the surface.roughness and gouges that will successfully mimic the natural structure of the material.
Keep working
For several minutes we keep the shape on the surface of the material, after which we carefully detach it, using a spatula if necessary. We put it close to the finished block, after which we repeat the whole procedure again. It is best to move from the bottom up, since in this case the top row will rest on the “masonry” below. If you want the appearance of complete naturalness, it is highly advisable not to forget about the dressings of bricks, which will definitely be in real masonry.
In a word, in order to have a high-quality imitation of brickwork, the panels must be especially carefully placed in the corners. If you do everything right, you will get a surface that is actually perfectly correlated with the real texture, which from a distance will not be easy to distinguish from real brickwork.
If you can boast a particularly refined artistic taste, you can tint each "brick" individually. The result will be such a wall that even a professional bricklayer will not immediately suspect a fake in it! To make it even more naturalistic, you can even paint over the rows between the "bricks", imitating the real color of the cement mortar.
As a rule, the cardboard form described by us is enough for one and a half hundred of these "bricks", so you won't have to change it often.
Other ways
If you don't want to bother with making molds, you can go the simpler way. In the first case, we need the same acrylic putty, which must be applied to the wall in a thick enough layer. Of course, before starting work, the surface must be prepared with the highest quality possible, filling up all the potholes and cracks, otherwise you will waste a lot of material.
Keep in mind that acrylic dries fairly quickly, so don't cover several square meters in one pass. Having learned how to make imitation brickwork in this way, it is better to calculate your need for putty in advance and accurately, otherwise the excess will have to be thrown away in the form of large petrified blocks.
After applying and leveling, a “masonry” pattern is applied to the surface of the putty (with a spatula or even with a stick). Of course, in this case, ideal lines will no longer work, but this method can be used if necessary to create something more avant-garde.
Paint
If you do not want to deal with capricious and quick-drying acrylic putty, in principle, it is quite possible to get by with just one paint of the appropriate shade. It is best applied with a roller: in this way you will not only achieve optimal savings, but also create a natural rough structure on the surface. In this case, imitation brickwork will not differ much from natural brickwork.
Plaster
But still it is much more reliable to use proven and testedtime materials. Paint is an inexpensive and practical solution, but you just won’t be able to achieve a completely natural “masonry” look from it.
And therefore, imitation of brickwork from plaster is a much better solution. How to carry out the work on applying the material? In general, there is nothing unusual in this. The surface is carefully prepared, carefully closing up all its potholes and irregularities.
How to apply?
The plaster is applied with a spatula. The rows between the "bricks" are marked with it, and the gaps between them are painted over with the color that most successfully imitates the color of the standard mortar. The "bricks" themselves are painted in the same way as the spaces between them. The advantage of this method is that nothing will limit your imagination.
This imitation of brickwork in the interior will make your home completely different from others. Among other things, you can perform a “substitution” not only in relation to brick, but even to natural stone. Of course, drawing it is somewhat more difficult, but all the efforts will pay off many times over!
