Not really sure i should put this on here but wanted to guage the reaction. Whilst ripping out our kitchen in our 250 year old cottage i have come across the scorched bricks where the old bread oven would have been, this now forms the end wall of the kitchen, sadly the bricks in the complete wall are not so good as originally it would have been lime plastered. The kitchen is galley style approximately 5m long and having the wall exposed has made a huge difference to the feeling of space in a relatively enclosed area Here's the idea...replicate the original wall in brick slips bedded in either lime morter or lime plaster haven't decided yet, thought id get other peoples reaction before spending out for material. obviously by bedding in lime the wall would still have the breathability factor and would look original. sadly when i think about this i'm reminded of the old 1970' style brick facings that people used to put on thier ' brick fireplaces' :lol: so do i get shot down ?
- Thread starter k99mn
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I'm not following. Where are you proposing to use the slips?....Over the original (damaged) wall?
Brick slips can be completely indistinguishable from whole bricks so long as ends, returns, corners, junctions, whatever, are dealt with authentically. The best way of achieving good brick slips is to cut them from whole bricks. You can either get a brick cutting service do this for you, or you can hire a sliding (radial arm) cutter, with a water-jet, and do it yourself. It's an easy, albeit mucky, job. Depending on your substrate (answer to the question in the first paragraph), a two-part epoxy adhesive holds the slips in position well, and you then simply point up afterwards in the normal way. This, however, isn't really "period property" SOP.
Brick slips can be completely indistinguishable from whole bricks so long as ends, returns, corners, junctions, whatever, are dealt with authentically. The best way of achieving good brick slips is to cut them from whole bricks. You can either get a brick cutting service do this for you, or you can hire a sliding (radial arm) cutter, with a water-jet, and do it yourself. It's an easy, albeit mucky, job. Depending on your substrate (answer to the question in the first paragraph), a two-part epoxy adhesive holds the slips in position well, and you then simply point up afterwards in the normal way. This, however, isn't really "period property" SOP.
LadyArowana
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I'm not sure I understand why having exposed brick would give a better feeling of space than a flat wall painted in a light colour. Are you sure it isn't removing the cabinets etc that gives the impression? Maybe some pictures would help.
k99mn said:
If it was lime plastered that usually means that most of the bricks will still be OK, but with some probably damaged over the years or maybe a few that have crumbled as they were in a bad bit of the kiln and never fired properly to start with.
In that case, I would replace just the bad bricks and then repoint the whole wall in lime. If it is just the face of some of the bricks that has been damaged, then it is surprisingly easy sometimes to dig the lime mortar out around the damaged brick, take the brick out and turn it around to use what was the back of the brick as the new face, and to re-set it in new lime mortar.
Zebra
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I would find brick slips nasty and fake, I wouldn't do it.
just needed someone else to confirm itZebra said:
I could stand you directly in front of a wall (or other brick feature), open to your inspection in every detail, and you would be completely and utterly unable to determine whether the construction was slips or whole bricks. Properly designed, they are completely indistinguishable in every detail from an orthodox construction.
stuart45
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MikeG said:
I saw a brick table at a country show years ago, that had me wondering how they managed it, till I looked underneath and saw it was a concrete slab with the top and sides covered with brick slips.
CliffordPope
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MikeG said:
As long as they are not too perfectly laid. Originals would either have been laid a tiny bit skewhiff in places, or would become stained or have slipped or chipped or damaged and replaced over the years. You've got to replicate 200 years of wear and tear and patina in 2 hours.
Zebra
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That's interesting. I haven't seen any that were that convincing. Or perhaps I have, without realising. Is that only true of modern bricks, or would you say that there are slips available which are distinguishable from 200 year old brickwork? 300 year old?MikeG said:
stuart45
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You can get older brick slips from places like Matclad, or there are firms that will cut your own bricks.
philpjuk100
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Went on a guided tour around woodbridge led by a buildings archeologist,we stopped at one house that puzzled him,in his notes it said it was tiled but it looked to be brick,he looked at the corners carefully and the owner came out. He told us that most of the house was covered with mathematical tiles apart from the corners which were matching brick.He told us it was done to avoid paying "brick tax".I would never have guessed it was not brick.
philpjuk100
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Mathematical tiles are a different beast altogether from brick slips. They have a built-in lap, and nail to battens. They're just a variation on tile hanging, which isn't seen much in East Anglia, but is common in Kent and Sussex, and I'm sure other places too.