I wonder if anyone can help. I have recently done some alterations to my home and I need to seal the exposed brickwork. I believe there is an old English way of doing it with a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. Does anyone know of this. Dave Morgan - Johannesburg, South Africa
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Penners
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As Pford75 has asked - what exactly do you mean by "sealing"? It shouldn't be necessary to seal your brickwork at all, unless you have some special problem to overcome.
Please tell us more.
Please tell us more.
Hi all. It's more of an aesthetic thing rather than a problem with damp or water. What I'm trying to achieve is a colour of red that you would get if the brick was wet. It has a much lighter pinky colour and would like it to be a richer red. I think half the problem is that the sun is very harsh in SA so it tends to bleach. Hope this makes some sense.
If you interfere with with the " natural" construction and appearance of the brick face for aesthetic reasons only, you must be also prepared for the subsequent maintenance and re-application of whatever materials you decide to apply on them.
( paints, sealants, renders, laquers, oils, etc... will all deteriorate with time and need maintenance. all of which will eventually result in the brickface look "plasticky" and out of context.)
( paints, sealants, renders, laquers, oils, etc... will all deteriorate with time and need maintenance. all of which will eventually result in the brickface look "plasticky" and out of context.)
Penners
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Morgan - take heed of what middi says. He knows about such things.
In your shoes, I wouldn't worry about the brick colour. I'd just relax and just enjoy the sun!
In your shoes, I wouldn't worry about the brick colour. I'd just relax and just enjoy the sun!
biffvernon
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Organic dyes and pigments tend to get bleached in sunlight but mineral pigments such as the red colour of a brick probably remains unaffected.
Resurrecting a very old post here....
I want to prepare a brickwork surface indoors, but not for aesthetic reasons, but so that we can live with the exposed brickwork inside the house without it dropping brick dust...
Lots of people expose internal brick walls, so I'd like to know how to 'finish' it?
I want to prepare a brickwork surface indoors, but not for aesthetic reasons, but so that we can live with the exposed brickwork inside the house without it dropping brick dust...
Lots of people expose internal brick walls, so I'd like to know how to 'finish' it?
JoceAndChris
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Plaster, and limewash.
There is a product Beeck do but it's £100 + a can.
There is a product Beeck do but it's £100 + a can.
worms
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And with autumn approaching I think we need a PPUK visit to Jo'burg just to check on how Morgan's bricks are getting on!dans said:
Morgan's suggestion of linseed oil (thinned with turps) is not light years away from what many would recommend for pamments on the floor, which are surely just very flat bricks? So why not take the same approach to a wall?dans said:
dans said:
I have a lot of exposed brick in one room - this was a number of different colours and paints including raw bricks I painted it with Little Greene's distemper in "slaked lime" colour and is now off white. The finish is quite durable and there is no dusting, but it's now off white all over
I also have an unpainted, exposed brick wall over a length of kitchen counter. This dusted continuously and after a while I got tired of the taste of brick dust in my toast. The lower section of the wall is still unsealed and ventilates behind the kitchen cupboards, not that I have damp issues here but I probably have brick dust issues behind the cupboards
.The upper section was hoovered with the brush attachment, then "painted" with a builders PVA diluted about 5 water : 1 PVA to the consistency of skimmed milk in old takeaway trays. Applied with a cheap 2" paintbrush and worked into the brick as I did with the distemper. This darkened the brick a bit and where the dustiest bricks were the mortar went a bit pink. However it did almost completely cure the dusting problem and was very quick and cheap.
I know that I will probably have to repeat this every few years but it works OK.
The purist approach would be to plaster any exposed internal brick walls but these parts of my house were converted from agricultural storage sheds and I wanted to retain some nods to the origins of the building without them being impossible to live in. Sealing a wall in PVA will adversely affect it's "breathability", that's why we call it "sealing"
If you are tempted to try PVA then I would test a small area first to check what impact it has on your brick. PVA in 5 litre cans from the builders merchant is much cheaper than any other way of buying it even though you'll only need a small amount.
Lime
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Personally I would not use PVA on an old building.
Ordinary wallpaper paste made into size (i.e. diluted) will do the job perfectly well.
Ordinary wallpaper paste made into size (i.e. diluted) will do the job perfectly well.
tobydog
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Some of the bricks in our inglenook have lost their faces and are slowing disappearing to dust. One suggestion I was given (can't remember from who) was to 'paint' them with the water that sits on top of limewash when it has fully settled out. It takes a few coats but eventually seals them. The only negative to this was that you could end up losing one big chunk in one go if the new face doesn't bond with the good brick beneath the surface. Has anyone tried this?
andrew gayton
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lime watering is a waste of time and In this instance it will mobilise sulphates and increase the breakdown of the brick. i recall that some 60 odd coats are needed to consolidate friable stonework and the associated saturation has to be of detriment.
andrew gayton
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p.s - completely agree on not using pva.
tobydog
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Thanks Andrew. I had my doubts as well which was a good excuse for not getting round to doing it yet. You can't beat a good old dose of procrastination :wink: .
I'll try a discreet test using the diluted wallpaper paste and see how that goes.
I'll try a discreet test using the diluted wallpaper paste and see how that goes.
Penners
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I think it was Biff who once told me that isinglass is also a useful, breathable brick sealant.
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Dried_Isinglass_Finings_20g.html
http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/acatalog/Dried_Isinglass_Finings_20g.html
I forgot that I'd asked this question, hence not thanking everyone for their reply! So thank you
I can see why you would not want to 'seal' an outside wall, but would breath ability be an issue on an inglenook? I don't want to plaster my fireplace, but would like to apply something to cut down the brick dust. PVA mix a real no-no? :?
I can see why you would not want to 'seal' an outside wall, but would breath ability be an issue on an inglenook? I don't want to plaster my fireplace, but would like to apply something to cut down the brick dust. PVA mix a real no-no? :?
Penners
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A PVA solution will certainly reduce/prevent dusting. As to why you would want a brathable solution, this depends on the characteristics of your chimney stack and whether/how often you will use it for a fire. If the chimney has a tendency to be damp, and you don't light fires very often, then it would not be best practice to seal in that damp. Even if you do regularly light fires, I wonder whether a PVA sealant would reduce the efficacy of the fire's warmth in dispelling the damp.dans said: