Time to Faux Finish the Bricks in the Kitchen – Updated Feb 7, 2008
It’s been awhile since I have stopped by and written of any projects. In truth it’s been awhile since I have done anything but think about new projects. We just ordered a new refrigerator to replace the 25 year old Amana that was in there when we bought the place. It has held up admirably, but it is time for it to retire. With a new, sleek, black refrigerator coming on Tuesday, we felt it was time to complete the last big project in the kitchen; Putting a faux finish on the fake-brick wall – say that three times, fast!
The faux bricks are standard dimension, but only 1/2″ thick, and they were installed before we came to the house. They are a typical, bright red-clay looking brick, slightly rounded edges, and they were put up with the same technique as tile, but never filled in with grout. So right now the bricks are floating over a messy layer of gray mud. The idea is to get some sanded grout powder in a different color, mix it up, apply it in small sections, and make sure it is flush with the brick faces. Then I will go back when the grout is dry and use acrylic paint and glazes to give the bricks some variety and make it look like a two-hundred year old wall.
For this project we’re using:
- Cheap plastic picnic table cloths from the dollar store to drape over the counters to keep things clean.
- 10 lb. box of powdered, sanded grout.
- A corded power drill with a mixing extension to blend the powdered grout and water.
- A dollar store bucket to mix the grout that we can throw away later because it is a pain to remove it.
- Regular trowels and metal spatulas/scrapers to work the grout into the gaps between the faux-bricks.
- Update – looking back on it, it would have produced better results, and been cleaner, to use a baker’s bag to apply the grout.
- A few old rags to wipe away the excess grout from the brick faces while not smoothing the grout too much.
We’ll be taking pictures before we start, and as we make progress, so if I can get off my lazy ass I might show you what it looks like. At this point I probably have 300-400 pictures on my memory card ready to download from other projects. Cheers!
