You know what I love? I love things with patina. Old hand rubbed wood. Chippy paint. Mottled mirrors and crazed antique dishes.
Well worn finishes and dinged up drawer fronts don’t say ‘too old and worn’ to me. They say ‘well worn and loved.’ Do you feel the same? Oh good. Then I think you will like this post and the newest amount of patina that we have added.
Brick Floor Patina
I LOVE brick. LOVE it. It makes me think of old cottage garden walkways, antique houses with sunrooms and old European elegance. I have thought about putting brick in our house several times- and you know- I won’t rule it out some day. But since we have old hardwoods – I have leaned towards keeping that original going. BUT Brick…. oh my goodness. The patina talks Loudly to me and I love it too.
Bathroom Floor
Did you guess we were bricking a floor in the cottage?
I honestly wasn’t 100% on what flooring we were going to do when we started the project. We were going to do marble subway tile like in the house- but the guest cottage always leans more ‘vintage masculine’ to me and I kept coming back to a simple glossy white subway tile. Which of course, worked for my husband since the cost is so much less than marble. But I made up the cost with the floor haha. So we are even. 🙂
I was staring at the subway tile while grouting one wall and getting ready to grout another- I thought about the sink we were putting in and the tile walls and what flooring to go with and brick just popped into my head and I knew it would be perfect for the cottage.
Why Brick?
I always love that bit of rustic mixed in with elegance. Though the cottage bathroom is far from elegant- it is more vintage modern in some ways- the brick felt like the perfect compliment to the other patina we were adding. The brass elements and that ‘new’ antique sink and the crisp subway tile.
What I love about brick is that it is such a down to earth (for lack of a better saying) kind of element. It isn’t fussy. It doesn’t demand perfection. It adds a beautiful layer of patina and is not hard to maintain.
Between you and me- the marble flooring in our bathrooms in the house are somewhat of a high maintenance. We have had breaks in the small mosaic pieces and water that has gotten through to the underlayment and caused damage. We are actually considering a replacement for those floors at the moment.
The Look
So, if you have been reading the Weekend View posts- you know the grouting was giving me all kinds of challenges. I wanted to see more of the brick- less of the grout haze. As of right now- I have settled for in between. We scrubbed the haze off as much as we could -but still have some. We have not used the haze cleaner yet- it has to be 10 days for the grout to cure before using.
DIY Details
Was this an easy project? In a lot of ways- Yes. This brick comes in sheets attached to a mesh that makes it easy to adhere to the underlayment while also keeping the pattern in place. Here is the one we used (affiliate)
After getting your subfloor ready – you spread a layer of mortar and place the brick sheets in place. You will need to cut some bricks for areas- but it is fairly easy to cut. I even was able to use a chisel and just break the bricks in half where I needed them. Though-know that I am not a perfectionist on the exact look, size and shape- I appreciate the chips and dings and natural imperfections of the brick so winging it with a chisel didn’t bother me.
After the mortar dries- you need to grout. That was a bit more involved being that the grout lines for these brick sheets are fairly chunky.
Heavy lifting wise- I will say that the brick sheets are on the heavier side compared to regular tile. And if you are trying to keep the mortar Off the bricks as much and are using a mortar bag (like a pastry bag) – Prepare for an arm and hand workout.
Of course, anytime you are tiling a floor- that ‘wax on- wax off’ motion can definitely strain your shoulders and back- so just things to know before you jump in. Overall- it was a doable DIY project that was far less involved than some tiling jobs we have done. It took us a couple of hours each of 2 days to finish- one to mortar in place- and the next day to grout.
Tips
- Use a premixed mortar to make installation easier- and don’t go light on it. There is a recommended type to use with brick- so make sure you read the fine print.
- Use a grout bag if you are concerned about a ‘haze’
- Skip the grout bag and go for it with grouting as usual if you are ok with a haze- it is far easier than squeezing through a bag.
- Make sure the floor is ready and that you use the right type of underlayment and thin set for brick.
The grout dries fairly quickly and it makes it hard to squeeze out the end of the bag the longer you are working.
Brick mesh flooring is not necessarily considered inexpensive– but you can go with individual bricks and lay each out to save on costs- or just decide it is worth it to splurge on it a bit and maybe save somewhere else.
BUT- I can say that I am BEYOND in love. Classic, vintage, beautiful- and full of so much charm.
What do you think of the brick floor? Would you ever install one in your home?
Get The Look
Click on the photos to shop the look for your own home-some of these bricks are for walls and some rated for floors. And including some wallpapers for a simple option as well.
Your floor looks great, we have been planning To do this for awhile in our back powder bath, hallway and laundry room. Im hAving a hard Time finding the exact brick i want but you have Inspired me to get back on this prohect!
Same! I want something that looks more like wall brick🤪🤷♀️
I did see that you could use this for a wall 🙂
This particular brick has several different shades and color options – you might find what you are looking for there. 🙂
That is lovely! It wouldn’t work in my home, but it is an idea for surfacing my concrete patio. Thanks for the suggestion!
Absolutely beautiful I’ve always loved an old brick look. With dripping grout or the German smear. Individual small bricks that have rounded edges are stunning to.
Lovely to see
Courtney, I love the look but how would you clean it? I’m thinking of some of the things I spill on a bathroom floor. I like that is not full brick and seems easy to lay. I never thought to use brick for a bathroom but it is very attractive.
I will seal it once it has cured and we can use the haze remover, etc. so I think it should be okay for spills. There was a specific type of grout recommended for brick- a dark natural gray or the white which is more of a light gray. We had the darker originally but wanted something a tad lighter. I think if you were concerned about any spills- you could go with the darker maybe?
We have a brick floor in the
DiniNg room and entrance
Way. We love it!
I cant get off caps.. so soRry.
Thank yoi fir your blog.
Love it.
Jan
I am seriously tempted to brick several areas- I really love the look so much. I bet the dining room looks incredible with it!
Looks like the strangest Comment.
It’s not what I typed..
jan
For some reason, comments have been posting a tad odd recently! Sorry about that!
Hi Courtney, my husband and i were just talking yesterday about brick. we need to replace our fireplace hearth. We have a wood stove now but are taking that out and getting a new gas one. we have tile there now but it is very damaged from logs falling on it. will this work for that and is it safe to use under a das stove. thanks kim
I would think you could use it as long as it is just the ‘facing’ of the fireplace and not the actual brick construction- but am not sure so I would recommend reading more about it on their website and see what it is rated for. It is actual brick- just much thinner than the usual chunky size.
Love this. Do you think you could use regular brick on flooring so as to see more brick and less grout?? Or is that not feasible
I think if you used the thin bricks and simply laid them yourself without using the sheets- you could put them a bit closer. Full size bricks would be harder only from the standpoint that you are adding that chunk of height to the floor- so I think there are more considerations with regard to the brick weight and also your threshold areas with the extra thickness of the full size brick.
I used a herringbone old brick floor in my entrance hall in my previous home. I thought it was beautiful. We downsized and put brick pavers in our current bathroom. ( I kinda do what I like to do. ) Pretty, but not to compare to the real thing in the old house. Yours looks great!
We loved the herringbone look too- decided to keep it simple with the abundance of amount of grout lines in the bathroom but is something we are considering for a different area. Good to know that you like them both- and yes- I would imagine you can’t beat the really old brick. Though these are real- antique is amazing!
What method do you use to clean the brick once it is sealed? Is it fairly durable? I am considering it for the basemeNt incluDing the laundry room. Would it be impervious To water damage?
I would imagine I will use the mop/vacuum I have- it is the Bissel that mops and then sucks up the water.Otherwise, vacuum and then mop the old fashioned way. I don’t think it would take too much time to try and I believe the brick would be okay with water. Underlayment is sealed as well to be safe.
CONGRATULATIONS! you are doing such a HARD job and is TURNING just great. I can´T WAIT TO SEE ALL FINISHED. tHANK YOU FOR SHARING.
Thanks Barbara- lots of fun! My shoulder is finally speaking nicely to me again haha. It took a bit. It wasn’t happy with all that lifting and grouting.
I layed it in a bath many years ago
I love the look and maintenance so much i layed it in my kichen dining area shortly after
I Cant wait to see your finished project!
That is awesome Vicki. Maybe you can share what you do for maintenance? Lots of questions about just that here so would be great if you don’t mind sharing what works and what doesn’t 🙂
Hi, Courtney! I love how this floor looks. So classy! When it’s time to clean the floor, will you simply run your vaccuum cleaner over it to pick up hair and little bits here and there that usually accumulate on a floor? Just really curious about cleaning it.
Love the brick Courtney! Do you have a link for it? I’m sure here in Indiana we’d have to order something local but it should be similar. I’m wanting to put some brick in our kitchen..somewhere..Lol.. I’m hunting photos of kitchens with an added brick wall section. I was watching Rock the Block and Allison and Mike did a beautiful brick surrounding the stove area and it was so wonderful. We don’t have that much space as we have white subway tile as well. I don’t always comment but I read the blog daily..thanks for sharing your home:0)
I confess I love this cottage beyond and the brick floor is perfect.I would use brick inside the aged patina of it appeals to me. I do thin kit will age well over time. I wonder if the floor would be cold though? Do you know?
Correction: I do think it will age well.
OMG, this is amazing!!! I love ev you did here. Thhank you so much for sharing this fabulous diy
I am pretty CONVINCED y’All don’t ever sleep with all that you do , lol .
I love brick floors . I had to laugh at reading Your story about coming to the DECISION
on your floor , my husband and I had the exact same conVersation and choIces But for our backsplash ! We went with brick and love it !!
Do you think that sealing the bricks after laying down but prior to grouting work to pre the hazing? Looks lovely and cant wai see it completed. Sad about your marble ti issue.
“Prior to grouting to prevent the hazing”
Ohmygosh, i know this was typed correctly !!!
Sister has it in Dining room, kitchen and eNtry for years.
She has Large dogs that live inside and mops with bleach
Water (Often) they are sparkling clean and beautiful
As ever! I Love brick,
Oh Courtney! So BEAUTIFUL. I want to do flooR in my laundry room. My question is, is it hard or rough on your feet?
Thank you as always for your inspiration!
Lisa
The bricks are definitely not super smooth like tile -but I don’t find them terrible to walk on.