An Experiement In Designing My New Home

[HanafiHansray 1]

IMHO, the painted wall turns out to reddish & glossy.... from afar, might looks like wallpaper...

Not possible to brush off/scrub those white cements off those bricks..? There should be something out dere that can remove those cement marks...

[mishmish 7]

Prefer it unpainted.. the painted parts makes the bricks look abit unnatural..

[greglhc 30]

vote for unpainted too

[retchlow 7]

unpainted looks more natural. try seeking alternatives to wash off the white cement? the red brick wall should look like the one in Paloma's house:

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/48695-project-punggol-breeze/?p=727534

[annastans 1]

Hello jaykr,

If I were to choose solely between the original brick wall and the painted wall, I would go with the painted wall. My reasoning is that, yes the latter looks unnatural with its exceptionally bright red colour, but I will not live with a wall that has traces of cement all over it. To me it looks unfinished and would give a "dusty" feeling which I won't like. That's just my opinion

[Makanology 29]

IMHO, the painted wall turns out to reddish & glossy.... from afar, might looks like wallpaper...

Not possible to brush off/scrub those white cements off those bricks..? There should be something out dere that can remove those cement marks...

Mr E here, not likely. It wouldn't look glossy unless u use dull or matt varnish. Commercial varnish here are mostly gloss type, therefore art supplies store should have them compared to hardware stores.

As I have explained to Jaykr, both red brick and cement are porous and permeable in nature, and once color pigments settle in and dry, it fuses together.

[Makanology 29]

Hi Jaykr, mr E here. Don't forget the "dry-brushing" which u need to add on the reconditioned bricks.

In a way, the original wall condition with the dusty and dull texture looks like it belong outside the house then inside, weathered down and beaten feel to it. It looks more like a certain street corner that has seen plenty of seasons.

Also, please don't forget the "dry-brushing" technique which u can use to lessen if u feel that the colors are too bold. This is used to "weather" the appearance of the bricks, which u normally use 1-2 shades lighter than the base color. Play and mix around until u get a shade or two lighter.

U may want to check this guide out for dry brushing tips:

http://www.scalemodelguide.com/painting-weathering/painting-guide/guide-to-drybrushing/

This method is similar to what I ve pm'ed you before, except that u use a larger brush instead.

[Makanology 29]

Oh yes Jaykr,

shalex is NOT recommended. It is meant for waterproofing wood fixtures usually. To do so would mean that u have to live with a smeared wall for as long as u have to. He has no idea what he's recommending. Please do not seal it in before u remove the stain, otherwise u probably would have to paint over the wall and the bricks entirely.

[ProjectH 0]

Hi Jay,

Sorry cant provide technical assistance liked Mr E. Based on visual, i wld say it is a little too 'red'...

Alan should have fixed it for u rather having you to seek solutions...

[tessina 9]

Prefer unpainted. What are your concerns with the whit-ish cement look anyways?

[jaykr 0]

Prefer unpainted. What are your concerns with the whit-ish cement look anyways?

Hi Tessina,

If there slight traces of cement it is fine, it goes well with the brick, but let me give you a close up look of what most of the bricks look like as it is not so obvious in the earlier photos.

This was not what I was going for. On the left, you see a brick that is not all white, that is me sandpapering that areas for nearly 30 mins on 1 brick.

Edited July 30, 2013 by jaykr

[jaykr 0]

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for your replies. They are all appreciated and gave us an idea of what most people think when they see the brick wall.

We had no intention to paint the craft bricks as our plan was to use them as is. However, now with the cement overpowering the original color and look and feel of the brick, we had no choice but to paint. It really looks bad with cement all over the brick.

The red brick was to complement the rest of furniture in the room but now that is not possible.

We have tried every possible solution to remove the cement as well as asked hardware shops, the brick factory itself, the contractor, the tiler etc...etc...etc...

We got all kinds of suggestions from using cooking oil, to using vinegar, sand papering, ammonia etc...etc...

None of these actually worked to remove the cement. When they are wet, it seems they are gone but when dry, they reappear.

Sanding them just spoils the bricks and at the same time, the cement still remains there.

The last opinion was to paint it and that is what we are doing.

[tessina 9]

Ah I see what you mean. I'm not sure if it's industry practice to smear the cement all over the brick and 'wipe up after' 'cos In my case, using craftstone, we don't have this issue (we use grey 'bricks').

Not sure how the overall theme is, but you can also consider whitewashing the entire brick wall, though it would significantly change the look you obviously initially had in mind

[jaykr 0]

Hi Retch,

That was similar to what I was going for. I was going for this actually :

I actually gave this photo to Alan and told him exactly how it needs to look like. But you saw the outcome.

I've tried every solution possible but non works and Alan actually joked about it saying, " why don't use it as a DIY project and fix the wall...."

The only solution that seems to work is painting it but the paint color mix is too reddish so rectifying it now.

unpainted looks more natural. try seeking alternatives to wash off the white cement? the red brick wall should look like the one in Paloma's house:

http://www.renotalk.com/forum/topic/48695-project-punggol-breeze/?p=727534

[jaykr 0]

HI Mr E,

Thank you for the advice, am trying to reduce intensity of red to be more like the original brick color. Hopefully it works. If not would have to change the entire color.

Oh yes Jaykr,

shalex is NOT recommended. It is meant for waterproofing wood fixtures usually. To do so would mean that u have to live with a smeared wall for as long as u have to. He has no idea what he's recommending. Please do not seal it in before u remove the stain, otherwise u probably would have to paint over the wall and the bricks entirely.