Removing Plaster to Expose Brick
Has anyone ever removed plaster from an interior wall in order to achieve that “exposed brick” look? Please provide pointers and tips as to how to do it correctly – we are brining some laborers to remove plaster from the western walls of 3 floors this weekend!
Has anyone ever removed plaster from an interior wall in order to achieve that “exposed brick” look? Please provide pointers and tips as to how to do it correctly – we are brining some laborers to remove plaster from the western walls of 3 floors this weekend!
Roz makes excellent points, especially the issue of your neighbors. When my next door neighbors bought their house, they had an electrician come in to install a few outlets. The electrician’s power drill bored right through the wall of my bedroom. Apparently he had no idea that you’re not supposed to break through party walls to install outlets. Of course, I had him repair the hole. So be careful! I also agree that with other posters that exposed brick is old news now and not really attractive to brownstone buyers.
It doesn’t take much more work to sheetrock the wall. Exposed brick sucks all the light out of the room. As a contractor, when I see a place with esposed brick I think Cheap Renovation, especially in out of context spaces like Brownstones. Don’t get me wrong, I think it has it’s place, like lofts or as a textural contrast to other elements, even painted, brick can be great.
Bad idea. Exposed brick is not only very late 1970s – early 1980s, but it is also looks out of context in brownstones. Not to mention the insulation issues etc and potential damage to resale value in the future.
Great posts. I’m planning to do this in my brownstone as well and I think it’ll work because I don’t have much original detail left. The house was really abused before.
Things to know before you start. WEAR EYE PROTECTION AND A RESPIRATOR. If you use a wire brush know that those tiny wires can come loose and stick into your flesh.
Seal up the rooms and cover the floors with masonite or multiple sheets of contractors paper. the sand used in the browncoat is very abrasive and will ruin your floors. Use a plastic lined rectangular garbage can to catch as much of the debris before it hits the floor. Don’t overload the bags
Some exterior brick walls were painted with a black tar like waterproofing stuff that does not come off the brick.
Know where to end at the ceiling level. Save the moldings? You will need to seal up the area where the ceiling meets the wall.
Yes you may need to repoint the walls. It looks a lot better. .
You can seal the walls with Masonry water sealer and it gets absorbed but does not look shiny.
The electrical note is a good one because some electricians may have channeled the bx right through the brick face and it will need to be aesthetically repaired.
I believe the homeowner’s insurance covering the physical building itself includes party walls.
Perhaps you could start by making an exploratory cut through the plaster in order to check the condition of the bricks? You may find you’re not crazy about the look of them. Since these walls weren’t built to be exposed, the mortaring is often very sloppy and could need alot of repairing/repointing. Once the chisel-and-hammer removal of the plaster is complete and the wood lathe is gone too, I’ve seen people wire-brush the bricks and mortar — either by hand or with an electric drill with a brush attachment. You’ll also need to seal the bricks in some way otherwise they will be a permanent source of dust. If any exterior walls are involved, removing the plaster will increase your heating costs since the newly slimmed down wall won’t insulate as well as it did before. Will you need to run wiring on these walls and do you have doors or windows that will require new trim in order to meet the new surface? Also , expect a reduction in the sound proofing properties of the wall, ie. get ready to hear the folks next door a whole more. Speaking of whom, as a native of London where adjoining town houses are the norm, I’ve been surprised at how seldom Forum posters mention their neighbors in relation to renovation projects. After all, if a party wall is involved, the work could impact them — so it might be prudent to discuss the project with them before you start. In the U. K. many terraced-house owners actually hold party-wall insurance policies to protect them from over-zealous home improvers! I’m not at all suggesting that you’re about to damage your neighbor’s house btw, but it would be interesting to hear what people think of the concept of party-wall insurance and whether they have ever seen it offered in New York City.
There’s no magic to exposing the brick – just hack away at the plaster with a hammer. You’ll have quite a bit of garbage since usually there is a layer of plaster, a layer of wood lathe and then there’s the brick (unless there’s a bathroom against one of the walls)
If you have a lot of older architectural details, I would personally not recommend it since exposed brick walls are not exactly a Victorian aesthetic and might be a strange mix.
Maybe you should start with one section that is not a common area and see how you like it?
Exposed brick is like when a balding man shaves his head. It may look ok but it aint as good as a thick head of hair. If you decide to do it, for Gods sake don’t seal it with a thick glossy coat of poly. yuck!