DIY Faux Brick Wall

This is one of my very favorite DIY’s to do. It’s easy and doesn’t take a lot of time. It can make a big impact and it’s fairly cheap so you get a lot of bang for your buck! This can be done in so many places in your house like a bedroom or bathroom, or even a backsplash in your kitchen. The color and texture can easily be customized and the options are endless. I’ve worked with this faux brick several different times and used a few different techniques that I will share and walk you through my favorite one. 

The faux brick comes in panels that measure 8ft x 4ft and can be found at Lowes or Home Depot. The price is very similar at both places. I have noticed that the color is slightly different so it just depends on your preference and what look you are going for. The panels from Lowes have a darker “grout” line and the panels from Home Depot have lighter “grout” lines. 

You can have these cut to your specific measurements at the store or you can cut everything at home if you have the correct tools. For this project you will need

• Circular Saw 
• Jigsaw
• Utility Knife/Exacto Knife 
• Nail Gun or small finishing nails and hammer  
• Grout 
• Paint in your choice of color

If you do get your panels cut to the measurements you need, you will still need to make cuts for outlets or windows depending on where you are putting the brick. If you are making cuts for an outlet, a sharp razor or utility knife will work great. You can use the same to cut bigger areas for a window, but it might be easier and faster to use a saw. 

The panels tend to make a mess when cutting them. They are essentially made from cardboard and will create a lot of dust everywhere. I suggest cutting this either outside or in your garage before bringing it inside for the install. 

If you cut this yourself, my first choice would be to to use a hand saw - this will give you the smoothest cut and its the easiest and fastest way to cut the panels. My second choice would be a jigsaw with a smaller/fine blade. A bigger blade will not give you a neat finished edge like a smaller blade will. 

The first way you can use this paneling is going to be the fastest and easiest. This style does not require any grouting or painting. To do this, you simply measure the space you need, make the appropriate cuts, and then nail it to the wall. You’ll want to line up the brick to make the panels run together and look as seamless as possible. This was actually my first project using the faux brick, and at the time I liked the way it turned out but with any DIY project you learn a lot as you go. After doing this a few more times, I definitely prefer the grouting and painting technique because of the way the final product looks. 

The second way and my personal favorite way:) is to measure, cut, and attach the panels to the wall.  Once the panels are in place, I then use grout to fill in all the spaces between the brick. I also spread grout where each panel meets to fill-in any gaps and to make it look seamless.

I like to use a razor to smooth the grout - this is where you can get creative though, you can make the grout as messy or as smooth as you would like depending on the look you want! Using grout will give this a more realistic look, making it seem like you used actual brick and mortar on your walls. 

Once the grout is dry, it's time to paint! At our first JaxnBlvd location I used the grouting technique and then used a paintbrush, randomly painting some of the bricks white to give it an aged feel and to make it look more neutral in color.

I recently installed this on a wall in our new store and I again used the grouting technique, and then painted the whole thing including the shelf and brackets green. (I really love green!) I used Behr paint in the color Army Green. You can buy this at Home Depot or Lowes can color match for you!  This only took a few hours from start to finish including the paint and installing the shelves. 

The paneling is thin, so you can easily hang things on it to decorate. It's also thin enough to sit right on top of any builder grade baseboards so there's no need to remove the baseboards in order to do this project. I’ve definitely gotten faster each time I’ve done this, but it’s still a totally doable project that can easily be done in a weekend:)

-Kim