ClickCease

Blog

SKINTLED BRICK- A STYLE FROM THE 1920'S
Loading...
2087 view(s)

SKINTLED BRICK- A STYLE FROM THE 1920'S

Skintled brick was a style of brick work developed in Chicago in the 1920's that gave an extra dimension to normally flat brick walls. The acclaim for the Chicago based style of skintled brickwork was noted as a coast-to-coast trend in architecture, as reported by the Chicago Tribune in an article dated Dec 30, 1928. This brickwork style was first described by William Carver, an architect, writing for the premiere issue of Brickwork – Working Details, a periodical for The Common Brick Manufacturers’ Association of America in Cleveland, Ohio. He defined skintled brickwork as, “setting the [Chicago Common Bricks] roughly at different angles, projecting and recessing them beyond the wall line and even permitting the squeezed out mortar to remain in place; with strong and striking effect.” By publishing date, it was noted that the new style had been used by Chicago Architecture on “over fifteen hundred large homes on the North Shore of Chicago.” It additionally was described as, “the one new development in bricklaying in the last 500 years,” in the Chicago Tribune. In that particular article, the post-WWI Style of bricklaying was announced to be newly spread to New England, making the style an architecture trend that traveled outwards to Chicago, eventually hitting both coasts. The “tapestry”-like effect is said to increase the contrast of the range of dark to light buff tones of gold, yellow and pink.

The skintled 3-D effect can be replicated using thin brick by either custom cutting some the tiles to a greater thickness, or by adhering normal thin brick tile to a substrate, such as a tile backer board cut to the size of the brick, to allow it to protrude from the wall.

- Elizabeth Brickman for Vintage Brick Salvage LLC

FROM A 150 YEAR OLD DILAPIDATED FARM HOUSE TO THE FISERV FORUM; HOW 1800’S CREAM CITY BRICK MADE IT BACK TO CITY OF ITS BIRTH.
Loading...
616 view(s)

FROM A 150 YEAR OLD DILAPIDATED FARM HOUSE TO THE FISERV FORUM; HOW 1800’S CREAM CITY BRICK MADE IT BACK TO CITY OF ITS BIRTH.

The Myth of the Thin Brick Installation system for interior walls

For coming up on twenty years now, I have been involved in the manufacturing and marketing of thin brick tile. Thin brick has come a long way in that time, I once had to explain what exactly a thin brick was. And we were constantly fighting against the preconceived notion that our thin brick veneer was a fake looking vinyl tile in the shape of brick, like the ones that people remember from the 1970’s. But perhaps the most frustrating idea that we are still trying to combat, is the notion that you need some type of a “system” to successfully install thin brick for interior use. Companies have marketed aluminum grids, or systems with tabs or holders, for thin brick for decades. Indeed a google search for “thin brick” will bring up these systems on the first page, and for people that might have the occasion to install thin brick only one time in their lives, the confusion that this is a necessity to a thin brick veneer installation is something that the manufacturers and sellers of these systems are counting on.

I want to set the record straight.

You do not need a system to install thin brick that is different than any other tile installation. Brick is a ceramic. When it is cut thin, the product you have is an unglazed ceramic tile. Period, end of story. The fear mongers have done a great job of perpetuating the myth that thin brick is something different. Because it has the word “brick” in the name, they put forth the idea that it must be heavy and need some added support compared to other ceramic tile. This is far from the truth. Most thin brick weighs under 5 lbs. per sq. ft. Compare this to a marble wall tile, which is more likely in the 6 lb. per square foot category. And yet, you will not find similar tabs or grid systems for use on marble tiles. You would think you would, based on the rhetoric of the system manufacturers, the system makes the install easier, it prevents slippage, etc., yet these systems do not exist.

The truth is, with modern modified thin set mortars your tiles, or thin brick tiles, will not slip. With the right mortar and notch trowel, once you set a tile, it is not going to move unless you decide to move it. So why would anyone go through the added step of installing a grid on a wall? The grid will not mechanically affix the tile to the wall, the mortar or adhesive does that. All you really need to do is snap chalk lines (we like every third row) so you can align your thin brick properly, spread the mortar with a notch trowel, and set your tiles. Then grout them once they are dry, with either sanded grout or mason’s mortar.


Copyright 2019 Vintage Brick Salvage LLC

THE MYTH OF THE THIN BRICK INSTALLATION SYSTEM
Loading...
2611 view(s)

THE MYTH OF THE THIN BRICK INSTALLATION SYSTEM

The Myth of the Thin Brick Installation system for interior walls

For coming up on twenty years now, I have been involved in the manufacturing and marketing of thin brick tile. Thin brick has come a long way in that time, I once had to explain what exactly a thin brick was. And we were constantly fighting against the preconceived notion that our thin brick veneer was a fake looking vinyl tile in the shape of brick, like the ones that people remember from the 1970’s. But perhaps the most frustrating idea that we are still trying to combat, is the notion that you need some type of a “system” to successfully install thin brick for interior use. Companies have marketed aluminum grids, or systems with tabs or holders, for thin brick for decades. Indeed a google search for “thin brick” will bring up these systems on the first page, and for people that might have the occasion to install thin brick only one time in their lives, the confusion that this is a necessity to a thin brick veneer installation is something that the manufacturers and sellers of these systems are counting on.

I want to set the record straight.

You do not need a system to install thin brick that is different than any other tile installation. Brick is a ceramic. When it is cut thin, the product you have is an unglazed ceramic tile. Period, end of story. The fear mongers have done a great job of perpetuating the myth that thin brick is something different. Because it has the word “brick” in the name, they put forth the idea that it must be heavy and need some added support compared to other ceramic tile. This is far from the truth. Most thin brick weighs under 5 lbs. per sq. ft. Compare this to a marble wall tile, which is more likely in the 6 lb. per square foot category. And yet, you will not find similar tabs or grid systems for use on marble tiles. You would think you would, based on the rhetoric of the system manufacturers, the system makes the install easier, it prevents slippage, etc., yet these systems do not exist.

The truth is, with modern modified thin set mortars your tiles, or thin brick tiles, will not slip. With the right mortar and notch trowel, once you set a tile, it is not going to move unless you decide to move it. So why would anyone go through the added step of installing a grid on a wall? The grid will not mechanically affix the tile to the wall, the mortar or adhesive does that. All you really need to do is snap chalk lines (we like every third row) so you can align your thin brick properly, spread the mortar with a notch trowel, and set your tiles. Then grout them once they are dry, with either sanded grout or mason’s mortar.


Copyright 2019 Vintage Brick Salvage LLC