Internal decorative brickwork

[M Jones]

Hi all,

I have some internal decorative brickwork in my living room. I am in the process of redecorating my living room and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to improve the slightly fading appearance of the brickwork.

I wiped away excess dust and dirt with water last night and whilst the brick was wet it's slightly darker appearance made the brick look much better (until it dried out of course and it returned to the way it was before).

I was wondering if there is any such thing as brickwork lacquer I can apply to make this darker appearance permanent? It is evident to me that something must have been applied on one side of the room in the past because the brickwork looks better in some parts of the room than in others.

Does any such product exist in the UK?

Thanks.

[dave]

Hi,

I once used clear polyurethane varnish on bricks, which seemed to work OK and gave them a permenent " wet look". It might be worth trying out on a brick of similar type to your room before taking the plunge.

Dave

[M Jones]

I will try the polyurethane varnish on a small part of the brickwork and see what it looks like. Do you know if there is any way I could dilute varnish so the effect isn't so strong?

[dave]

Sorry I don't know of any solvents for dilution. Anything they say will clean brushes after using would probably work.

Dave

[Duncan]

I'll follow the herd here and top-post...

I've just done some interior stripped doors with a satin finish water-based polyurethane varnish - worked nicely on the wood, but not cheap. I've got a tin open and a bare brick wall waiting for plaster so I've just done a quick test with full-strength varnish on one brick and 50:50 varnish:water on another. Instant wet-look on both obviously, and I'll report back when they've dried.

To be continued.......

Duncan

[Duncan]

muttering to myself...

the full-strength satin varnish (Ever sat in varnish?? I fell in a bucket of wallpaper paste when I was about 3 !) dried dull, and deepened the colour of the brick but only subtly- more like you'd breathed on it than wet it properly, with no noticeable shine.

The half-strength varnish is almost invisible now it's dried.

Duncan

[M Jones]

That doesn't sound too positive. However, in the future i'll try with varnish myself and see how it goes.