Can I Use Brick Slips As Flooring?
Simply put- yes, you can. There are a few considerations however to make brick slips work nicely as flooring, as well as being aesthetically amazing. These are mostly due to the texture of brick, and the fact they are designed for walls, but they can easily be overcome.
What Needs to Be Considered?
The first thing to consider is that internal brickwork partly looks so good due to the natural variations in colour and texture. It’s the texture that you first need to think about. With our reclaimed collection in particular the tiles themselves will have high points and low points, plus the mortar will then be slightly different heights for each tile.
The second thing you need to think about is that brick is porous, so retains some moisture. When it’s on a wall that’s no problem, it doesn’t remain there- it will evaporate and in outdoor conditions, or in a shower cubicle, for example, it will work its way down into the ground/shower tray.
Neither of these things are enough to stop you from making your floors look amazing- you just need to know these things and make changes to your installation process.
Why Is Texture A Problem?
When you think of normal flooring options (carpet, wood, ceramic tiles…) they are all flat. This means you can easily run a hoover over them, and you know your furniture is always going to be level.
With textured brickwork, dust and dirt could gather in the recessed parts of each brick, and you may experience wobbly chairs as they rest one leg on a more raised or lowered section than others.
So How Do I Make It Work?
You have 2 options-
Option 1- Keep the rustic look and texture of brick and accept the extra attention needed during cleaning. Perhaps add foam pads to chairs to give a little more stability for example. This way you keep 100% of the aesthetic beauty but have to be aware of the living and cleaning with the textures.
Option 2- Use a clear floor epoxy resin to cover the tiles. This means that technically your feet will be on the resin, and not brick. It may slightly take away from the raw aesthetics but will give you a more even surface, as well as extra protection against any moisture.
How Do I Combat Moisture?
The answer is quite straightforward, whatever room you want to use them in we recommend using a brick slip sealant. You simply need to paint on a coat or two after the mortar and tile have dried, until a drop of water beads- that’s when you know you’ve done enough.
You should re-seal the brickwork every year or so to make sure it stays in tip-top condition.
If you’re going to use a resin, then we still recommend applying the brick sealant first to protect in case the resin eventually wears down before you can re-apply it.
If you’re installing them in a damp place such as a small bathroom, the moisture becomes a more important issue- if the brick retains moisture it will soak through to whatever is beneath- so you may also want to take an extra precaution by laying a waterproof membrane.
What Else Is There To Look Out For?
With the reclaimed collection in particular you will have to be very careful when laying the brick slips to make them as flat as possible over the whole room.
When pointing your brick slips on the floor, you'll need to be extra careful not to get the mortar on the faces, as gravity doesn't help you like on walls. We'd recommend using our brick slip sealant after the slips are installed, waiting for it to dry, and then pointing to help with this. Once the mortar is also dry you can then apply another coat to seal the brick and the mortar.
Make It Look Amazing
With Brick slips on walls, most people opt for a stretcher bond pattern (i.e all full tiles, each row half a tile along), some opt for other bonds with half tiles. With flooring, you should think about different patterns, in particular, herringbone and basketweave are patterns to consider.
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Herringbone
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Basketweave
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Which Tiles Should I Use?
The beauty is that the full range of brick slips is suitable, so click below to view all of our products, you can order samples of up to three of them so you can see them in person.
