Bricklaying is hard work that takes muscle, learned skills, and practice. It is also messy because you’re working with bricks and mortar, which has to be mixed from cement, sand, and water.
Additionally, you need a good, solid foundation for a brick wall, which is even heavier work, because it entails mixing structural concrete. The foundation must also be constructed to the correct dimensions for the width and height of the wall it is going to support.
Bricklaying skills are also essential when building brick walls. All brick structures should be straight, level, and square, and a number of specialized tools are required including a spirit level and square, various trowels, mallets, hammers, chisels, bolsters, and lines and pegs. While the skills can be learned, bricklaying doesn’t fit into the realm of most do-it-yourselfers.
But all this changes if you are building a brick wall with Native Custom Stone Go-Brick.
Brick Walls Built With Revolutionary Go-Brick
Go-Brick is a lightweight brick veneer that will make any vertical surface look just like a solid brick wall. Many professional bricklayers and masons work with the product, but it is also ideal for do-it-yourselfers wanting to transform internal or external walls.
The beauty of this product is that it doesn’t require any type of foundation or structural support and installation is quick and easy. While the lightweight brick units must be installed so that they are flat, level, and plumb, all you need is a chalk line to mark the position of each row.
Go-Brick tumbled brick units are 2¼ inches high and 75/8 long, and they are about a ½ inch in thickness. A gap of 3/8 inch should be left to form a mortar joint between each brick.
Packs of brick flats contain 58 pieces that are enough to cover 8½ square feet. Corner pieces are packed per linear foot with 10 linear feet in each box. Window sills pieces are also available. These measure 18 x 2 x 33/8 inches.
Molded to look just like clay bricks, tumbled brick Go-Bricks are available in seven standard colors:
- Antique Red
- Old Dixie Grey
- Orchard Blend
- Savannah Beach
- Schoolhouse Red
- Sunset Rust
- Vintage Atlanta
There are also a variety of grout joint colors.
Installing Go-Brick Walls
Start by marking a chalk line on the wall where the bricks are to be installed. Remember to include the joint width.
Instead of using mortar, Go-Bricks are installed using tile adhesive and an ordinary notched trowel. Regular mortar can be used for grouting between the units, but it is even easier to use tile grout and a grout applicator.
The mortar/grout joint may be deep-raked, full-brushed, or full-tooled, in which case you will need a jointing tool. Alternatively, you can just scrape out the excess grout and wipe clean carefully with a cloth.
There is no need to seal the brick veneer unless the surface is going to be in a particularly wet environment or exposed to excessive run-off water. Native Custom Stone does have a product, Natural Shield Sealer, that is made for purpose, and doesn’t alter the appearance of the Go-Brick surface.
