Antique Brick Backsplash - Before and After

Before:

This is an old project, but I thought I would go ahead and post the How-to, in case anyone is interested.

We wanted our backsplash in our kitchen to be be unique and have an old-world look to it.

We purchased antique brick called "Texas Antique" from Metro Brick and Stone. We had a masonry worker slice off the face of the brick (about one half inch thick). Antique brick is reclaimed from old buildings and streets.

We used a trowel to apply ceramic tile adhesive to the wall and using very precise, highly sophisticated tools we spaced out the bricks. Those "highly sophisticated" tools we used for spacers are called markers and pencils. We just jabbed them in the gaps. Then, we ran out of those and found a bucket of wire nuts that worked just fine. You don't want it to look perfectly even, even if you are married to a Type A perfectionist like someone else I know. 

  

After it dried, we grouted the brick using tile grout in a color that matched the mortar on the outside of our house. We like the old-world messy mortar look so we smeared it a bit. Then we sealed it all with a stone/tile sealer for protection. 

After:

Cost: It ended up costing about $10 a square foot b/c of having to purchase the brick and then hiring someone with a masonry saw to do the cuts for us. We have a cozy kitchen, so we didn't have that much wall to cover; it was not that pricey of a project for our space. Tile (ceramic or natural stone) would have been more economical. All-in-all, we are pleased with the look and feel of the old brick.

Posted on The Thrifty Chick's Before-and-After: