Faux Brick Floor Project for Your Basement, Garage, or Patio
For this faux brick floor project you will need:
Cement cleaner
sponge, the bigger the better
exterior paints in a terra cotta red brick color and black
foam brushes
paint try
painters tape
scissors
water-based polyurethane
roller paint brush
1″ paint brush (optional for extra step)
Steps:
1. Start you faux brick floor project by thoroughly cleaning your cement floor. This will allow you paint to properly stick to the cement surface as well as protect you paint brushes from damage.
2. Paint your entire concrete surface gray or neutral beige with high quality outdoor oil based paint. Pour the paint into the paint tray and roll it on evenly. This gray beige color will act as your grout lines. You need to invest in high quality paints for this project because your work will be exposed to the elements. Expect to pay about $30 for a gallon of high quality paint. Quality products will ensure a longer life for all of your hard work.
3. Once the gray base paint has dried start taping off your bricks. I like to use a highly sticky painters tape like 3M’s. It will adhere to the painted concrete better. Buy it in a Ã?¼” width. A typical brick measure about 4 inches wide and about 7 inches long. Use scissors to cut your tape so that you will not have any rough edges.
There are stencils readily available in the shape of bricks. You could choose to use those instead of the tape. It will give you a more authentic edge to each brick. I recommend purchasing at least five stencils if you are planning on faux painting a lot of square footage. Using more than one stencil will speed up the process. Use a stencil adhesive or painters tape around the edge of your stencil to hold it in place.
4. Now for the fun part. Pour some of your red terra cotta brick paint into a paint tray. Pour some of your black exterior paint into a separate paint tray. Use your large sponge to start dabbing in each paint. Next, start applying the paint to your cement floor. Dab the paint on lightly. Remember you can always add more. You can work this paint a little more than with most faux finishes because the color of most bricks is fairly uniform. You do want some slight variations that will help create a 3-D effect.
5. For some added depth and detail here is an additional step to create a truly realistic faux painted brick patio. I highly recommend this step if you have time.
Once your red painted bricks have dried for at least twenty-four hours you can tape them of a second time and add a shadow. Most brick patios are fairly smooth, so this shadow should be very thin. Start by taping off a very thin line about 1/8 of an inch to the left of the long side of your brick. Consistency is key here. Start working from the left and tape off each row of bricks always to the left. You will also need to tape off the existing edge of your brick.
Mix together your red and black paint to create a shaded color of your original brick color. Start painting on this shadow with your smaller 1″ paintbrush. You could even use an artist paintbrush. Let this paint dry over night.
Now, tape one of the short ends of your bricks in the same manner. Be consistent again. Place the tape 1/8 of an inch below the faux painted brick working until you have completed your patio. Now, start dabbing your shadowy brick color on.
6. Once your paint has completely dried you are ready for a few coats of polyurethane. Roll on one coat at a time. Once it has completely dried add another coat. Repeat this process anywhere from 3 to 6 times. The more coats of polyurethane, then longer your faux painted brick floor will last.
