How to Install a Thin Brick Patio/Porch

May 24 2021

With summer here and activities planned with friends and family you may be looking around your yard and thinking it needs a slight upgrade. One of the best and most lasting upgrades is installing a thin brick porch or patio. But where to start? How can someone with zero masonry experience install a thin brick patio? Well...it's simpler than you think it would be.

Step 1: Choose a Color

If you don’t already have a color of brick in mind, spend some time on our website under the shop tab and check out all of our many brick color options. Between our three collections, Colonial, Terra, and Modern, we have reds, browns, grays, whites, and so many more. You can choose between old rustic looking bricks or newer, straight-edge bricks. It’s up to you! You decide what style you want for your porch!

Step 2: Choose a Pattern

There are a lot of different brick patterns you can lay on your porch or patio. The two most popular patterns are off-set, otherwise known are runningbond, or herringbone. We offer both in our patented Brickwebb sheets. Our Brickwebb sheets, both in off-set or herringbone patterns, makes the installation of your thin brick so much easier. Trust me, you’ll be thanking yourself for choosing Brickwebb!

Step 3: Measure Your Space

Once you know what color and pattern you want, you now need to measure out your space to determine how much thin brick to purchase. To measure out your space in square feet you will measure your length and width of your porch and times those two measurement together. As shown below:

You’ll want to measure everything in feet as that will help in the purchasing of your brick, as most thin bricks are purchase in square feet. If you have a step(s) to your porch, measure out how wide the step is measuring just the corner of the step. That sole measurement will be your linear feet. This measurement will determine how many corner bricks you will need.

Step 4: Purchase Your Brick

You are now ready to purchase your thin brick. There are many places to purchase Old Mill Brick products. You can find all colors and variations on our website at oldmillbrick.com. You can also purchase online at homedepot.com and lowes.com. If you are interested in our Castle Gate Brickwebb, you can find that in stores at your local Home Depot. You can purchase a variety of our colors in store at Floor & Décor and see what selection they have to offer on their website: floorandecor.com. Old Mill Brick products can also be found at Menards and Amazon.

Step 5: Installation

Once you have purchased your brick, you can now start the installation. You should only lay Old Mill bricks on a cement slab porch or patio. You will want to clean that cement as best you can, getting all the dirt and debris free of the surface.

Once it is clean and dry you can spread your mixed modified thin set onto the cement. The thin set should be the consistency of peanut butter. You will want to use a 3/8” trowel to spread the thin set

Push the individual thin bricks or the brickwebb sheets down into the thin set in the pattern you desire. The typical brick spacing between bricks is 3/8”. Once all the brick has been laid wait 24 hours. After 24 hours have passed, you can start grouting.

Step 6: Grout

The most common way to grout a thin brick floor, whether that be outside or inside, is with a grout float. You use the grout float to smear the grout over the face of the bricks pushing the grout into the space between bricks. We find it helpful to seal the brick before grouting with a float method, as to protect the brick when you clean the grout from the surface of your bricks. Once you have filled in the spaces with grout you can take a wet sponge and clean off the surface of your brick. Once clean we recommend sealing the whole patio giving your project more protection against the elements and daily wear and tear. We recommend using the 511 Impregnator by Miracle as your sealant.

FINISHED!!

Now you have a patio to be proud of. One your neighbors will compliment you on as it will surely be the main conversation piece when you entertain this summer.

If you have further questions be sure to reach out to our customer support team at hello@oldmillbrick.com. Or feel free to reach out to any of the below DIYers who have installed their own Old Mill Brick patio. They would be more than happy to offer their advice and expertise. Good luck with all your future projects and we hope they will be filled with thin brick!