German Schmear Brick Fireplace DIY

5 Materials
$20
8 Hours
Easy

The german schmear technique seemed intimidating to me, since I never worked with cement or mortar before. It took months of procrastinating to get the courage to attempt it.

My tip is to start by mixing small batches, of thinset mortar, fill in a few rows of grout lines, then grab your bigger brush and just start smearing it on. You'll get the hang of it really fast and then just keep on going. You'll be a pro before you know it!

Our Fireplace Update with German Schmear

Our first Christmas in our new home with our new fireplace redo!


Start by taping your floor and ceiling and covering your floor area. It gets a bit messy, but clean up is easy... unless you have carpet.

Getting ready to get brave!!!

Thinset, white mortar, is what I used. I mixed 4 trowel scoopfuls with water and made it a peanut butter like, thick, consistency.

I painted the grout lines first.

A smaller, chubby brush, worked best to get in between the bricks.

This is a brick covered, almost completely, with 2 swipes of my brush.

This shows where I didn't push my brush into the brick, I lifted it where I wanted to have brick exposed. You can always go back and cover areas that you want more coverage.


This was my first attempt with the mortar mixed a little too wet!

First side wall complete.

If you see an area with a brick that needs exposure use a spoon or something to scrape off some still damp mortar.

I tried the wet sponge wipe off technique, it was just toooo messy and I didn't care for the results.

Our before was pretty, too, but our small room really needed to be lightened up.

Oh, and those great barn doors were an idea that I came up with to co-ordinate with our full size doors that my hubby made.

They simply lift off the tracking system when we want to use the fireplace.


*** that post is on my Hometalk page, too!

Note: 1/2 bag of the mortar covered this 1/2 of the brick...I still have the opposite entrance side to do!

Always be Thankful for little things!

I'll always be Thankful for having a hubby who helps to make my ideas come true and who helps me with projects big and small. I'll always be thankful family, friends, good neighbors and good health. I hope you'll always be Thankful for even the smallest of things!

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