DIY German Schmear
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 1 ต.ค. 2024
- Watch our video on how we achieved German Schmear on our 1947 brick house!
German Schmear is achieved by tactfully applying mortar to the bare bricks leaving some exposed. During application, you can choose to have more mortar cover the bricks or less. This method adds texture to the bricks and is usually done on high end construction due to the labor it requires.
Another method I really looked into was limewashing. Limewash is a paint mixture using lime to create a chalky texture. So instead of sitting on the bricks it penetrates the brick; giving it an old European look. It can age over time, and slowly have a greater wash effect. During application, you can go back through wash off some brick to expose it. This method will degrade over time and wash off on its own, a less permanent method depending on how much rainfall your area receives. If this style if more for you, then ROMABIO is certainly the one to use.
The reason why this German Schmear is so much more expensive is the labor it requires. Each step is done by hand. When I was researching what to do with the bricks ‘German Schmear’ popped up and an article mentioned it would cost anywhere from $1,500 to $3,500. We did not budget for this type of expense on the exterior of the house, so I knew we would be the ones to do this no problem! Look at our transformation!!!!
For more about our DIY German Schmear project check out my blog: www.thiscountr...
Hi Morgan. I was thinking about doing this to my 1930s tudor. How has the schmear held up since this video was made? Thank you
You guys did a beautiful job. Your house looks so nice.
I sorta don’t like the whole brick being covered that’s just my preference
I love when they look just like a old house cause back in the day they didn’t cover their whole house a lot of red would peek threw this just looks like a white wall now lol. I would of used a brush like a wire brush. Again it’s what You like that matters
We didn’t like the tri color bricks and chose this method to fill in all the holes from the original mortar instead of painting all the bricks a solid color like most people do:)
Hey awesome video! Thanks for the extra help like grout bag selection and all too!
Thank you! The grout bag really makes or breaks it when you are doing an entire house vs maybe just a fireplace!
Dang that turned out great!
Thank you!!
Transformation
Hi there! Did you seal the exterior when you were finished or is that unnecessary? We are thinking of doing the same with our house but trying to figure out the entire process before we jump in ♥️
Hi there! We did not use a sealer, haven’t really had an issue. However this is entirely different issue but our sill plate is leaking. The original mortar is not holding up so we will have to do some sealant at the base. But that’s mostly because our house is 1946. Enjoy! I love love how unique our house is with the smeared mortar! :)
How much did you end up spending to do your house?
I love the way the brick shows through the mortar.
How long did the whole house take? Cost?
Hi there! It took us roughly 2 weeks. And for our home we used 15 bags of mortar at 50lbs a each. Each bag costs $15. So depends on the rest of the tools you have already that will vary your cost. The cost for us was about $300. For more information, and a list of what I used is on my blog: www.thiscountryhaven.com/diy/how-to-apply-german-schmear
How long did the whole house take? I’ve done our fireplace and it’s definitely some work.
It took us about 4-5 days but they were not full days due to the heat!
U gonna do the chimney… lol climb up there n finish
Haha. Not yet! My inspo pictures have theirs not done either!
It's been a few years now, so I was wondering if it had yellowed at all in that time?
No yellowing at all!
That is wonderful to hear! Thank you for the expedient reply!
How much you charge to do the job?
This is our own house so we didn’t charge for labor!