I am so impressed ! what a wonderful job! I wish I had the patience to do that! Thanks for posting the pics .It really helps to see exactly how its done .Robin

You did a beautiful job! Wonder how I missed the first phase...gotta go back 'n have a look see.

Suzi

what kind of paint did you use?

GG, I used outside acrylic water based paint for the base terra cotta color and I used whatever craft paints I had laying around for the add blobs of the black, white and a touch of red in the mix. I don't "mix" the paints together, just overstamp and pat or swipe with the wallpaper sponge to blend a little. Don't want a totally consistent color in each brick since natural brick is not that way, and I prefer the look of "old" brick anyway.
I will seal it all with Behr's 1 part epoxy paint (clear).
Pauline

I am so impressed with you!

What a great idea....."outside acrylic water based paint" -do you mean patio paint in the small bottles? great job!

Janet

Thanks Janet, actually, I mean regular in the gallon from Home Depot, outside acrylic water-based paint. Couldn't get enough out of those little bottles for the base color, although I have been using them (craft paint bottles, not necessarily the patio paint) to dab on some black/white and red onto the base color (terra cotta). Have you seen the extra pictures I have added as I am not onto trying to fill in the patio completely. I may be a little nuts. The paint seems to be adhering extremely well to the non sealed aggregate concrete which is very, very pourous. Most places I have not yet sealed and it is very difficult to get the paint up when I have made a mistake.

Pauline

What a great job, it looks wonderful!!!

Wow. I usually see faux finishes that are iffy and well, look like faux finishes, but this truly looks like brick, matches the wall perfectly. Great job!

Nathalie and others, thank you, I had wanted to do this for a long, long time and thought it could look very real, I absolutely did not want it to look fake. In fact some of the commercial treatments in concrete, etching, etc., look very fake to me and I do not particularly like them. I think the thing that makes this work is that the base is an aggregate mix concrete with lots of texture, also, I varied colors significantly and had lots of less than sharp edges. Most of the stenciled or etched work are too precise which is not the real look of brick. I held my breath before starting this but was pretty surprised as I went along at high real it really looked. In fact, when complete, if I don't tell anyone, it will be quite a while before they realize it is paint. I just hope I can get enough time and stamina to complete the project.
Pauline

Pauline, wow, your patio looks fabulous. I'd love to try that but I don't have much artistic ability. Maybe I could start with my small front stoop. I too am retired from the Fed Govt since 03. Ain't it grand? Finally time to indulge my gardening passion. Vikki

It is beautiful!! Good job, Pauline. I just happened on
your post and had to take a peek.

Jan

i did a faux brick on my shade patio last year for the garden walk tour. my area was about 5x24. i painted the concrete with a terra cotta acrylic outdoor concrete porch paint. i then took a rectangle sponge made my bricks, i did'nt tape of any areas because i wanted it to look like it had been there a long time. you had to look real close to tell it was a painted surface and alot of people commented on what a great idea it was. this year, it is flaking and i'm wondering why. the area has little to no traffic although it is in a sometimes damp, shady area. i just bought a can of concrete/stucco/outdoor acylic paint and am going to do the same thing on an area of my black top. a few years ago, we used traffic paint for the basketball court lines and has held up nice, but traffic paint doesn't come in the colors i need. i couldn't find anything specifically for black top so we'll see how this holds up...........

Momcat--was there a sealer on the concrete before you painted it? I think that is the single biggest difference. My paint really got soaked into the concrete then baked by the sun. I am waiting for a very dry day before sealing any of it. Perhaps the combination of moisture and if the paint were laying on top of a sealer, this could cause the peeling. Also, my concrete is aggregate, i.e., very rough textured and not smooth, this is another reason the paint is holding (so far anyway).
Be sure to post pictures of your paint job.
Pauline

Great job!
Garry

no sealer on the concrete, but i think i put the second coat on before the first was completly dry because i was pressed for time for the garden walk. the black top gets more sun and the paint won't be as thick and i won't be pressed for time so i hope this one will last longer.

Reply to: Gozalda

This is the first time I got an email from someone where their "posting" is not listed in the forum? The email I got said I couldn't "respond" by email to this person, so I logged onto the forum and couldn't find the message which is cut and pasted below. Here is the answer:

Patio is definitely exposed aggregate, but I guess there are all different kinds. Some have aggregate that is pebbles, ours was an aggregate made from beach type material, think there is even some sharkteeth in the mix. I have posted some closeups of the concrete near where I painted the bricks (this section is the last to get the treatment, if the heat and weather don't get me).
Pauline
Here is the message I received:

Pauline - you said you have concrete aggregate but I can barely see the aggregate. Do you have an exposed aggregate concrete patio that you covered with painted bricks? I have an exposed patio that I would like to do your treatment to. But I didn't think it would work with my exposed aggregate. Great job!

Gozalda

Pauline, you mention you plan to apply Behr's 1 part epoxy paint over the finished painting. Do you know if that will produce a slippery surface? I'm faux painting cobblestones on a ramp and don't want to end up creating an falling hazard.