Brick Slips – Turning a Corner

Does your brick slip project have an edge, a window reveal or two walls meeting?

If so then you will certainly need to address how you deal with the corners.

When it comes to brick slips, a corner in a project can seem daunting, please do not worry though. This article will guide you through the process with ease and talk through the options available to you.

Whist special brick slip corners give a wall project the ultimate look of realism, it is possible to work round having to use them

Especially when a project has to come in under a certain budget, then cutting the slip corners can trim some pennies off the final bill.

Butt Joint / Tile Joint

This is by far the easiest and cheapest way of dealing with corners in your brick slip project. Utilising only standard brick slips walls are simply joined by the overlapping tile as shown below. Quick and easy to achieve this method will only require the trimming of slips to length and makes dealing with edges a breeze.

The drawback from using this method is losing the realism. When using brick slips the product is cut from real brick and when installed gives the appearance of a fully built brick wall. In essence butt jointing spoils that illusion to the person with the keen eye for detail.

This method has its place and is certainly the easiest way to deal with your corner issues.

Tile Trim

Installation is exactly the same method as above. The only difference is that a tile trim is used to cloak off the edge post installation. This can look decortative and will hide the bond beneath. Although depending on the project and installation it can look somewhat out of place.

This is certainly only an option for specific installs only.

Mitre Joint

This method takes some skill with a tile saw, and is only recommended for professional installers. Mitering involves carefully cutting the brick slips at a 90 degree angle to the edge so that when the two pieces are joined it creates a corner.

Mitering to create corners involves cutting two slips and trimming one so that the distinctive L shape is given. When slips are mitered and joined they are usually bonded together on site using an approx or masonry glue. All this is prior to any installation.

The finished result if done correct is an edge that is very believable and can only really be caught out by the professional eye.

Brick Slip Corner

We have looked at the various methods for working round and with corner joints and edges, now it is time to take a look at using brick slip corners.

Slip corners are cut bricks that leave the front and side face of the brick in tact. This specialist double cut product allows the illusion of a full wall to be realised.

Brick slip corners when alternated and used on a 90 degree edge form the perfect edge and offer a 100% believable install.

Corners are key to a quality installation

If you are a perfectionist and you are choosing brick slips because you want the full look of a natural wall. We cannot stress enough how important corners are going to be.

Customers and contractors do it, and we understand the resoning but in our opinion brick slips should never be butt jointed.

The reason for this is that the illusion of what brick slips are meant to achieve is instantly broken.  Where the eye sees the brick go round a corner the brain automatically interprets what it knows and fills in the blanks.

You believe it is real because it is!