How to Stencil a Faux Brick Wall on Concrete

If you want brick and you have a concrete wall, you can fake it convincingly — and far more cheaply than laying real brick. The technique uses a stencil and two colors of cement-based overlay, and because it is overlay rather than brick it works on vertical and horizontal surfaces alike.

A concrete wall made to look like brick.

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What you need

A self-adhesive paper brick stencil — or one you make yourself from masking tape — an integrally colored cement-based overlay, and a hopper gun to spray it.

The method

1 · Base coat

Spray a smooth gray overlay over the whole wall with the hopper gun

2 · Stencil

Lay the self-adhesive stencil, or mask the brick pattern out with tape

3 · Color coat

Spray a thin coat of colored overlay over the stencil — the source project used an earthen red. This is the brick itself

4 · Lift the stencil

Once dry, peel it carefully

5 · Highlight

This is the step that sells it — brush varying shades of tinted sealer onto random bricks. Real brickwork is never one color

6 · Seal

A satin sealer to protect it and deepen the color

Why the highlighting matters: a stenciled wall where every brick is identical reads as a pattern, not as masonry. The random variation in step 5 is the difference between convincing and obviously fake.

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What's Next

1. Real brick instead → Brick Staining Guide
2. Walls and facades → Walls & Facades Gallery
3. Pigment in cement → Coloring Cement, Stucco and Grout
4. Tinted sealer colors → EasyTint™ Colors
5. Applying stain outdoors → How to Apply Outdoor Concrete Stain
6. Choosing a sealer → The Best Concrete Sealer
7. Prefer a reactive, mottled look? → Acid Stain Colors Guide
8. Shop → EasyTint™ · Portico™ · Trial Kits

Direct Colors. Shawnee, OK. Manufacturing the full decorative concrete system since 1997.