Brick Wrap Graphics for Textured and Masonry Walls

Standard wall vinyl does not stick to brick. It bridges the mortar joints, traps air, and peels off the high points within a season. Brick wrap is a different film, and it is the reason a graphic on masonry can last years instead of weeks.

Why brick needs its own material

A brick wall is not one surface. It is thousands of raised faces with recessed mortar lines between them, and the depth difference is often a quarter inch or more. A film has to do three things at once:

• Conform — stretch down into the mortar joints and stay there rather than tenting across them
• Grip a rough, porous face — with an aggressive adhesive that keys into texture instead of sitting on top of it
• Breathe — masonry holds and releases moisture, and a sealed film traps it and lifts

The textured-surface films we use are built for exactly that, and they are installed with heat so the material relaxes into the joints. Done properly the graphic reads as part of the wall, not as something stuck to it.

Where it works, and where it does not

Good surfaces: standard brick, split-face and smooth concrete block, stucco, poured concrete, and most painted masonry in sound condition.

Surfaces we will tell you no on: walls with active spalling or crumbling mortar, anything with efflorescence coming through, freshly repointed brick that has not cured, and paint that is already flaking. The film will hold — and it will pull the loose material off with it. If that is what we find, we will say so before you spend money, not after.

Two levels of cutting

Basic — straight lines only. Rectangular panels, butt-joined. Fastest to produce and install, and right for large image walls, full wall coverage and most exterior campaigns.

Complex — contour cuts. Logos, type and shapes cut to their own outline so the brick shows through around them. Considerably more labor at both the plotting and the install stage, which is why it is quoted per job rather than per square foot.

Common questions

Will printed graphics stick to brick?
Yes, with a film built for it. A brick wall is thousands of raised faces with recessed mortar lines between them, and the depth difference is often a quarter inch or more. Standard wall vinyl bridges those joints, traps air, and peels off the high points within a season. The textured-surface films we use are installed with heat so the material relaxes down into the joints and follows the surface instead of bridging it.

Which walls will you turn down?
Walls with active spalling or crumbling mortar, anything with efflorescence coming through, freshly repointed brick that has not cured, and paint that is already flaking. The film will hold on those surfaces, and it will pull the loose material off with it. If that is what we find, we will say so before you spend money, not after.

What is the difference between basic and complex cutting?
Basic is straight lines only: rectangular panels, butt-joined. It is fastest to produce and install, and it is right for large image walls, full wall coverage and most exterior campaigns. Complex means contour cuts, with logos, type and shapes cut to their own outline so the brick shows through around them. That takes considerably more labor at both the plotting and the install stage.

Why is brick wrap quoted instead of priced per square foot?
Because the number depends on things only a look at the wall settles: the square footage, the cut complexity, the surface condition, the working height, and whether the job needs lift equipment or scaffold. Two walls of the same size can quote very differently once the cutting and the access are known.

How fast do I get a number?
Send dimensions and a photo of the wall and you will have real numbers back within one business day. If the wall is local we will come and measure it ourselves.

Seen in the wild

We installed brick wall vinyl for a hospital campaign in the Van Aken District in Shaker Heights — an exterior masonry wall, printed as one image, on a wall nobody wanted to repaint. See that project.

Related: wall graphics and murals · outdoor graphics · installation and project management