German Smear Brick
The term german schmear or german smear has origins in germany from the word schmear meaning to spread grease smear.
German smear brick. The technique is akin to. A true german smear uses a sand mixture mortar to cover the brick while a whitewash uses a thinned out paint mixture to cover the brick exterior. The brick source here we used seen in the shot below is real brick but cut into thin slices. German smear technique in 1 minute.
With the german smear the coverage is heavier with less definition between the bricks and more of a rustic look with a few bricks wiped off to expose original brick. A mortar wash is a decorative effect which involves strategically spreading a mixture of mortar and cement across brick. As introduced briefly in the opening of this post german smear is a particular technique used to give white color on some specific types of surface especially brick surface. Mortar wash or german smear is a way of antiquing your brick siding with mortar.
The purpose of this is specifically for updating the brick look that is outdated by time weather or something else. Art source faux fur blanket source. Well the beauty with the german smear technique is that it s not perfect. German smear mimics the look of irregular stones and heavy mortar joints a style often found on centuries old cottages and castles throughout northern germany.
This is a good thing since german smear is also very labor intensive. Also unlike any of the other options including paint it s permanent. Also a whitewash application requires maintenance since exterior painted surfaces always weathers and fades. Instead of shelling out big bucks to repair a worn down brick exterior consider an affordable diy upgrade with old world charm.
The slices are mounted on a tile webbing similar to mosaic glass tile you d use for a backsplash project or something. It simply uses the texture of the mortar to highlight as much or little brick as you want. Since i love a thick slathered brick i opted for the german smear. The mortar is mixed the same for either technique it just depends on the look you prefer.