Brick Slips, How easy is it to cut your own,

[ghost32]

Hi, Getting a concrete prefab shed/outhouse put up in the next few weeks (www.nucrete.co.uk) but because my house is brick (LBC heathers to be precise) I wanted to cover the pebbledash that this building comes with and match it to my house.
After doing some research I have found you can use brick slips and "tile" them on to blend in. seem perfect... except the price tag... for brick slips of this kind of brick (bricks alone) it's £300 ( only covering 7m2)
I can buy the bricks themselves for £50 per 100 and by my recogning I need 400 slips..
how easy is it to cut bricks into slips? what would be the best tool to do this? or would i be flying through the blades when cutting these bricks.?

Thanks for any advice given

Mark

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Considered ebay? http://home-garden.shop.ebay.co.uk/...+slips&_catref=1&_fln=1&_trksid=p3286.c0.m282

 

[simonjay]

Hi, Getting a concrete prefab shed/outhouse put up in the next few weeks (www.nucrete.co.uk) but because my house is brick (LBC heathers to be precise) I wanted to cover the pebbledash that this building comes with and match it to my house.
After doing some research I have found you can use brick slips and "tile" them on to blend in. seem perfect... except the price tag... for brick slips of this kind of brick (bricks alone) it's £300 ( only covering 7m2)
I can buy the bricks themselves for £50 per 100 and by my recogning I need 400 slips..
how easy is it to cut bricks into slips? what would be the best tool to do this? or would i be flying through the blades when cutting these bricks.?

Thanks for any advice given

Mark

I got some slips cut by a local brick cutter (in Rugby). They have a large saw with very large and expensive diamond blade. Price was reasonable, can't remember what though. Price for brick cutting does seem to vary a lot so get many quotes !
No idea about the feasibility of hiring the kit and cutting yourself.
Simon.

 

[jeds]

I cut about 50 recently with a 9" grinder. It was ok to start with but they did end up a bit ragged towards the end. It takes a lot of control and effort to get them consistently right. You'd never tell on the finished job though - even with the ragged ones.

If you do end up cutting them yourself I would look at hiring a cutting bench. Cutting 400 by hand will be hard work.

 

[Blagard]

would i be flying through the blades when cutting these bricks.?

A bench saw is the best tool for the job, but even if you used a grinder, you still want to use a Diamond blade.

By the time you have finshed cutting 400, got rid of all the waste, made peace with the neighbours, paid the hire on the cutting gear etc. You will probably regret not going down the route of simply buying them ready cut!

Then of course you can get around to fixing them.

 

[leew2]

Beware that most facing bricks only have one 'face' meaning you could only cut one slip per brick rather than two. This means the 400 bricks would cost £200. For the sake of £100 I would just buy the slips and be done with it.

 

[peterperfection]

Beware that most facing bricks only have one 'face' meaning you could only cut one slip per brick rather than two. This means the 400 bricks would cost £200. For the sake of £100 I would just buy the slips and be done with it.

Good advice
I actually cut brick slips and also do 'cut and bonded' bricks for a living.
Arches slips and in fact- anything brick related .
It really is not worth the hassle of doing it yourself as previous posters have said. (I would say that though- wouldn't I ?)

Costs of having them cut- depend on the numbers required and brick type . But- it's worth it to have a pro job --because you will be looking at finished bricks for a long time after you have paid --go figure .
I only do lancashire though -although Grt manchester is ok- but for Merseyside- there is a surcharge- for the armed escort and dobermans !! haha.

 

[peterperfection]

Beware that most facing bricks only have one 'face' meaning you could only cut one slip per brick rather than two. This means the 400 bricks would cost £200. For the sake of £100 I would just buy the slips and be done with it.

Good advice
I actually cut brick slips and also do 'cut and bonded' bricks for a living.
Arches slips and in fact- anything brick related .
It really is not worth the hassle of doing it yourself as previous posters have said. (I would say that though- wouldn't I ?)

Costs of having them cut- depend on the numbers required and brick type . But- it's worth it to have a pro job --because you will be looking at finished bricks for a long time after you have paid --go figure .
I only do lancashire though -although Grt manchester is ok- but for Merseyside- there is a surcharge- for the armed escort and dobermans !! haha.

ps- do the maths .
60 bricks slips to the square metre

I usually carge about 50p-60p per slip (cutting clients bricks).

 

[amwc]

Hi
I had a similar problem to this a little while ago and I cut about 10 bricks before ordering the slips. Although make sure you get samples as there are some rough looking slips out there

 

[simonjay]

Hi
I had a similar problem to this a little while ago and I cut about 10 bricks before ordering the slips. Although make sure you get samples as there are some rough looking slips out there

If you want slips to match existing bricks, you may have to get them cut. Mine were to cover an RSJ that was exposed when a bay was removed. Covered with cement board, then the slips. Looks just like a soldier course that was layed.
Simon.