How to Fix Holes in a Brick Wall Cheap and Easy

by diacsn

49K728

Intro: How to Fix Holes in a Brick Wall Cheap and Easy

The Wall around the Entry-Door on my 1958 Built House got many Holes in it. While i was installing Lights in the Overhang of our DIY Roof, they annoyed me so much, i had to fix them real quick :)

Everything you would need:

-Some Sort of Caulk/Silicone/Sealant

-Same colored Brick/Pencil

-A Knife

STEP 1: Remove Wall Anchors, Loose Dirt and Dust

Start off by getting old Wall Anchors out. Partially get a Screw in there. If needed grab any Sort of Pliers and pull on the Screw to get the Anchor out.

Next get it as clean as possible with a Vacuum Cleaner, a Brush or Compressed Air (Out of your Mouth?:)

It should be dry and clean.

STEP 2: Prepare the Magic Powder

To get the Hole-Disappearing-magic-Powder get a Brick the same color, as the one you want to fix.

Then scratch on it with whatever you have - a Knife, Sandpaper, Rasp, another Brick....

You want this Powder as fine as possible.

STEP 3: Seal the Hole

Now get that Hole filled up with your Sealant. Fill it until it's flush or even a little more, as some Sealants loose a little Volume while curing. Take whatever you have on Hand, just make sure it's Waterproof and will get at least some sort of Bond to the Brick. Otherwise you'll have to redo it sooner or later...:)

As almost always, i made a little Video on this and I'd love to hear your Opinions :)

STEP 4: Vanish, Hole!

6 Comments

littlejohn1 4 years ago

Brick is not waterproof, in fact it’s like a sponge. When bricklayers build structures they will leave small slits of missing mortar, usually 3/8-1/2” in size or in some cases they will drill holes of around the same size.
These holes are usually left at every 16” apart and depending on the height of the structure can be anywhere from two feet to six feet high. They are important but can be an issue. They are there to let the brick and interior wall breath and dry, when sealed off you may be putting yourself at risk for small leaks in the home from the brick sweating, the more rain the more water seeps into the brick. You also let the possibility of mold growing in your walls and can be a very big problem in some buildings.
These weep holes having their obvious concerns from homeowners can let insects and rodents in. New brick buildings are of course built with newer products that combat the issue, one of the more popular is a plastic brick sized insert that replaces bricks every few feet or so. These have hundreds of tiny holes in the face to allow the brick to breath and stopping all rodents and all but the tiniest of insects to enter the walls.
I would recommend calling a contractor or builder to check out the building and give you recommendations if you’re concerned with bugs & rodents but the weep holes are very important in all brick buildings, again with mold being a serious concern.

peppepolpo 4 years ago

Say you drilled a hole into your bathroom wall covered with ceramic tiles and you want to fix it. Well, there is no nice way to do it :)
The best solution I found was to use a nice decal/transfer and cover the hole with it.
For instance multicolor star shaped trasfers will be a nice funny add-on to the wall and nobody will think that they serve to cover-up your mistakes :)

gianfrancocavallaro 4 years ago

Stucco in polvere al posto del silicone e spazzola di ferro dopo l'essiccazione. Buona comunque l'idea.

aking14 4 years ago

Anything like this the very first thing that should be mentioned is make sure that it is even OK to plug up the holes. A lot of similar holes are there intentionally, to make sure the air space and moisture isn't trapped behind the brick which can cause any wood framing etc behind the brick to rot.
For a similar idea, I recently put in radiant barrier on the back side of the 2x4s behind the roof sheathing on my house. If you look it up, code is 4 inch gap every 4 feet. Even with ridge and eave vents, certain times of the year and conditions you won't get enough circulation if you do a continuous barrier, and trapped, cycling moisture can cause the roof sheathing to rot. The gaps ensure a minimum for air exchange so there isn't rot.
May not be the case with your wall at all, often they are open at the top or similar so a solid surface is fine. But you have to triple check and be absolutely certain of what you're doing before you close up any construction air spaces. In many cases holes or gaps are required so things don't rot, even when it seems like it would be better to close the space completely.

diacsn 4 years ago

Thank you, indeed it is quite easy to do and makes a whole lot of a difference :)