Fashion for bare brick walls is still growing. During general renovations of houses and apartments, we van often discover beautiful old brick walls, which has often been well preserved under plaster. The brick matches many styles of decor. From classical and rustic to modern interiors. It blends well with wood, glass and also stainless steel. That's why it fits perfectly into the bathroom, because that's where you can find all of these materials next to each other.
If you are not sure whether huge bare brick wall will meet your expectations, or if it will not be too overwhelming, you can always use only a piece of the wall. It is often enough to leave bare only a post or a cavity to get the desired effect.
One of the advantages of bare brick is that mostly it is a cheap solution. Sometimes, with a very crooked wall, resigning from plaster and tile may prove to be an ideal solution.
But, brick walls should not be left without any protection. Crumbling grout every time you touch it can significantly reduce the qualities of a brick wall. You can deal with this by priming bricks and joints.
Many professionals will advise against leaving the bare brick wall in the shower. Unfortunately, the arguments against such a solution are quite strong. Highly porous brick surface is difficult to impregnate perfectly. In addition, cleaning the brick wall from soap deposits can cause a lot of problems. However, this problem can be circumvented in a very elegant way by covering the wall with tempered or acrylic glass.
When choosing a wall that will be left without plaster, you should also be guided by its location in the building. It will be much safer to choose an interior / partition wall than an external one. This will help to avoid condensation on a cold wall.
Even if the wall is not in good enough condition and has defects in the grout or cracked bricks, it can be repaired. Supplementing or even partial reconstruction of joints will be very labor-intensive, but it is doable. For thin partition walls, it will also be possible to replace some bricks. Some also decide to mechanically sand the entire wall for a better effect of even, angular bricks. However, sanding brick wall will produce huge amount of dust.
If you do not have a brick wall, and you would like to have one, there is a solution. Thin slate brick tiles are available and after proper gluing to the wall they can phenomenally imitate a real brick wall.
Let's sum this up. There are no contraindications to leaving the bare brick wall in the bathroom. However, remember to properly protect it against degradation and moisture. As a shower wall, it is a very problematic solution, but it can be done. However, it is best to choose a wall or a part of it, for example behind the sink and mirror.
