How to attach VJ board to brick wall?

[Marshall]

Hi there, 

I'm currently doing some basic home renovations to a couple of adjoining bedrooms. The interior wall between the two rooms is an exposed brick wall on both sides (rest of the room is plasterboard). I would like to cover with the exposed brick in both rooms with easycraft VJ wall panels. I was just curious about the best way to fix these panels to a brick wall ? I had noted the Bunnings DIY guide for fixing these panels to traditional walling - this involves adhesive but also nailing into the studs. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pZ0ehCBKFE&ab_channel=BunningsWarehouse 

With a brick wall is it possible to affix directly with just adhesive like is shown in the above guide or will it require additional - or maybe even drywall adhesive with the dab and dot method similar to plasterboard ? 

Appreciate your feedback.  

[Jason]

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @Marshall. We're pleased to have you join us and look forward to seeing your renovation work. Hopefully you can share some photos with the community - everyone loves before and after shots!

Have a look at this discussion from last week - How to secure VJ panels onto besser bricks. In the discussion, our resident Bunnings D.I.Y. expert @EricL provides the following advice:

"The Easycraft installation guide for attaching VJ paneling to masonry or Besser block walls requires you to put up timber battens for you to use a finishing gun to hold the panel in place. Using a finishing gun on Besser blocks may produce undesired results and damage the VJ panel and the gun.

Using concrete nails is not ideal as it tends to shatter the surface of the Besser block. This produces an unsecured anchor and will not hold the panel in place. I suggest building a temporary timber brace to hold the panel in place while the adhesive cures. Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to install masonry fixings" 

Experienced member @tom_builds also mentioned this: "I would be leaning towards attaching battens to the Besser blocks and then attaching VJ panels directly to the battens with nail gun if I were doing this myself, however I understand that setting battens up for this would increase the project time significantly and the cost to a smaller degree."

Hope that helps. Please let us know if you need further assistance as the community would be more than willing to help.

Jason

[Marshall]

Hi Jason,

Thanks for the prompt reply and feedback. I have read through the linked post and also a couple of other resources. With the rooms I am doing I had hoped to avoid the need for installing timber battens due to the alignment of fixtures and trims in the room. Based on feedback from some other helpful posters here I think I will try to proceed by testing with the first room without timber battens and potentially look at the temporary brace / masonary fixings to help keep the boards secured while the adhesive sets. 

Thanks again for the feedback.  

[EricL]

Hello @Marshall, 

Thank you for sharing your query about installing VJ boards on brick walls.

It's great that my colleague @Jason has pointed you to our discussion about this type of installation. I'm sure our members are keen to see how you will brace the panels to the brick wall. Any updates and advice you can provide while installing the Easycraft EasyVJ will be much appreciated. If we can assist you further, please let us know.

Please keep us updated, we look forward to seeing your panels installed.

Eric

[Marshall]

Just a quick follow up on this post for anyone else who decides to proceed with attaching the VJ panels directly to a brick wall. 

I was able to complete this successfully - by using temporary screws to fix the panels to the mortar of the bricks while the construction adhesive set. Also built a temporary brace just to help hold the boards in place and apply even pressure during the setting process. All worked fine - boards set in place solid and without issue. Simply removed the screws, puttied and painted once set. 

Was updating a dreary room as part of a larger renovation of the underneath section of the house which was formerly only partially built in. Couple of quick before and after pics below.

 

[MitchellMc]

That looks fantastic, @Marshall!

As they say, "Necessity is the mother of invention". I can only imagine where we would be now if those first brave D.I.Y'ers decided not to take the risk of doing the job themselves.

Please keep us updated on your project and let us know if you have any issues with this installation. Any long-term feedback you could provide on your fixing method would be greatly appreciated.

Mitchell

[lloydmav]

I'm in a similar situation using Surround by Laminex. I have an internal wall which is single brick finished with render and white set. Rather than fixing battens first, I'm considering glueing these panels direct to the plaster wall and bracing while the glue sets. I'm planning to fit a rather large TV to the wall aswell so I was nervous about doing this as the battens will create space behind the 9mm panels. I prefer installing tv brackets direct to the brick wall.

thanks

[EricL]

Hello @lloydmav

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. Thank you for joining the discussion.

If you are mounting a large TV to your wall then I don't recommend building a timber batten frame. This will allow you to mount the TV bracket very close to the wall with no gaps. Using bracing is an excellent idea, however, please make sure to use clean rags at the end of the bracing timber to prevent scarring the Laminex panel.  

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[lloydmav]

thanks, would you recommend just using a construction adhesive like Selleys Liquid Nails?

[EricL]

Hello @lloydmav

Using Selleys 350g Heavy Duty Liquid Nails should be adequate to hold the panels in place. Please make sure to give the glue enough time to cure before removing the timber bracing.

Eric