Axe Hill - How to Build Fake Brick Columns

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How to Build Fake Brick Columns

How often have you looked at a cemetery and noticed the fencing around the graveyard itself? Have you ever thought about building the columns and fencing for your haunt? Some online "How To's" are good, and some lack creativity, but here is one that will get the give the average Joe the ability to make a brick column look professional while weighing nothing and confusing the onlookers.This is the Do-It-Yourself guide to fake brick colums without using professional tools but giving a professional look to your work.

Step 1. “Your Supplies”

Your supply’s are simple, somewhat cheap but very easy to work with. The columns themselves are made from ¾ inch insulating foam board (XPS) that can be bought at your local hardware store such as Lowes or Home Depot. Remember, to buy ¾ inch, as ½ is to thin and flimsy to work with.

Drywall screws are your next big investment. Depending on how many brick columns you need to build depends on how many you need. For a 5lb box of 1’ ¾ inch Drywall screws, I was able to build seven columns. Of course, you can always buy more or less and use as needed. PL-300 foam board adhesive is your next little friend and will provide your columns a little more rigidness along with help holding everything in place. You can use Hard as Nails original also. There is a Hard as Nails for foam board but it does not dry like PL-300 or Original Hard as Nails. Hard as Nails for foam board also takes longer to dry and is not recommend for this project, we recommend PL-300.

1x2x72 (One by Two’s, 6ft long) are optional depending if you are going to attach a fence to your columns.

This is where you can not skimp... no matter what you do. Etching the foam board is where you will not want to mess up.

I recommend you use a Dremel. There are other ways to etch the foam board such as using a "hot wire tool" but for our project we are going to try to keep it a little more simplistic. Look for our other How To's using tools such a "hot wire tool" when working with EPS or XPS. If you have another Dremel style device, then, by all means use it, but in this How-To, Dremel is the tool of choice. Lets say you have a Dremel, the next most important thing, is the bit that will be used. We bought the DREMEL 692 6PC DREMEL ROUTER BIT SET. Although we needed only one bit, it was nice to have the others bits for different projects. The bit used in building the columns was the 618 Chamfer Router Bit. The bit was modified (see figure 1) to allow an etching that looked similar to the mortar space between bricks.

Painting your columns is where you have to decide how you want them to look. If you want a brick look, pick 3 colors that match the brick on your house or other dwelling. Regardless the color you pick, how you paint them can save you a lot of headache Make sure you buy the miniature paint rollers, it makes the job a lot faster when it comes to painting.

Last but not least… your best friend if you can not cut a straight line. DAP Vinyl Spackling is almost waterproof and 95% waterproof when coated with latex. The spackle will be used to fill in gaps or spaced you may have after cutting your foam board and you can also use it to apply a little texture to your fake bricks if you want. Again the quantity is based upon how much you will build.

Supply List
1.      4x8 Sheet ¾ Inch Insulating Foam Board (XPS) (Pink @ Home Depot, Blue @ Lowes)
2.      1’ ¾ Drywall Screws
3.      PL-300 Foam Board Adhesive or Hard as Nails (Original) Calk/Sealent
4.      10 1x2x72 (One by Two’s, 6ft long) wood. (8 are used for larger column construction)
5.    1 24x24
5.      Dremel Tool
6.      Dremel 692 6PC Dremel Router Bit Set
7.    Dremel 565 Multipurpose Cutting Kit
8.      DAP Vinyl Spackle or Drywall joint compound
9.     5 Colors Paint (3 red/orange, 1 light grey, and 1 black)
10.   Miniature paint rollers

Step 2. “How Big, How Many”

Ok, so now we get to have some fun. We need to decide just how tall and wide the columns need to be. For the smaller columns, we will build them 4' 6" (54in) tall. We wont go into all the dimensions here, but if you look at (Figure 2) you will get every dimension you need.

Keep in mind you can alter as needed. Foam board is extremely easy to cut, almost too easy and if you do it by hand with a Jigsaw or a foam cutting tool, you can easily mess up. If you have a nice table saw or a foam hotwir CNC machine, then your cuts should be on the mark. But if they are not, we always have the DAP Vinyl Spackle to bail you out.

At this point it is best to figure out how many you will want to build. Once you have this done, it is best to figure out how many cuts you will get from a single 4x8 sheet of foam board.

We needed seven columns for the cemetery we built. We made sure we diagrammed how the layout of the cemetery was, so the the attachments on the columns for the fence were added to the right number of columns.

The larger columns (Figure 3) that can be used for entrances, we built them 6' 8" (88in) tall. Of course the larger columns take longer to build and a little more care should be given to these since people will more likely to inspect them. These columns also need to have a wooden frame built on the inside to give them more rigidness. As you see in the supply list, these big guys call for 8 1x2x72". These columns are also wider and need to be more durable than the smaller ones due to the increased tension. These are built 1' 4" (16in) wide, where as the smaller fence columns are 1' (12in) wide. The base on the larger columns a double the thickness of the smaller ones. This is done so one can add objects to the top or mount lights and such to the side.

I am not going into how to build the inner framework as to it should be pretty straight forward on how to build a wooden frame that is 1' 4" (16in) square. The bases though are 2' (24in) square, so rememebr that you will have to trim off 1 ½" all the way around to accomidate the ¾" foamboard. Its not rocket science and you can do it. You can put the frame together with the drywall screws but I recommend you pre-drill your holes because you can split 1x2" pretty easy, just as Jason splits heads with his trusty machette.

Step 3. “Putting It Togather”

Once you have all your cuts made, now comes the task of putting it togather. A lot of people will glue their items togather, we do this but not for the reaon to hold it togather. We are going to rely mainly on the drywall screws to piece it togather. We will use the Hard as Nails to run a beed on the seems once the four sides are put togather, but for holding everything in place, thats the job of the drywall screws.

Once you have your first column togather, look at your seams. Apply the DAP Vinyl Spackle as needed. You will also want to fill in the screw holes at this point. The spackle needs about 6 hours to dry hard, but once it is done, crank up your sander and sand the column down. It is best to use a fine grit sandpaper, as a heavier grit will grab and rip chunks out of the foam board.

If you choose to attach a fence, please be sure to see how the anchors were built (Figure 5). They were built using 1x2" and grooving two shorter pieces to allow for the fence to attach.

If you have decided to attach a fence to the columns, it is at this point you add the anchors for the fence. To give the anchors maxiimum durrability, make sure you attach them with plenty of drywall screws along with using bead of PL-300 down the 1x2" (Figure 4) and a cross brace in between them. Smooth out the PL-300 because a large bead will make deep seams when you piece them together.

Step 4. “Etching Your Foam Board”

It is now time to break out your Dremel and your customized bit. Attache your multipurpose tool and install your

bit where the top flange of the bit is level the bottom of the multipurpose tool. Use a scrap piece of foam board to check your depth of the etching. Since the foam board is ¾", you do not want to etch more than a depth of ¼", anything more will weaken the foam board. See (Figure 6) for an example of ecthing on the columns. You can see the etching is not perfect, that is ok. Old bricks are chipped and worn so do not worry. As you probably guessed, it is best that you pre-mark the column with a brick templete. We made our bricks 4x8" so when you etch the dead center of the lines, the bricks come out a little smaller. This is probably the most time consuming part, especialy if you are planning on making multiple columns. Try to give great care to the procedure because if your lines are not square all the way around, things can get really messed up, real quick.

Step 5. “Base Coat Painting”

Ok, so now you have it all put togather and all the seams are filled and sanded right? Ok, now we get to paint... not so fast... this is the boaring part... the base coat. The base coat is crucial, as it will seal up the columns and add a layer of protection to your spackle. Your spackle is not very waterproof, maybe only 5%... the other 95% will get you every time. The spackle will soak up water if it is exposed to to it for long periods of time. Go to your local hardware store and ask them if the have any 5 gallon buckets of returned outside latex paint. Most the time, they will and this a huge money saving tip. You can get 5 gallons of top grade latex paint for around $15. Once you have your paint, put no less than two coats of paint on your column. If you can spare a dime, DRYLOK is the best source for waterproofing your works of art and a plus is, that it gives a gritty texture.

If you look at (Figure 7), you will see the column is completely coated in a pink base paint. This column, like stated above was painted two times to seal any seams and give your final coat something to adhere to. Some say that a primer works well which gives the latex something to adhere to, but we have not tested a primer on XPS.

Now the fun starts with painting. We are going to paint with traditional red brick colors. To really understand the colors and textures of bricks, I suggest you investigate a few bricks so when you do paint you can try to duplicate as best you can. No two bricks are alike, so in essence, you do not have to make each brick look identical. No two bricks are the same color regardless of how they look. When bricks are fired, the clay will cook differently and some bricks will dry/cook quicker than others. Ok, enough about brick history.

Before you start painting the bricks, you must paint your mortar. Take care of when painting the seams. Try not to get the grey paint on the bricks themselves as this will lead to you having to paint multiple coats to cover up the grey seam paint if because your lightest red/orange may not be opaque enough.

Step 6. “Brick Painting”

Start off with your darkest red/orange color and randomly pick bricks. Dont worry about if you painted two bricks beside each other or not, do you think masons care when laying down bricks? No, they just want to get the job done. After you think you have enough of that color, move on to your second colore and start to fill in the rest. Try to paint more bricks this color than the darker color. The third color should be used for just a handfull of bricks and to finish out all the brick painting. Now that you have the bricks painted, paint the top and the base with your grey. Let the column dry for a few hours before we begin to give the bricks some texture.

Now that the bricks are dry, take your second lightest red/orange paint and apply it to your roller and roll it on a scrap peice of foam baord till almost no paint comes of. In essence we are going to 'dry brush' using a roller. When very little paint is coming off, begin to roll all over you column in different directions. This is like what is called dry brushing but instead your using a roller. Do not use a single pattern but one thats a little crazy. Small amounts of paint will come off and will be applied. Repeat this using the darker red/orange paint. You will now do this again with a slight mixture of black paint and your darkest red/orange paint. Be sure to remove as much of this paint from your roller. Once again apply in odd patterns. After you have done this, if you want to darken a few bricks up with the mixture of black/orange paint, by all means go for it. Look at (Figure 8) to see how our column turned out.

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