Exposed Brick Look
Real Brick, Brick Slips or Cladding Panels

Three routes to the brick look

ClickBina’s feature wall guide describes brick cladding (half-brick, brick slip or cultured stone) as the way to get an industrial or cafe look, and our industrial interior design guide explains how the brick wall fits into that style.

Exposing real brick: what you will find

Most Malaysian homes were never meant to show their brick. Walls were built fast, with generous mortar, to be plastered on both sides. When the plaster comes off you may find tidy red clay bricks, or cement sand bricks, lightweight blocks, patched sections, and wiring and pipe chases cut into the wall. Our brick and block guide explains how to tell clay brick from cement brick and AAC block, and notes that clay brick is porous and can push out white salt deposits as it dries.

• Open a small test patch first, in a hidden spot, before committing to the whole wall.
• Expect to rake out and re-point the mortar joints for a clean look.
• Plan how the wiring and pipes in the wall will be rerouted or covered.
• Hacking plaster is dusty and noisy; seal off the rest of the home.

Our hacking guide covers what hacking involves, and why nothing structural should be touched without an engineer.

Sealing, salts and damp

Bare brick is dusty and porous. Inside, it is usually brushed clean and sealed with a clear, breathable sealer so it stops shedding and is easier to wipe. Before sealing, deal with any damp: a wall with rising damp or water coming through from outside will push salts to the face and ruin the finish. Our white powder on walls guide and rising damp guide explain the causes. A damp wall is not a good candidate for any brick finish until the water is dealt with.

Brick slips: real brick, thin

Brick slips are thin slices of real fired brick, fixed to a sound wall with adhesive and pointed with mortar like a real brick wall. Corner pieces wrap external corners so the wall looks solid. Because they are real clay, the colour and texture match real brick, and you choose the bond pattern and joint colour.

• The wall behind must be sound, flat and dry; loose plaster must be repaired first.
• Slips add weight; plasterboard partitions may need checking or a different product.
• Pointing is skilled work that decides whether the wall looks real or tiled.
• Sealing afterwards keeps dust down and makes cleaning easier.

Cladding panels and cultured stone

Brick-look panels come as lightweight PU or fibreglass sheets, cement-based boards and cultured stone. They go up faster than slips and are lighter, which suits plasterboard walls and rental units, and some can be removed later. The trade-off is realism: repeated patterns and uniform joints give them away up close. Our wall panel types guide explains how panels are fixed and what a fire label on a panel does and does not mean.

Where each route works

Kitchens, bathrooms and outdoors

Brick is porous, so in kitchens it needs sealing against grease and in bathrooms it belongs only in dry zones, away from shower spray, over a properly waterproofed wall. Outdoors, choose products made for exterior use and leave drainage paths so rain does not sit behind the finish. A brick look is a finish, not waterproofing.

Condo rules and approvals

Hacking plaster is noisy renovation work, and in a condo it needs management approval and must fit the allowed working hours. External walls and anything that changes the facade are usually common property or tightly controlled. Glued-on slips and panels inside the unit are quieter, but still check the house rules.

Lighting a brick wall

Brick comes alive with light that grazes across it: a row of downlights or a linear light close to the wall, aimed down its face, throws the texture into relief. Flat light straight at the wall makes even real brick look like a print. Plan the lighting with the wall, before the ceiling is closed, so the wiring for those lights can run where it needs to without cutting into the finished brick later.

What it costs

These figures are published on ClickBina’s own guides (indicative Klang Valley).

Exposing a real brick wall is priced after a test patch, because the cost depends on what is under the plaster: re-pointing, patching and rerouting services can outweigh the hacking itself. A site visit is RM150, waived if you go ahead.

How ClickBina can help

ClickBina supplies and installs wall panels and interior finishes, chosen by budget and use case, and handles whole-house refurbishment with the trades coordinated on one job. WhatsApp us your job details for a quote: the wall size, what it is made of if you know, and whether you want real brick, slips or panels. We reply within the hour, and the price we agree is a flat price with no hidden charges.

Sources & methodology

• ClickBina feature wall guide — brick cladding types and installed prices.
• ClickBina industrial interior design guide — brick in the industrial look, and the per-wall price band.
• ClickBina brick and block, efflorescence, rising damp, hacking and wall panel guides — what is under the plaster, salts and damp, and panel fixing.

Pricing note: prices are indicative Klang Valley figures quoted from ClickBina’s published guides; a brick wall is priced in writing after the wall has been checked.