brick restoration...

In a bathroom nook,THis wall was uncovered on a job, and the owner wanted to restore the brick face for an interior wall. It was a good thing we did restore them, because all the bricks above, and around the window were barely hanging in, causing a lot of heat loss. During demolition, the whole top of the wall collapsed, and needed to be rebuilt. These bricks are the old fire clay brick, from the 1820'-30's. It's my guess the bricks were hand made, because there were no two alike, and there were even some bricks that hand hand prints, finger prints, tool marks, a print of what looks like a chicken's foot, and even one that has an impression of a worm. So I am guessing as well that the bricks may have been made on site.
Because of the recessed window frame, I needed a quick, simple solution, so I reused some of the batten board for the old plaster and lath that was covering the bricks, and I made a couple log pieces to fill the big gaps,And I restored the rough wood imbedded in the wall for a classical, rustic look. Added a couple small stone shelves, repointed, and built a small arch above the window, and structured the mud and taped joints around the grout line for the top of the wall.
BEFORE
AFTER