Representative from General Shale Brick and Innovative Home Concepts, Inc. 
Samples of thin Brick pieces 
Thin Brick in Crystal Lake Showroom Thin brick is a wall covering product that looks and feels like real brick but has less weight and can be installed in areas and situations where regular full brick can not.
Thin brick looks and feels like actual brick because it is made from real bricks. To make the thin brick product, full bricks are face sliced to make tile like pieces that are installed on the subject wall. Because the pieces start out as regular bricks, they are able to take on a tumbled, natural look.
The brick pieces are applied to a wall in one of two ways; glued directly to the wall or by using a special proprietary steel applicator panel that gives the brick extra strength which allows it to be installed on an exterior wall. To finish the process, mortar is then applied between the brick just like grout to tile.
The main advantage of thin brick is that it can be applied on walls that were not originally designed and fortified to hold the full weight of real brick. Interior wall applications such as in kitchens, family room, fireplaces and exterior walls applications where the wall is originally covered in siding materials can now have a real brick look applied to them without changing the structure of the building.
Thin brick has the life expectancy of real brick and can be applied to the interior or exterior of a building or home. Thin brick on the exterior of a home can be applied to the entire home or just as an accent to James Hardie Siding, Lp smartside, or vinyl siding.
The newly installed showroom wall display covers about 150 square feet of wall space and shows examples of several application situations, such as going around a door way, around a corner, and terminating against vinyl siding. The installation was done over a two day period by a factory trained applicator directly over a standard stud wall covered by drywall.
Rhett Wilborn, owner of Innovative says, "We are extremely excited about this new addition to our showroom. Now folks can stop in to see and more importantly feel this great product. Thin brick really opens up possibilities for the remodeling of the exterior of a home. We are planning to offering the thin brick as an alternative to siding or as a very attractive accent to our already attractive siding line-up."
Homeowner's can get more information and experience the Thin Brick display wall by visiting Innovative Home Concepts, Inc.'s Showroom at 4410 Illinois Route 176, Crystal Lake, IL. The showroom is open Monday through Friday 10am to 4pm, or you can call 815-356-9020 to schedule a visit any evening or on the weekend.
