Niche in a brick wall, types of structures, technology for their installation and design. A niche in a brick wall is a recess that makes it possible to gracefully beat or hide the flaws of the room. It often serves as a stylish place to place a variety of dear items, from small things to household appliances. Niches of various shapes and sizes in the hands of experienced designers give interiors a mysterious multidimensionality, turning into elegant elements of their design.
Varieties of niches in a brick wall
Niches can be stationary or rhythmically located on the wall. The first type is one insulated depression in the thickness of the structure. Rhythmic placement implies the presence of several niches separated by certain distances in a periodic sequence.
Such an arrangement of the grooves must necessarily be compensated from their opposite side by other interior decorations, for example, photographs or paintings.
For their intended purpose, niches can be decorative or functional. Functional niches are designed to accommodate furniture or household appliances. In such a recess, you can install a TV, video and audio equipment or a washing machine. Arranging a home library in a niche is also a good option, especially since books protected by the slopes of the recess will collect much less dust.
Decorative niches usually contain beautiful crockery, vases, collectibles, or family photographs. One of the main advantages of these elements of room decoration is the ability to periodically change the "exposure". Any boring vases, for example, can always be replaced with something else.
Niches serving as bar counters have become very popular. They are often located on the same wall, located between the windows.
Floor niches, which are located at a height of no more than 70 cm from the floor surface, are good for installing large-sized vases and carved wooden decorations. As a rule, they are arranged in corridors or halls.
Niche installation technology in a brick wall
The work on manufacturing a niche is not particularly difficult, but it is quite laborious, requires careful preparation and adherence to technology.
Choosing a place for a niche in a brick wall
A recess for a niche in a load-bearing brick wall can only be done with the permission of the BTI, but this organization will certainly be against making changes to the design documentation. Therefore, in order to implement the planned plan, you should choose another wall with a thickness of at least 400 mm.
Load-bearing walls always support the short sides of the concrete floor slabs. Consequently, a niche can be arranged in a wall located in relation to them in the longitudinal direction, since such a structure does not take a sufficient load.
In the bathroom or in the kitchen, niches are made for practical purposes - you can store hygiene products or kitchen utensils there. A recess in the bedroom wall is usually made at the head of the bed, this is a convenient place to install a night light or alarm clock.
Preparation for making a niche in a brick wall
The niche can have various geometric shapes. The horizontal recess visually increases the length of the wall of the room, while the vertical recess increases the height of the ceiling. To mark the arcuate niche, a thread and a pencil tied to it are used; for a more complex configuration of such a decor element, a pre-prepared template is used.
The actual size of the opening should be 3-5% larger than intended to provide a decorative finish.
Before work, you should stock up on such a tool:
- A hammer drill with a power of at least 1.5 kW and an impact force of 5 J;
- With a chisel and a hammer;
- Angle grinder equipped with a 230 mm diamond disc.
In addition, it is advisable to have an industrial vacuum cleaner, which will have to remove dust resulting from cutting a niche in a brick wall, as well as protective equipment - glasses, gloves and a respirator.
How to make a niche in a brick wall
The manufacture of a niche should begin with a recess device for the support beam. Before that, you need to do some calculations.
A niche located in the wall has a certain height limitation. It depends on the planned cut width. For correct calculation, it is enough to imagine a triangle with a right angle. The corner is located on top, and its legs are the basis for the upper corners of the lintel, which will strengthen the opening.
The triangle should not touch the overlap with its apex. As the width decreases, the maximum height of the niche will proportionally increase. The width of the support beam is greater than the transverse dimension of the niche, therefore, the gates for it should be made with a margin of 300 mm in the width of the opening.
The contour of the future niche is outlined on the wall in any way. At the location of the beam, remove the plaster layer and adjust the contour in height. The top row to be selected should include the bricks facing the room with a spoon. Otherwise, that is, when a butt row is identified, the line of the groove should be shifted down. At the same time, the height of the future niche will decrease, but the installation technology will not be violated.
The recess for the support beam is made using a hammer drill or a hammer and chisel. Should its height be 150 mm and its depth? bricks. After removing unnecessary material, the resulting cavity should be cleaned of dust and debris.
Then it is necessary to fix the formwork in it. This will require two boards and five rods of reinforcement with a diameter of 10 mm, cut to the length of the selected cavity. The concrete mixture should be prepared from M500 cement, sand and crushed stone in a ratio of 1: 1: 2. One of the selected boards must be nailed to the wall with 150 mm nails. It should cover half of the manufactured groove. The concrete mixture must be mixed dry, and then sealed with water, topping it up little by little. The solution should be thick.
After that, on the board installed in the recess, you need to level a centimeter layer of concrete and lay reinforcement on it. The second board should be nailed so that there is a gap to fill the free space between the boards with mortar.
The formwork can be removed in a couple of days, but the concrete will gain final strength in a week. Thus, after 7 days, you can begin the next stage of constructing a niche in a brick wall.
After the markings have been made, it is convenient to use a "grinder" with a diamond-soldered circle for cutting a recess for cutting a stone. With this tool, you can cut the vertical lines of the contour of the future niche, and then, row by row, gently knock down a layer of bricks in the masonry. Work should be done from top to bottom using a chisel and hammer.
After completing this procedure, it is necessary to check the verticality of the rear wall of the manufactured niche using a building level. The surface of the recess should be leveled with plaster putty and sanded with sandpaper. After that, the niche will be ready for registration.
Features of the design of a niche in a brick wall
A modern niche in a brick wall is not just a recess, but a special part of the space that should harmoniously fit into the interior of the room, emphasizing its style.
When designing niches, you should adhere to some general rules:
- It is advisable to use decorative niches as a corrective element of rooms that have flaws in the layout that must be hidden.
- It is important to respect the proportions, if necessary, you can make adjustments to the geometry of the room.
- The color of the recessed area should be lighter than the walls of the room. Otherwise, you may get the feeling that there is a hole in the place of the niche. The vaults of the cavity may have a tone slightly darker than the main background.
- Different textures of decorative coatings should be successfully combined when using them.
- The use of mirrors visually increases the space.
Niche design in the classic style involves the use of various figurines or slender vases that have a contrasting color in relation to the tone of the walls. When creating a "retro" style, vases and figurines are replaced by collages of flowers, photographs or paintings. When using both styles, the niche placement is strictly symmetrical and without lighting.
However, the modern style is quite acceptable. In this case, niche lighting is a versatile and affordable tool for an impressive interior transformation. The combination of the right tone with the play of light and shadows can even breathe life into a cold hi-tech style and add a touch of romance. Explicit brute-force with backlighting can backfire - create the appearance of a cold laboratory.
With diffused light, objects that are located in a niche will have a more interesting appearance than with directional light beams. High contrast lowers color depth: dark tones become black and lighter tones become white.
Spot lighting is good when placing transparent stones, crystal or gold items in a niche. Light, refracting from their surface, will cast bizarre glare on the walls.
How to make a niche in a brick wall - watch the video:
[media = https://www.youtube.com/watch? v = vceYnsAcobU] The above design techniques can radically transform a room. However, it is necessary to approach the issue with a cool head, because a rash decision can upset the balance of the entire design. For decorative purposes, niches can be placed in spacious rooms and successfully combine these elements with various interior items. For decoration, you can use extravagant details, glasses, colored vases and more. Therefore, vary the shapes and sizes on paper and only then bring your idea to life. Good luck!
