Structural and base materials · Masonry & Blocks
Brick Slips (Thin Brick Cladding)
Makes clear that brick slips are a cladding format rather than a wall, and sets out what the backing, the fixing system, the corner pieces and the joints determine about the finished result.
Educational reference entry. Suitability depends on the complete assembly, substrate, exposure, installation method, manufacturer documentation, local requirements and qualified professional review.
Overview
What brick slips is
Brick slips are thin facing pieces, either cut from full bricks or made as slips in their own right, that are fixed to a backing so the finished surface looks like brickwork. Matching corner pieces wrap external angles so that a return reads as the end of a brick rather than as a cut edge.
This is a cladding format, not structural masonry, and the distinction is worth stating plainly. A brick slip carries nothing and does not build a wall; it is a facing applied to something else. Everything about how it performs, and whether it stays where it was put, belongs to the backing, to the fixing or adhesive system, and to the detailing around it.
Slips are used adhered directly to a suitable substrate, held on mechanical rails or carrier boards, or supplied as part of proprietary insulated systems in which the slip forms the outer face. Joints between slips are usually pointed with mortar so the finished surface reads like brickwork, and the depth of that pointing, along with the shadow it casts, is what stops the surface looking flat and tiled.
Terminology
Common names and aliases
These names describe the same thing. The library keeps one entry per material so that an acronym, a trade name or a regional spelling never becomes a second, thinner page.
- Brick tiles
- Brick slip cladding
- Thin brick (US usage)
Applications
Common applications
Where this material is typically encountered. A typical application is not a statement that it suits your project.
- External finish over insulation systems, where a brick appearance is wanted without a masonry outer leaf.
- Facing over framed construction and modular units, where the weight of a masonry leaf has to be avoided.
- Soffits, reveals and returns where a full brick cannot practically be built.
- Internal feature walls where the look of brickwork is wanted on a plastered or boarded background.
- Making an extension read as brick where the structure behind it is not masonry at all.
- Refurbishment of elevations where the existing wall is being overclad rather than rebuilt.
Consideration
Where it is commonly considered
- Where a brick appearance is wanted but the construction behind cannot support or accommodate a masonry leaf.
- Where weight must be limited, such as on upper levels, over openings, or on framed buildings.
- Where an elevation is being overclad and the existing construction is remaining in place.
- Where reveals, soffits and returns need to match adjacent full brickwork in appearance.
- Where an internal wall is to read as brick without the space or weight of building one.
Professional review
Where additional professional review is especially important
These are the situations where the answer depends on the specific building, and where a qualified professional should be involved before anything is decided.
- Where the backing is unsound, uneven, or unable to take the fixings the system depends on.
- In positions taking impact, such as at ground level in traffic areas, where a slip can be knocked off.
- Where the assembly behind has not been designed as a whole, including movement, drainage and the matters a qualified professional must assess.
- In severely exposed positions, where wind and driving rain act directly on the fixing system.
- Where the owner expects the surface to behave like solid brickwork, which it does not and cannot.
Properties
Key properties to discuss
Qualitative topics worth raising. Measured values, classes and grades come from the manufacturer's technical documentation for the specific product, not from a reference page.
- Substrate dependency
- Everything depends on the backing. Its flatness, strength, moisture condition and ability to hold the chosen fixings decide whether the finished surface stays where it was put; the slip contributes almost nothing to that.
- Installation dependency
- Setting out is more demanding than tiling, because the eye reads brick coursing and any drift shows immediately. Corner pieces, movement joints and the pointing sequence all have to be planned before the first slip goes on.
- Appearance
- Depth of joint is what separates convincing brick slip work from a flat tiled look, and the mortar colour matters at least as much as the colour of the slip itself.
- Moisture behaviour
- Water reaching the back of a slip system has to be able to get out again, which is a matter for the system design and the detailing around openings rather than for the slip.
- Repairability
- Damaged slips can usually be cut out and replaced, but matching the pointing and the weathered face of the surrounding work is the harder part of the exercise.
- Weathering and exposure
- The face weathers much like the brick it came from, while the joints are thinner and shallower than in solid brickwork, so they can weather at a different rate.
- Fire-related questions
- Fire behaviour is a property of the whole system, including any insulation and adhesive behind the slips, and is a matter for the manufacturer's documentation and a qualified professional.
- Documentation
- Because these are systems rather than loose materials, the system supplier's own installation and detailing documentation is the governing reference for the work.
Exposure
Exposure and environmental conditions
- How exposed is this elevation to driving rain and to wind acting on a fixed facing?
- Is the system going over insulation, and has the whole build-up been designed together as one thing?
- Are there positions at ground level where impact or splash will act directly on the slips?
- Does the backing stay dry, or is there a source of moisture behind the system?
- How will water that gets behind the facing find its way out again?
Assembly
Substrate and system dependencies
What this material sits on, is fixed to or depends on. This is usually where performance is won or lost.
- The backing has to be flat, sound and compatible with the fixing method, whether adhesive, rail or carrier board.
- Movement joints in the backing must be carried through the slip facing rather than covered over by it.
- Where the system sits over insulation, the fixings pass through that layer and their design belongs to the system.
- Junctions with windows, doors, copings and roof edges are where these systems tend to succeed or fail.
- Any drainage or ventilation provision behind the facing is designed as part of the assembly, not added later.
Appearance
Appearance and finish considerations
- Corner pieces are what make the difference between convincing brickwork and an obvious applied facing.
- Joint depth, joint profile and mortar colour together control how much the surface reads as real brick.
- The bond pattern must be set out so that it lines through at openings, corners and changes of plane.
- Slips cut from bricks and slips made as slips can differ subtly in the face and at the edges.
- Where the system meets real brickwork, the difference in joint depth is often visible at close range.
Durability
Durability questions
Questions to raise rather than a service life to expect. No material has a universal lifespan — it depends on the assembly, the exposure and the upkeep.
- What holds the slips on, and what happens to that fixing over time in this particular exposure?
- Has the backing been assessed by someone before the system was chosen?
- How is the base of the system protected from impact and from splash off the ground?
- What provision is there for movement between the backing and the facing?
- Is there a clear route for water behind the facing to escape?
Upkeep
Maintenance and repair considerations
- How would a loose or damaged slip be identified and then replaced?
- Are spare slips and matching pointing mortar being kept for later repairs?
- How will the pointing be maintained, given that the joints are shallower than in solid brickwork?
- Who inspects the facing periodically, particularly at high level and at junctions?
Installation
Installation dependencies
What the installation depends on — not how to do it. Method belongs to the manufacturer's instructions and the trades carrying out the work.
- The system supplier's own detailing and sequence govern the work, and mixing components between systems is unwise.
- Weather during installation affects both the adhesives and the pointing mortars used.
- Setting out from the corners and openings inward avoids awkward cuts landing in prominent positions.
- Pointing is a separate operation with its own timing, and its consistency decides the finished look.
- The trade doing the work needs to be familiar with the specific system rather than with bricklaying alone.
Documentation
Documentation to request
Ask for these in writing, for the specific product being proposed, and keep them with the project record.
- The system supplier's full installation and detailing documentation for the exact system being used.
- Confirmation of which backing types the system is intended to be used with.
- The pointing mortar specification, kept on record for future repairs and alterations.
- Any information the supplier holds about how the system is expected to be maintained and inspected.
- Confirmation that corner pieces and any specials have been ordered to match the field slips.
Conversations
Questions for qualified professionals
Bring these to the relevant qualified professional, manufacturer or authority. Requirements vary by project and location.
- Is this a complete system, and who is responsible for the whole build-up?
- What is the backing, and has it been checked as suitable for these fixings?
- How does water that gets behind the facing find its way out again?
- Where are the movement joints, and do they line through from the backing?
- What happens at the base of the wall, at the openings and at the top?
- Are corner pieces being used, or will the returns be formed with cut slips?
- Who will point the joints, and what mortar is specified for that?
- What does the system documentation say about this exposure and this elevation?
Blind spots
Commonly overlooked points
- A brick slip facing is not masonry and cannot be treated as though it were, either in design or in later alterations.
- Fixing anything through the facing later means fixing into whatever is behind it, which is often not obvious.
- The pointing is a large part of the visual result and is often the last thing anyone considers.
- Slips and full bricks placed side by side rarely match perfectly in joint depth or in shadow.
- Movement joints that stop at the backing and are bridged by the facing tend to show up as cracks.
What this page does not do
- Brick slips are a cladding format and provide no structural function; anything relying on structure belongs to a qualified professional.
- Fire behaviour of a slip system depends on the complete build-up, including insulation and adhesives, and must be assessed by a qualified professional against local requirements.
- Whether such a system may be used on a particular building depends on local requirements, which must be confirmed before design decisions are fixed.
- Resistance to weather is a property of the whole assembly and its detailing, not of the slip on its own.
Related entries
Related materials
Materials from the same family, an adjacent role in the assembly, or a shared application.
Inspiration
Related Ideas Library pages
Design directions where this material commonly appears.
Preparation
Related planning checklists
Owner-side preparation before the conversation where this material comes up.
Go deeper
Related Build Design Hub guides
Planning guidance and neutral comparisons behind the decisions on this page.
Masonry & Block Materials
Reference entries for unit masonry — clay and concrete bricks, blockwork, mortars, and the ties, lintels and accessories that hold masonry construction together.
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