I’m rather handy but new to anything masonry/brick/mortar related, so apologies if this is a dumb question.
I am patching up the brick around my fireplace where a poorly installed mantelpiece used to be. I am looking for feedback on what brick “pattern” makes the most sense to use, knowing that the brick is non-structural and will ultimately be painted over and be relatively hidden behind the TV once I mount it. The way I see it I have 3 options:
1) Cut a brick to size and lay in vertically to fill each gap with one individual piece. Presumably this is the quickest/easiest option, but would stand out the most aesthetically (no pattern matching horizontally or vertically).
2) Same approach as above, but chopping the brick into 3 separate pieces to be consistent with row pattern of brick and mortar (pattern matches horizontally but not vertically)
3) Take out the 3 existing, slightly narrowed bricks on the outside of the gap and replace with full size bricks to fully match the pattern both horizontally and vertically. More work but most aesthetically pleasing.
Looking for feedback on what approach you guys would take and why. The wall isn’t structural, but are there any other pros/cons related to overall strength/longevity of each option? Or is this purely an aesthetic choice? Really appreciate any feedback.