Fireplace Transformation

We bought our first house almost 1 year ago and one of the first things we said when we viewed the house before we bought it was that we suspected there was original brick under the white tile someone slapped onto the fireplace hearth/surround. After looking closer once we moved in, it was obvious they had placed the tile directly over the original brick, so one of our early spring 2021 projects was to rip that tile off to expose the original brick. It is a shame someone ever thought it was a good idea to cover it up, but oh well. Getting the tile popped off was the easy part, I had that done in a weekend - however, the thinset underneath the tile was a bigger issue.

It took several weeks working after work in the evenings and on weekends to get the thinset off, mostly using a diamond coated wheel on an angle grinder hooked to my shop vac to get the bulk of it off, then went back over the whole surface with a non-woven abrasive wheel on the angle grinder. I setup plastic sheeting between the fireplace area and the rest of the room, had a box fan in the window, and wore a respirator (there was a good bit of dust as you can probably imagine). There are still remnants of the thinset on the brick, but we think it gives it a unique sort of aged look. Originally we had planned to whitewash the brick because of this, but more and more people kept saying it looked good as-is, so we've left it that way.

I finished off the job by installing crown molding across the top of the fireplace surround, where it meets the ceiling, and then caulked and painted the walls and ceiling adjacent to the fireplace.

Next up will be mounting a mantel - have some reclaimed old growth pine floor joists from a warehouse in Baltimore which were removed when Camden Yards was built, or have some live edge Cherry, not sure what I'm going to go with yet. One day I am also hoping to install a woodstove insert, but for now we just enjoy the ambiance of the open fireplace.

 

if it means anything, I like it better that way too.
Nice job!

 

Awesome work! I can understand the mess it made.

 

Does the mortar between the red bricks need to be touched up in areas?

You did alot of work to get it that far. Nice job!

 

Some nitwit realtors advice I'd suspect...gotta make everything modern and neutral!
I like with brick too...gonna be super duper when you get that stove installed in there...must post pics!

 

It looks great! Is next step an acid wash?

 

Looks much better. What a piaBet your glad that's over!

I'd consider placing any mantle high enough to allow the possible future installation of a insert down the road. Random thought. Enjoy

 

That looks much better. Lots of work I can tell too.

When we bought this house in 2008, it had a fireplace with glass doors and a heatilator blower/ fan rack, which helped.

Then I put in the insert, and huge difference. The wood actually heats the house now.

 

Really looks nice. Good job.

 

30, 40 years and the next owner will be reading homestyle magazines or watching an old episode of This Old House where they cover a brick fireplace with tile and get inspired ...



damm that's a lot of work ...

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. The tile was placed over the brick as part of a renovation in 2016 before the previous owners purchased. I agree with the sentiment that the realtor was going for a more modern, clean look - but not what I would have done.

MikeInMa the mortar remained in good shape as far as I could tell. There were one or two spots on the outside corners where a small piece chipped out but really just seemed aesthetic, nothing major.

moresnow good advice about leaving room for the insert - are there standard dimensions for how far out the front cover/shroud overlaps over the firebox opening?

 

The surround for a insert is not the issue. The distance from the top of any insert that sticks out of the fireplace-up to the bottom of any combustible mantle is a important clearance to combustible's limitation listed with any insert you might consider in the future. Might be worth a look at the spec sheets/manuals of a few inserts. If you get a moment.

 

I know someone that had a gas fired fireplace. Above it, they hung a TV. The plastic started to warp due to hot air rising up from the flames. Be aware!

 

Yup, pretty common...short of the fish tank, you almost couldn't find a worse place to mount electronics!

 

FYI, they do make manufactured stone mantels that really look great! I'll see if I can find a link...

 

moresnow thanks for the heads up, I just looked at a couple installation manuals from Regency and Quadrafire and looks like Quadrafire recommends 4 ft from the top of the hearth extension to the bottom of the mantel (for a 12" depth mantel), I will probably use that value as it is the "worst case" I've seen so far, unless anyone knows of any others.

Definitely will not be hanging a TV above the fireplace, just not my preference, and as others have said, seems like a terrible idea from an electronics and heat perspective.

 

A little late since you have a lot of the work done, but needle scalers work great for removing this type of stuff. Good at getting in all the tight spaces.