Fireplace Transformation

Should keep the stockings safe around St.Nick time at 4 foot
Glad you considered this.

 

Here it is...MagraHearth | Non-Combustible Fireplace Mantels | Wood & Stone Replica Mantels

 

Looks much better, like a fireplace. I know that was a lot of work. You did a great job. Get that insert and heat your house with it...glass door and you can still see the flames

 

Mounting a tv above the fireplace is bad in general, but people still do it. The heat from the FP is one that can hurt/ wreck the TV but also can release phenols and other bad substances released from the tv due to temperatures, and then there's the neck strain issues that everyone will get from looking at it that high up.

 

Yep. We heat our house 95+% of the heating season solely with our quadrafire wood insert.

Get as big of a glass door as possible. Even with dry wood it's a little more work to keep the glass clean, but well worth it.

 

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement! Was a lot of work but we are really happy with how it turned out as well. Likely in the long term plans to do a fireplace insert at some point, just may not be for another 2-3 years. For the time being probably going to try out the Grate Wall of Fire and the EcoFan combo, similar to what LordOfTheFlies did with his fireplace.

 

Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. So far you've done a stellar job!! Keep it up!

 

Update - finally got my mantel installed yesterday. The particular board I used (from what I have been told) is a piece of old growth pine used in a warehouse in Baltimore which was demolished a long time ago, and the board sat in a barn on a family farm in Maryland since then. My uncle does woodworking professionally and gave me a couple of these boards along with others that I could choose from to utilize but I just loved the history on this particular one, and it was about the right dimensions to begin with.

The piece was 12" deep originally but I ripped down to 10" deep before drilling and routing for the mounting bracket. The bracket is a Sheppard brand bracket I found online and is all steel, with the rods welded to the plate at the back. I mounted this to the brick fireplace surround using ten 3/16" x 1-3/4" LG Tapcon screws (five on top and five on bottom, one set of screws for each "post" essentially). It feels rock solid now that I have the mantel placed onto the bracket.

Officially ready for fire-burning season and getting the mantel decorated!

 

Looks amazing!! Nice job dude!

 

Thanks man! Gotta get the Grate Wall of Fire and an EcoFan and I'll really be rocking!

 

Yeah, the brick is hands down better than the tile. I guess I can see how some people might like the tile, but I’m a brick and stone hearth guy. Always!

 

X2
Thats how they strip lead paint off of metal bridges.

 

Same here.
Stone would definitely have been a better fix than tile!
Gosh i hate shiny tile.

 

I know me too. Nice, clean, neat tile just doesn’t remind me of a cozy warm hearth. Not for me.

 

May i suggest, an efficient wood burning insert would probably pay for itself in 2-3 years.

Whay kind of heat do you have now?

 

Yes, please!

 

That is definitely on the long-term potential upgrade list. We have gas heat and live in the piedmont of North Carolina so we don't deal with terribly cruel winters, but still would be nice to get more usable heat from the fireplace. For now I will probably go with a low investment Grate Wall of Fire reflective fireback and an EcoFan and re-evaluate in a couple years.

Appreciate all the input!

 

If you can swing it, I’d get the insert. I’m all about paying for something once instead of paying twice. Even if the first go is much cheaper.

But I also understand it’s a big investment and quite expensive out of the gate.

 

Nice work on the mantle by the way!

 

If I had the disposable income for it I would definitely spring for it, but have other things we want to spend on for now. But I think down the road it is definitely on the list.

Thank you! Took some time to get done, but very happy with how it turned out.