Has anyone remodeled their fireplace?

[steph96]

We have a HUGE ugly 70's stone fireplace. All the stones are different sizes and heights and they kinda have an orange tint to them. The ashes from the wood just cling to the stone and it's possible to clean. It's terrible. I really would like to update the fireplace but I'm afraid that we don't know what we're getting into. Since the stones are so uneven, we will have to remove them and then reconstruct the wall and hearth seating thing. From what I've seen online, it looks like we should have some sort of framework under the stone and then we will just need to put concrete board over it. Then I would like to use travertine tile (not sure if you all remember my post asking about where to find the tile?) and a mantle. I feel like I'm over simplifying this remodel. Has anyone done this? Any advice?

[Redpoppy]

No, but I want to. We would likely switch to gas so it is a ways off. I'm not sure how much of a DIY project it can be.

Ours is very dated with a slightly rounded front and brass (could paint that at least). I would just worry about regulations for how far material needs to be from the opening, flammability, etc b

[lavender444]

We did ours, but it doesn't sound like our project is near the undertaking yours will be. We did go down to the studs on the bottom half of our fireplace, then built up a new surround ans did new tile.

Here's our before (bad listing pic. I was in too big of a hurry to redo it, I didn't take any other pics of it) and after.

[steph96]

lavender444 is your fireplace gas or wood burning?

[lavender444]

steph96, it's gas.

[treedimensional]

I am absolutely going to mortar over my old-ass brick fireplace. It's on the to-do list, it's just a low priority at the moment.

[steph96]

Mar 1, 2016 11:35:49 GMT -5 treedimensional said:

I am absolutely going to mortar over my old-ass brick fireplace. It's on the to-do list, it's just a low priority at the moment.

I wish that was an option for us. Unfortunately our stones vary in height by up to 5 or so inches.

[dr.girlfriend]

Would painting the stones and grout all a light color help it all blend into the background? I might try that before a major overhaul.

[steph96]

Mar 1, 2016 21:43:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Would painting the stones and grout all a light color help it all blend into the background? I might try that before a major overhaul.

The problem is that we are wanting to replace our carpet with some sort of hard flooring. It would be over 12 feet of complicated cuts due to the unevenness of the stone. Even if it were easy to make the cuts, I still would hate to have to deal with patching the flooring later on.

I really don't know what to do. I hate the fireplace. It's huge. It overpowers the space. It really dates our home. I wish there was a simpler way to fix this eyesore. If it were flat bricks, I feel like all of this would be so much easier.

[dr.girlfriend]

Mar 1, 2016 23:34:16 GMT -5 steph96 said:

Mar 1, 2016 21:43:20 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Would painting the stones and grout all a light color help it all blend into the background? I might try that before a major overhaul.

The problem is that we are wanting to replace our carpet with some sort of hard flooring. It would be over 12 feet of complicated cuts due to the unevenness of the stone. Even if it were easy to make the cuts, I still would hate to have to deal with patching the flooring later on.

I really don't know what to do. I hate the fireplace. It's huge. It overpowers the space. It really dates our home. I wish there was a simpler way to fix this eyesore. If it were flat bricks, I feel like all of this would be so much easier.

Can you just put a thick baseboard to hide the gaps between floorboards and stone?

[steph96]

Mar 2, 2016 10:49:46 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Mar 1, 2016 23:34:16 GMT -5 steph96 said:

The problem is that we are wanting to replace our carpet with some sort of hard flooring. It would be over 12 feet of complicated cuts due to the unevenness of the stone. Even if it were easy to make the cuts, I still would hate to have to deal with patching the flooring later on.

I really don't know what to do. I hate the fireplace. It's huge. It overpowers the space. It really dates our home. I wish there was a simpler way to fix this eyesore. If it were flat bricks, I feel like all of this would be so much easier.

Can you just put a thick baseboard to hide the gaps between floorboards and stone?

There is a huge difference in the height of the stones. I laid a flat board across and there is up to a 5 inch difference in how far the stones stick out.

It is made out of lava rock if that helps give you a visual.

[dr.girlfriend]

Lava rock is pretty porous, right? Can you chisel out some of the worst sticking-out parts? But, yeah, you definitely need to post a pic so we can accurately assess the hideousness of this thing. ;-)

[lavender444]

Can you post a picture of your current fireplace, and a picture of what you're going to change it to?

[steph96]

dr.girlfriend  lavender444
Here's a portion of it. There's a bookcase to the right with a whole bunch of personal items that I didn't want to spend time cropping out. The orange isn't super obvious in this pic but when natural light comes in the window, it has an orange tint to it. 

[steph96]

Mar 2, 2016 12:20:15 GMT -5 lavender444 said:

Can you post a picture of your current fireplace, and a picture of what you're going to change it to?

Here is my inspiration. Except would keep our hearth so we wouldn't have a floating fireplace.

[steph96]

Here is the photo from our listing (please nobody stalk me) PDQ



When we remodel, we want to knock out the entire right portion (along with the bookcase) and slim down the fireplace a bit.

[Deleted]

Ours was tile and I used Airstone from Lowe's and painted the wood.

[steph96]

Mar 2, 2016 22:38:04 GMT -5 MittenState said:

Ours was tile and I used Airstone from Lowe's and painted the wood.

Do you have a wood burning fireplace? If so, do you find the airstone difficult to clean?

[lavender444]

Ah. That would be a lot of labor to get rid of, but totally doable. I would go at it with a crowbar and a sledge and see how easily those stones pop off. Wear gloves and goggles.

[dr.girlfriend]

Yeah, I would be tempted to get rid of it all and do two amazing built-in bookshelves on either side of a new fireplace. :-)

[kitty]

Stalking this post because we have the same stone in our living room fireplace, except ours has hideous multicolored slate on top of the hearth to make it even more 70s.

[steph96]

Mar 4, 2016 13:18:52 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

This is what we want, a tile surround flat fireplace.  We're getting bids now.  

I love that!! Would you mind sharing how much your bids average?

[steph96]

Mar 4, 2016 14:03:55 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

Mar 4, 2016 13:52:20 GMT -5 steph96 said:

I love that!! Would you mind sharing how much your bids average?

Yes, once we get some.  We are VHCOL though, where are you? I'm in OC.

I'm in the Midwest. LCOL. I know it won't cost the same here, but I think it could be a great reference for how much it would be if everything possible went wrong

[mrspez07]

I have a 2-story wall of a similar stone wall, don't love it but we live with it and it's kinda grown on me. Ours is moss rock and more grey. I
Strangely, we get compliments on it.
I think ours is too big to replace, but yours looks doable.