This past summer we redid our fireplace. It was brick and we thought it was pretty outdated. We had already done some tiling projects and felt fairly confident that we could cover up the brick with slate. Note that I said "fairly confident" - doing this stuff is scary sometimes. We decided that the worst that could happen would be that we'd have to pay someone to fix/finish the project (awful, but not inconceivable) so we jumped right in.
Here's the original fireplace.
First problem to tackle was this arch. The bricks stuck out about an inch -we needed a flat surface. How do you cut through brick? Well, we (translate: Scooter) used an angle grinder.
The angle grinder worked pretty well, but the vibrations made some of the bricks fall out. Well, no backing out at this point since we've basically destroyed our fireplace so time to get creative.
This is Skeeter, Scooter's little brother. He was visiting us and was a huge help for the first couple days of this project.
Here's the creative bit. Using a combo of mortar, wood, screws and drywall, the boys evened out the fallen archway.
Next step - decide which pieces of stone are the prettiest. We decided to use Chinese slate. It is gray with some reddish and purple swirls in it that reminded me of the red rocks back home in St. George. We spent a long time laying them out and deciding which pieces looked best next to each other.
Then we used some really heavy-duty premixed mortar to hold those huge pieces of stone up. The large pieces probably weighed 15 pounds each.
Like I mentioned - the big pieces had a tendency to slide down, so we had to prop them up until the mortar set. I was actually impressed with how little they slid considering their weight.
A few days later we had installed all the big pieces.
This is why I never put photos up of myself helping with these kind of projects. I'm always filthy. I had been using the wet tile saw to cut the stone and was covered in mud, water, and tiny flecks of slate. A vision of loveliness.
We had to make sure to do all the angles including some pieces that were hanging upside down under the old arch.
Then we started on the bench part. This was actually a lot harder than it looks because slate, unlike tile is not a uniform thickness. Some pieces were twice as thick as others. To make the surface level we had to adjust the amount of mortar under each piece individually, often pulling the pieces up after we placed them to add more mortar.
We finished the top section.
Now time for the front section. Again, the thickness of the stone was an annoyance.
Finished. Notice the shims under each piece. Another tediously annoying detail.
When it was all dry a week or so later it was time to seal the slate. Slate always looks like it is covered by a dull layer of dust until it is sealed. The sealant penetrates the stone so that nothing that is spilled on it later will ever stain it. It also brings out the colors and makes it look gorgeous. See the difference?
Then I grouted it. I'm not going to post a picture of that part of the project - trust me, you don't want to see what I looked like during that. Choosing grout for this project was a nightmare. I actually grouted a large section and we hated the color. We hoped that as it dried the grout would lighten, but it didn't so we chiseled it out and I bought color number two. It was a keeper.
We added some molding to cover the ugly mantel that looked like a white-painted log, and it was done.
It looks nice, but the wood paneling painted red looked like a barn and needed to go.
Since then we have done some other updates to the front room (drywall, tape, mud, paint, etc.) and we think the fireplace looks even better now that it isn't competing with the glaring red wall. We still need to finish decorating and putting up the bookcases, etc, but it is a huge improvement.
So to recap:
Before
After
We love the new fireplace and think it really helps make the front room look more modern. The best part is how much money we saved. We got a few bids from professionals on this and they all told us between $1000-$2000. We spent just over $200! Updating our house while saving money is pretty much our version of bliss!
