If it ain't broke, fix it... (Fireplace Cosmetic Updates)

[gottastartsomewhere]

Hi All, long time lurker, first time poster!

As fall starts to settle in, my wife's decided that she wants to address our living room. Currently the far side wall is about 25' long end to end, and in the middle of it is our fireplace. See pic, attached, with some basic dimensions of the fireplace. The picture might look a bit 'fisheyed' from the lense, but it's 67" wide from ceiling down to the hearth to the floor, and 96" tall (8ft ceilings).

So my wife wants her Samsung "Frame" TV mounted above the fireplace, and she's spending evenings browsing Pinterest for design ideas.

So I'm here for real world advice and sensible suggestions... specifically about what we might not be taking into consideration.

In my head, the approach was going to be tapcon'ing some furring 2x4's to the top half of the fireplace and wrapping it in sheetrock or whatever the appropriate material is, running power etc to house the electronics.

Then a mantle and surround around my current firebox opening and the appropriate finishing/trimming.

My specific questions:

1) Is there anything wrong with knocking out the hearth and adding a granite or some other stone floor piece? I've got two toddlers and get anxiety seeing them chasing each other around the house and running close to this hard, pointy hearth. It would be nice to get that floor space back and not risk the trip/fall hazard. Additionally the room is fairly narrow for it's length, so removing the hearth would make a difference in the feel of the room.

2) Are there companies you guys recommend that make prebuilt mantel surrounds? Is my fireplace 'standard', if there is such a thing?

3) Anything I'm not thinking about?

Thanks! Have a great weekend, all!

 

[begreen]

Is there a basement under this? Do you know what is under the hearth extension?

Here is a link for non-combustible mantels.

Non-combustible mantels

Starting a thread for folks that are looking for non-combustible mantels. These are very realistic, but made from concrete: http://magrahearth.com/natural-wood-series-gallery MagraHearth website http://magrahearth.com/

www.hearth.com

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

Hey begreen, yes there's a basement and my oil burning furnace underneath this fireplace. I'll take a picture late this afternoon since I don't exactly know specifically what you might be curious about. Thanks!

 

[begreen]

I'm wondering how the hearth extension is supported. Contractors often cut corners here.

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

See attached!
The silver plates between the joists are my radiant floor heaters. My other project later this month is to install the appropriate heat reflective material and RockWool batting between the joists.

 

[begreen]

That should be ok to lower. It's supported and they removed the form wood after pouring.

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

Hi all, just following up. Started demo yesterday evening, and it's going pretty smoothly so far. Still plenty of cleanup and detail work to do...

Next question... at this point with the hearth removed, the top of my arch is about 42" from the top of the hardwood floor -- pretty tall, and it makes it hard to fit most standard sized mantels as they don't have this tall of an interior opening. So I'd love to square off the top of the firebox. That would put it at about 33.5" from the top of the floor (and reduce the firebox opening down to about 24" tall).

What's the best approach to squaring this off? I was planning to support it horizontally and fill the void in with brick and mortar. Is that overkill? I don't want to change the structural integrity of anything, just to cosmetically square it off so I can fit a traditional mantel and still have the required setbacks from the actual opening into the firebox.

Thanks again, and I apologize for getting technical terms wrong or using them inappropriately. This is a whole new world for me!

 

[EbS-P]

What height do you want the mantle? Personally I’d just choose a non combustible mantle and skip squaring the opening. My masonry skills aren’t that great though.

How high will the TV be mounted?

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

I don't have tall ceilings here, just 8ft, so I'd like to keep it around that 54" mark.

 

[begreen]

Maybe consider installing a freestanding stove or an insert with no surround. If a surround is desired it will need to be made custom, perhaps to fit slightly within the arch instead of over it? If the goal is to block in the arch, then a lintel will need to be added to support the brick.

 

[EbS-P]

I don't have tall ceilings here, just 8ft, so I'd like to keep it around that 54" mark.

Yeah just get a non combustible mantle. Leave the arch. It give you all the options now or down the road.

As for TV mount if you are doing a stationary mount I’d just tapcon mount to brick. If doing full articulated I like to drill bricks and epoxy in a threaded rod. It’s probably over kill but all that wiggling a mount over the years has me concerned.

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

Maybe consider installing a freestanding stove or an insert with no surround. If a surround is desired it will need to be made custom, perhaps to fit slightly within the arch instead of over it? If the goal is to block in the arch, then a lintel will need to be added to support the brick.

Hey begreen (and anyone else that wants to chime in), as far as actual performance changes as a result of squaring it off where the arch begins...

The opening would go from 34" wide x 33" high at the peak of the arch, to 34" wide x 23" high.

Is there a general rule of thumb as to what happens when you reduce the opening of the mouth area of the fireplace, all else being the same.

Obviously the main concern is smoke related.

Thanks again all for the continued support.

 

[begreen]

Just to clarify, the intent is to keep this as an open fireplace then? It should function ok, though it may look a bit odd with the arch bricked in.

 

[gottastartsomewhere]

Sorry, I should have clarified. Yes, this will remain an open normal wood burning fireplace.

I'm going to fill the arch in, and then once we decide on a mantel surround, the brick face in the interior opening of the mantel will be covered by some large format tile or something of my wife's choosing. So there won't be any visible brick remaining.

And then the top side above the mantle will be framed and finished in sheetrock or whatever suitable material.

 

[EbS-P]

Sorry, I should have clarified. Yes, this will remain an open normal wood burning fireplace.

I'm going to fill the arch in, and then once we decide on a mantel surround, the brick face in the interior opening of the mantel will be covered by some large format tile or something of my wife's choosing. So there won't be any visible brick remaining.

And then the top side above the mantle will be framed and finished in sheetrock or whatever suitable material.

Brick away then. Reducing the opening area will increase velocity through the opening which is a good thing. There is a rule ratio really for flue area to opening area and many fireplaces have to much opening for the installed flue size.

I would add, we considered this in 2012. Even chose some tile. Decided against it. Fast forward 11 years. Neighbors house came up for sale and we saw a nearly identical fireplace with tile very similar to what we picked. It did not age well. It looked bad by our standards today. My advice don’t do trendy. Stick with classic designs or you may want to redo it in a decade.