Ye Fireplaces

I bet you never thought much about it, but it makes sense that a lot goes into a fireplace. It is the “heart of the home” after all, and deserves a lot of thought! If you’re lucky enough, you can even be a part of the process of creating your fireplace. Here are some images of fireplaces to help you get on board with today’s topic!

Traditional Fireplace (A)

Ye Old Fashioned Fireplace (B)

Guatemalan Fireplace (C)

Mosaic Fireplace Surround! (D)

Contemporary Fireplace (E)

Fireplaces can be warm and inviting, they can be a focal piece, or they can become a piece of art… or all of the above! Since we are talking about a pretty hazardous activity, I would like to point out that there are rules that are put in place to make it a safe experience. Let’s just go over a few of these rules before you run over to your fireplace and demolish it.

First up, we have the hearth. For those of you who don’t know, this is the floor area in front of the fire box. Basically, the hearth must be made out of non-combustible material (such as brick, stone or concrete) and it needs to extend out 20 inches and be 4 inches thick.

The actual fireplace needs a 12 inch thick foundation which needs to extend 6 inches from the chimney. The actual box needs to be made of a material that is 10 inches thick. Builders may use stone, concrete or grouted hollow blocks. The code also requires a minimum of 6 inches from the top of the firebox to the bottom of the mantel.

Chimneys are required to extend no more than 3 feet above the roof. Most of the time, chimneys are required to have a fired clay lining.

A lot of people that I assist are trying to update their fireplaces without doing major construction. There are many ways this can be done. I personally think it is very striking to clad a fireplace in a split face stone (meaning a stone that is un-even). And have it lit by a directional light source.

Split face Close Up (F)

Split Face Fireplace (G)

The possibilities of cladding are literally endless. Here are 2 fireplaces that I have worked on recently. I think they turned out well!

This first fireplace was located in a home that is very mid-century modern. If you need a memory jolt as to what mid-century modern is see this link: http://wp.me/p2DDdQ-3l. The homeowners described this fireplace as the center of their home- literally! You can see the fireplace from everywhere in the home, even the second floor! They wanted to keep the fireplace in its time period, but they wanted to take out the cinder block (ew) and replace it with something more pleasing. Here is what we came up with:

Ye Fireplaces

This second project was a little more tricky. This fireplace is located in a medium size sitting room. The problem was that she really hates the fireplace.

The Fireplace in Question

After speaking with her a little further, I found out that she likes the idea of the fireplace, she is just overwhelmed. As you can see the extremities (meaning the hearth and mantel) have very large proportions. She did not want to spend the time or money to remove them- she just wants to minimize them. My solution was to clad said extremities with a lighter tile, something that almost disappears with her cream colored walls. I also suggested that she remove the vast amount of small pictures and just add one or two large scale pictures. The reason being that the numerous amounts of photos and art were actually drawing more attention to the “eye sore”. By boldly adding art work, you are accepting your space for what it is and are therefore calling less attention to it. Lastly, I suggested that she add some pillows on one side of the fireplace for extra seating and a larger vase or plant on the other side to keep the scale and proportion of the space.

Ye Fireplaces

New (Better) Fireplace

The last decision you’ll have to make with your fireplace is gas or wood burning. It’s a tough decision and requires some thought. Just like porcelain tile, a gas burning fireplace will never be able to emulate a real wood burning fireplace. It can get close, and sometimes close is good enough!

The psychological affect that a real wood burning fire has on a person is unmistakable. It resembles a feeling of security and relaxation- much like the ocean. However, there are some down sides to a real wood burning fireplace. First of all, it may be difficult (and/ or costly) to acquire wood to burn. The maintenance of a wood burning fireplace is kind of a pain (sweeping out the fireplace, checking the soot and chimney etc.) and then there is the whole ember thing, where the sap burns and comes popping out of the firebox super-hot and, well, on fire!

Now that’s a fire! (H)

The other option, of course, is a gas burning fireplace. Although it will never be a real wood burning fire, it can get really close! The gas fireplace can go without a chimney (check with the manufacturer for details) and it may not even need to be passed through the city and be permitted. The gas fire can be controlled with a flip of a switch and just as easily adjusted.