I want to cover a brick fireplace in our familyroom. It is constructed from the same brick as the outside of the house and is 7 ft wide x 8 ft tall. The size overwhelms the room. I would like to partially cover with porcelain tiles and cover the rest with material which will blend with the walls, i.e. drywall.
My questions are – can I put drywall directly on the brick using Tapcon screws? Should the brick require any special preparation for both the drywall and the tiles? Am I crazy in attempting this?
Any and all suggestions would be appreciated.
AwlThumbs
Replies
Awl,
I had the same problem...an eight-foot wide brick fireplace running all the way to the cathedral ceiling...massive!
I covered the upper portion with 1/4" drywall glued to the brick with construction adhesive. Did it six years ago, with nary a problem so far.
Burt
I just plaster onto the masonry surface. So much easier than messing around with fasteneing drywall, then finishing it.
Where and how you fasten is a function of where the heat chambers are and where the brick is only a veneer. If a =tract m,odern home, odds are good this brick is only a veneer anyway.
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I just finished having my sheetrock contractor cover a 10'x8' brick fireplace to eliminate the "outdoor" look of brick. He first put a semi smooth coat of thinset to fill the motar lines and brick then two coats of drywll compound and sanded smooth, looks just like the walls. Our building inspector would not let me glue sheetrock to the brick because the brickface of the fireplace structure is considered part of the fireplace structure and nothing combustible (paper backing on sheetrock) can be closer than 2" to a fireplace structure - thus metal studs.
The thinset and compound thing worked great. But of course we must not use a stone mantle because now the mud job has become the fireplace structure and of course nothing combustible (wood mantle) can be attached to a fireplace structure phew!!! The inspector drove me nuts with this project.
Thank you to everyone who responded. I now have some great ideas and direction for this project.
Duncan
Is there a chance that 20 years down the road, some future owner will be cursing you for covering up that brick? I have one room in my house where back in the 1970s, someone 'modernized' a once-beautiful exposed brick fireplace chimney by slathering it with lime green paint....
The inspector doesn't know his codes.But he is still the inspector!do you have a true masonry fireplace or a metal box type?
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Hey Piffin
The fireplace is question is a true masonry sturcture faced with red brick. He states that sheetrock cannot be attached directly to a "fireplace structure" it must have an air gap of 2" - thus steel studs then sheetrock.
I'll agree that SR should not be attached to this then, but it is fine to attach a wood mantle and fireplace surrond. The code requires that frame material have that 2" gap but allows that trim can be in ccontact withing given parameters.
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Since your Profile does not include any location information (hint, hint); we have to be very generic.
Here in central Texas, I'd carefully lay out for 1.5" metal studs over the brick, and fastening them to the mortar joints using expansion anchors. Between the studs would go rigid insulation, then drywall over all that.
Why so muc "bother"? Well, as has been posted already, some future owner might want the "look" of the brick. Repointing a few anchor holes much nicer than stripping plaster, thinset, pl-glued wallboard, etc. Also, here in Texas, I'm taking every oppertunity to insulate that great big brick radiator stuck clean through an exterior wall (and usually pointed either due south or due west).
If having a brick radiator is not so much of a worry in your climate, you can use 5/8" furring strips to make a surface to apply wall board to, too.
Now, Piffin made a good point about it likely being a veneer brick over some sort of fireplace structure. You could, with some patience, and a bit of mess, jsut "de-veneer" the fireplace. (A good "house custodian" would store the removed brick, for a future owner.) Ok, that's a lot more work, and you have a few more considerations, like isolating any new framing from the actual fireplace structure, but, that's possibly the "best" answer for this.
Or not.
Edited for spelling (thanks, TFBlue)
Edited 3/19/2007 12:53 pm by CapnMac
Edited 3/19/2007 12:59 pm by CapnMac