Good morning all. I would like to reface my fireplace and add a nice mantel. I am planning on screwing and gluing cement board to the existing brick and mortar stacked stone to it with a solid piece of bluestone as the hearth and nice glass doors. I have two issues:
- There is an arch in the opening right now that is too close to the damper. Therefore even with a fire in the back of the fireplace lots of smoke comes out the front (poorly build I think). There’s only like a 1/2″ between the bottom of the fireplace opening and the damper.
- On the outside of the fireplace one side is 1″ narrower than the other because it angles into the wall. This will mean that my posts for my mantle won’t be the same size since I need at least 6″ from the opening before my posts can start.
Here is what I was thinking to combat the issues. If anyone could offer other suggestions or let me know if I’m heading in the right direction I would appreciate it.
For the first issue. I was going to add a steel 2×4 under the archway to square off the opening. This will drop the top and support the cement board attached to the face of the brick. The 3″ should keep the smoke from coming out of the front and up the chiminey. I would also be adding glass doors.
For the second issue I was thinking about screwing a steel 2×4 vertically attaching it to the side of the brick opening to support the cement board to make each side of the opening the same width. I can always paint the steel with heat spray paint used for bbq’s so it wouldn’t be visible (really I don’t think it would be anyway behind the frame of the door.
Replies
why durock?
I'll soon be doing something similar (refacing from brick to stone). I have a two-story masonry fireplace on its own footing, with brick veneer as facing into the great room on the 2nd floor. Both the stone suppliers (natural stone thin veneer) I was working with recommended mortaring directly to the brick (it is very solid, no spalling or dusting, etc.). I will apply a thin scratch coat of S-type mortar, let it dry, and then bond the thin stones with S-type directly to that (it's ledge stone and applied with a dry stack look, so no mortar joints).
Why Durarock
Mikeljon wrote:
I'll soon be doing something similar (refacing from brick to stone). I have a two-story masonry fireplace on its own footing, with brick veneer as facing into the great room on the 2nd floor. Both the stone suppliers (natural stone thin veneer) I was working with recommended mortaring directly to the brick (it is very solid, no spalling or dusting, etc.). I will apply a thin scratch coat of S-type mortar, let it dry, and then bond the thin stones with S-type directly to that (it's ledge stone and applied with a dry stack look, so no mortar joints).
So I'm using the Durarock for two reasons:
The most important one is I need to square off the top of the fireplace because of the smoke issue as well as wanting to install fireplace doors. I would need some custom doors made if I wanted to keep that arch and since the arch is the main reason I get smoke I need to square it off. I can't think of an easier way to square off the opening without laying more brick, just to cover it up.
I am installing MS INternational Golden Honey Leger Panels that are 6x24. It would seem to be much more work putting on a scratch coat that would fill in all the mortar joints of the brick to give me a flat surface to mount from. These panels are flat on the back so mounting the Durarock and adding a scratch coat to something that is already dead flat would be much easier.
Since I haven't done anything like this before maybe I'm wrong but I think I am looking at less work this way?
I would recommend checking the other dimensional aspects of your fireplace before modifying any openings. You may have other aspects of your existing fireplace that is making it more prone to draw poorly. This chart from a reputable masonry supplier is a good reference.
https://www.bontool.com/knowledge_center/KC_Fireplace_Dimensions.asp
Also, those recessed mortar joints of your existing brick make for a superior mechanical key-in for your stacked stone stone layup. Having a relativley flat or smooth surface does nothing for you in this case and it seems like a waste of time and material. If you still find you want to modify your fireplace opening, I would recommend doing it with angle iron and fire brick as the pad down. It doesn't need to be pretty; you're going to cover it with your new veneer stone anyhow. You will be replacing the brick arch structure with structural steel, so you should know what you're doing. I recommend hiring a professional mason if you have no masonry experience. If that professional has firelplace experience, they may be able to provide help with properly improving the performace of your firebox as well.
I second this
I found a great fireplace repair/cleaner/mason who guided me through some issues with our 1977 fireplace. It's a real specialty and someone who knows what they're doing can both fix the problem and not take your money for stuff that doesn't need doing...