Hi there, I just joined these forums and look forward to learning and sharing here...what a great site!
We live in a nearly 40 yr old split level bungalow with your typical layout...complete with a horribly ugly, floor to ceiling, red brick hearth in the living room that wraps right around to the dining/kitchen. it is a working fireplace but it's rarely used.
Has anyone ever covered one of these with either drywall or a more decorative stone or brick? I have visions of a modern, showy wall with an insert woodstove one day :rolleyes: however the first task is covering this brick. It's really gross.
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my sister in law did this - they had an ugly fireplace that actually the bricks were falling off - they ended up drywalling over it and then applying ceramic tile that looked like slate - it looked great and updated!
It is very nice and authentic looking...reminds me of a similar product called UNIBRICK I used it in our kitchen wall and as a backsplash.:)
Hi, I recently went to the Home Show in Toronto and found a faux brick product that can be applied over top of brick, plaster and drywall. The company name is Soho Brick ([url]www.sohobrickcompany.com[/url]). I attached a picture of the product, I hope it's helpful.
LOL that last word is suppose to be brick not brink.
Welcome aboard.
I think you should check out the [url]www.culturedstone.com[/url] website and have a look at what they do with there stone. It is amazing. just plywood or drywall over the enitre job and away you go putting your stone on it.
Depending on how staight your fireplace is, you might just have to apply the mortar without the drywall and just go right over the brinck.
If you're painting over the brick, does it matter what kind of paint you use? We have a working fireplace that i'm considering painting. thanks.
Tangotori...yes that's what I'd love to do. Good to know you can do this yourself. I love the second example. I have a feeling this would be on the very high side in terms of cost.
The first thing I thought when I saw your fireplace was how terrific it would look with a faux-stone facade, front and back. I like the brick enough and think it would look good painted... as a temporary solotuion... but re-facing it is the way to go!
I'm thinking something like this:
[url]http://www.rglarson.com/examples/69/cultured%20stone%20fireplace%20thumb.jpg[/url]
[url]http://www.homebysunset.com/photos/uncategorized/2008/04/28/eldoradomenloih_5.jpg[/url]
There are all sorts of colours to go with... with your current colour scheme I think a warm gray would be the way to go.
You can buy this stuff in easy to lay groupings - goes together like a puzzle.
What ever you choose to re-face the fireplace - my opinion? = find a faux stone that complements the age and style of the of the home (i.e., don't go country!). That goes for whatever wood burning insert you get, too.
Good luck!
Thanks everybody for your thoughts. I agree with those of you who say it's the grout that make it stand out. Sweetpea, I really like your daughter's paint job. Looking4ideas, I have imagined a similar plan...it's fun to have a wishlist! ;)
Hi Nova.....Here are pictures of my daughters before & after rec room fireplace just to give you an idea of the difference after it is painted:)
It's actually the grout that is messing up the look of the brick (too white).
I would lean towards painting out the fireplace. The texture is nice to have. I would go 1 or 2 shades darker than your walls.
I have one of those, too. It's not high on the priority list (there are other things that need doing first), but when I finally get to it, I plan to put granite tiles on the top surface of the hearth and baseboard trim around the sides (it's raised off the floor). Isaw some tiles at Home Depot that had matching ogee edge pieces so that you can use them to create a countertop -- I think they'd work well on the hearth. I'm also going to drywall the section above the fireplace, tile around the firebox and install a new mantel. All of this is still in my dreams for the moment, though.
It might help if you paint the ceiling a colour and tone down the white---
I agree with Arizona, I didn't find it that bad and that the grout would be causing me the most problems. The pattern of the brick/grout against the pattern of the ceiling is what I was drawn to immediately.
I really, really like your tourquiose vase against the brick! (Reminds me of pretty necklace I saw in Mexico that I am so kicking myself for not buying.)
I don't find it so bad. I think it could look better if the grout was less noticeable and more toned down. Maybe that could be addressed? Not sure. If it's the actual brick colour you don't like then you could look into getting it stained or painted.
The taupe wall colour only accentuates the fireplace even more. If the wall colour was more of a brown or reddish brown or browny red it wouldn't stand out as much but not sure how that all works in with the rest of the living room.
Yes, this is my first attempt at attachments...hopefully this works. Our living room walls are a warm taupe and our kitchen walls are salsa red - both colour could change as the whole house is due for a paint job.
Here is the monster brick!
[ATTACH]28796[/ATTACH]
can you post a pic?
Welcome. As per some home show the other day, they just applied more mortar (or whatever it is that tilers use on floors to make a bed for tiles)to the brick and tiled it. it hadn't dawned on me it would be so easy, but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. No need to put up another surface first if you want tile or stone type material. So you could figure out what you wanted it to look like and see what tile or other materials you could apply to get that look.
If you don't like it then cover it up with drywall.
You can paint brick too and that makes a huge difference. Sometimes the wall colour around the brick makes a big difference too.