Overall we feel that our main floor space has turned out beautifully… with one exception. The Fireplace. We hadn’t planned on refacing it (didn’t budget for it) and we hoped to get away with simply painting out the red brick and maybe laying a new base out of slate or marble. The mantel was quite nice but it got damaged in the reno so we decided to paint it white as well.
Darren our painter spent alot of time (and 3 gallons worth of paint!) to try to get it to look good but there are too many ridges in the brick that prevent it from looking smooth and finished. Since it’s the focal point of the room when you first walk in it’s rather hard to overlook. We’re still debating what to do. Here are before and after pics of what it first looked like when we bought the house and what we tried to do with it.
23 responses so far ↓
1 Peachy Keen // Apr 7, 2008 at 9:35 am
Oh how I wish for a fireplace…though I can see what you mean about yours! The white really helps, but it just donesn’t have that oomph that the rest of the house has!! Could you bag it(not sure what the nan-aussie term is…render?) it. Its really easy to do (I did our laundry) especially if you just did the main body of it, and left the stepped section over the actual hole, and also the cut out section along the top. You could pain that section a mid grey, paint the stepping bits and the cut out section a light gray, and did the marble hearth? The mantlepiece would look great just white! Just a suggestion - hope its not rude!
2 Cheryl // Apr 7, 2008 at 4:02 pm
Hi! Our fireplace is identical to yours right down to the red clay on the hearth. I was considering painting but not now. I’ll be watching with interest to see how you decide to proceed.
3 anke // Apr 7, 2008 at 11:53 pm
If your brick is smoothe you should be fine. I’ve seen quite a few painted out in magazines and it looks good. Our brick happens to be really rough with lots of ridges so it didn’t take the paint well sigh. Back to the drawing board!
4 anke // Apr 7, 2008 at 11:56 pm
Not rude at all! Our next steps will most likely be to re-face it/ case it in. (I like your “bag” it term!)
5 Peachy Keen // Apr 8, 2008 at 10:08 am
LOL - I’m not sure how to describe it - its like rendering, but not as neat - you can still see the bricks through it!! Its the interior finish of my whole house, and its done over bricks!
6 anke // Apr 9, 2008 at 2:22 am
You’ll have to send us pictures!
7 Donna // Apr 9, 2008 at 2:53 pm
Hello, I would be interested in interviewing both of you for a story I am doing with New Dreamhomes and Condominiums Magazine about your blog. I hope to hear from you soon.
Cheers, Donna
8 Bree // Apr 17, 2008 at 11:16 pm
I actually really like the white! As a HUGE fan of HGTV and all of the flipping shows, I’m really enjoying your blog. Stuff’s lookin’ great.
9 Jamie // May 20, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Please let me know who you use to reface your fireplace. I have the same problem in my bedroom of a big red brick fireplace that I would like redone.
10 anke // May 20, 2008 at 6:27 pm
We’ve decided to live with it for a while as we’ve moved on to building the deck/ fixing up the gardens. Will definitely post what we decide to do with it when the time comes.
11 By The Fireside // Aug 3, 2008 at 2:07 am
Sorry to be annoying, but I really like the red bricks!
Buck Richards
12 anke // Aug 5, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Hi Buck!
That’s the point of the blog - to initiate a conversation and bring different voices to the dialogue. We didn’t like the red bricks but we sure respect your opinion.
Hopefully we’ll get it to where we’re happy with it over the coming months.
13 Shelley // Sep 21, 2008 at 8:21 pm
We had a red brick fireplace that we didn’t like either so we primed it white and then I sponged on a watered down brown paint that we had lying around. I only sponged the bricks and it came out a beautiful tan/yellow color. Looks amazing. Email me for pictures!
14 Shelley // Sep 21, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Sorry! bretshel@telus.net
15 LMack // Dec 29, 2008 at 2:35 am
Hi guys, really enjoying your blog. We have the same fireplace, brick is a dark brown with very deep grooves, hideous. We just bought our house in June and still havent touched the fireplace. In fact we’ve covered it with cardboard which is a visual improvement(also to keep our toddler from crawling in it) Anyways, I’m loathe to paint it, but probably will. Curious to see what you guys decide to do with it. Can the bricks be dismantled and replace with new bricks or a wood facade? or will that threaten the structure of the fireplace?
16 anke // Dec 29, 2008 at 4:35 pm
Hi LMack
Thanks for sharing your story. We’re likely to completely re-face it when we finally take it on. We’re interested in getting a more modern and usable design.
In the meantime though we have to focus on the bathroom first.
All the best.
17 Monty // Jan 2, 2009 at 1:05 am
Have refaced 2 of the fireplaces in my home. The fireplace in diningroom was red brick with an integrated heatilator. Refaced it using Black porcelain tile (12″X24″)and created a mantle in oak (material cost was approximately $800.00). The tile gives the look of slate to the fireplace. The fireplace in the livingroom, I removed the stone blocks, tiled around the opening of the fireplace and hearth; converted the fireplace to propane (live in the country); drywalled, added bulkhead with mini pot lights and column cabinets to either side of the F/P and mounted a flat panel TV above the F/P opening (material cost approximately $2000.00 [not including the plasma TV).
18 anke // Jan 2, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Hi Monty
Thanks for sharing your experiences. How difficult was the work?
Any interest in sending before and after photos for us to post on the blog? If so send them to 247reno@gmail.com. cheers.
19 Monty // Jan 20, 2009 at 2:21 pm
Sorry for delay in responding, but have been working in another city so not able to access pics of the fireplaces. The work involved in the livingroom fireplace was fairly extensive….lots of grunt work removing and disposing of the angelstone…after that not too bad….framing, wiring, drywalling and tiling all fairly basic.
The diningroom fireplace as not bad at all….anyone could do it with some level of tiling knowledge and the right tools (a wet saw is a definite must have). I’m sending you before an after pic of both fireplaces….the livingroom one remains a working on progress (need to finish trimming it out, building mantle and some painting…..will send another pic when completed.
Monty
20 Susan // Oct 19, 2009 at 9:39 pm
I have a very similar fireplace, and it is the first thing you see when you enter the house. I have decided against painting it..it would jump out at you more. and like the one in your pic mine is layered under the mantel, so it would be very hard/expensive, if not impossible to cover it with tiles or marble. so I am leaving it. putting a black inset firescreen, and I HAVE to do something with the hearth! it is hideous old firebrick with crumbling mortar. bricks are discolored too. So I am trying to find a way to perhaps “cover” them with mortar or some other substance that can take some abuse (i.e. putting logs on it now and then) Has anyone seen a way to do this? And what substance do I need? The firebricks are flush with a gorgeous refinished oak floor, and I don’t want to build it wup with tiles over it. I may paint it black, but want to make it look smooth. any ideas?
21 Britt Bergman // Dec 1, 2009 at 6:29 pm
Our site sells a product made for your situation. Its an all inclusive fireplace paint kit that gives a textured appearance to painted brick-check it out here: http://www.brick-anew.com/shop/brick-paint/page1.html
We would be glad to send you a kit to try out for your fireplace-if you are interested-please email me!!! thanks, Britt
22 Kirk // Dec 1, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Hi Britt
Thanks so much for your comment and for your generous offer. However we have other ideas in mind.
I’ll leave the comment up for a few days and then I’ll have to take it down since we don’t allow linking to product. I hope you understand.
Thanks.
23 Mike Williams // Sep 3, 2010 at 1:05 pm
I love this post, we did very similar DIY renos at our rental property. The bricks were old and discolored, and we painted them white, bringing new life to an old fire place.
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