The Living Room Fireplace

This is a real shame.  The fireplace in the Living Room was originally a black marble with gold inlay.  Unfortunately, over the years this fireplace was severely mistreated.  There are pieces missing, and damage from when a wood burning stove was installed.  In order to accommodate the wood burning stove, someone took a chisel to to the face and frame.  Anyway, this is all that was left of it when we took ownership of the house.

Just removing the cast iron wood burning stove was a monumental effort in itself.  It weighed hundreds of pounds.  We pulled it out and found that the black marble mantel was damaged way beyond any possible restoration. So, we reluctantly removed it.  (actually, it fell apart, along with around two dozen bricks from the facade)  This is what it looked like...

There was no proper venting installed for this wood burning unit.  You can see the blast marks where the intense heat was blowing through the mortar and brick.  It's a small wonder the house didn't burn down.  The brick and mortar inside the firebox were completely ruined.  You could remove the bricks by simply pulling them out one by one.  We then brought in a fireplace specialist who installed new chimney caps, and flews.  Then a mason installed a new firebox.  They also added the row of brick that fell off when the old stove was removed.  Once the new box was built.  The new beige firebrick was stained black to look aged. A new hearthstone was also installed to cover some previous problems with the floor.

We purchased some really nice Victorian tile and had it shipped to us from England.  The tiles were exact replicas of a design from the 1870's.  The tiles were made in the same factory from that period, still in business today. We then employed a tile specialist to carefully install them.  He built a frame out of wood around the outside of the brick.  The frame was measured and leveled over and over until it was exactly even and perfect. The frame around the inside of the firebox opening was pressed into place with no screws.  This was done so that it could be carefully tapped out when the new mortar surface was dry without disturbing it, or chancing chipping it.  Very nice work.

Then he started applying coat after coat of a special mortar called thin-set.  Just like the name, it needs to be applied in thin layers.  He came back day after day applying coat after coat, eventually building it up to match the surface of the frame.  The result was an absolutely flawless surface, perfectly square, top to bottom to apply the tile to.

Now it was Miller time.  He came back and applied the final coat of thin-set and applied the tiles.  They set overnight and then he applied the grout and was finished.  A beautiful job!

A few months earlier I had a new mantle hand carved out of mahogany made and shipped to us.  I then took it to the shop, did the final assembly, stained it and applied seven coats of finish, sanding out each one as I went along.  It took what seemed like eternity, but it came out great! 

I mounted the mantle on a temporary basis until the room gets restored at which time it will need to be removed.  But in the mean time it looks like this:

We are quite pleased with the final product.  We just hope the rest of the room comes out this nice.

If you have any questions please e-mail us at: CSchaible@home.com