BruceHartman.net

If you’ve seen the project page dedicated to the Mantle Shelf David and I built for the fireplace, you’ll know already that I’m thinking real hard about putting a stone veneer of some sort over the fireplace and under the shelf. I just really, really, really, hate how dark it is right now. And as I think about how that space will look once the balcony is built, it’s going to be that much darker.

Every summer during high school and even for a short time after I graduated I worked as a brick mason’s laborer. As with most everything I do, I ended up going beyond what’s normally expected. Many days, assuming all the mortar pans were shaken up sufficiently, and the brick piles were stocked, my boss would let me get on the wall and actually lay brick. It’s been a long time (more than fifteen years), but I imagine I can get my groove on with a little bit of practice.

I like the colors on these:

And I really like the stack on this one:

The only concern I have is that my fireplace is an insert style firebox. And considering my house is about 25 years old, I should seriously think about upgrading it before I go through the exercise of putting the masonry in and then discovering shortly thereafter that the insert needs replacing. Plus, I really want a more substantial hearth. Right now, there’s just a piece of the same material used for the surround that’s barely an inch or so above the carpet.

I’ll likely use a cultured/manufactured product. They seem reasonably straight forward in their installation, and while I like the randomness of stone, the regularity of a manufactured stone product will fit with all the other straight lines in the house.