ShopNGarage

A chimney on the outside of the house would generally indicate the presence of a fireplace on the inside.

The previous owner left the screen, log rack, and everything in place. They just removed the facing and put up some drywall.

In this picture, I have removed the drywall that was covering the fireplace. What appears to be water marks is actually some type of finish. I think the old mantle was the full width of the wall and some of the finish ran down behind the bricks.

Using concrete blocks, I built a structure for the new hearth.

I capped the concrete blocks with concrete pavers.

I installed an electrical outlet and cable box on the side of the fireplace.

This picture shows the repairs I made to the drywall surrounding the fireplace.

Cement board was my choice as a backing for the new facing.

We put up beadboard on each side of the fireplace. My wife antiqued the beadboard.

I covered the hearth with slate.

My wife chose natural gray colored grout for the slate.

I screwed metal lath over the cement board.

I applied a scratch coat of type S mortar.

Using type S mortar, I attached the first bricks.

I drew the upper portion of my fireplace on my garage floor with chalk. Like a giant jigsaw puzzle, I spent the day picking through my pile of bricks until I had an arrangement that would work.

All of the bricks are installed.

Where the bricks meet the beadboard on the sides of the fireplace, I used a gray caulk. This caulk contains sand and is designed to look like mortar. I also used this caulk to fill the joint between the top bricks and the ceiling.

I filled the joints between the bricks with mortar using a mortar bag. I rounded the ends of an assortment of different sizes of wooden dowels. These dowels were used to press and smooth the mortar between the joints of the bricks.

With an SDS rotary hammer, I drilled 1/2″ holes for lag bolts that will attach the mantle. I knew where to drill because I drew a measured map of the stud locations at the start of the project.

I needed to drill a pilot hole for the lag bolts in the underlying stud with a long drill bit. It was important that the pilot hole be centered on the larger 1/2″ hole through the masonry. I put a piece of fuel line in the hole to hold the pilot bit on center.

A 4″ x 6″ beam was chosen for the mantle. I carved details along the edges to make the beam appear to be hand hewn from a log. It is bolted it to the fireplace with 1/2″ lag bolts.

Finally, my wife has decorated the fireplace for Christmas.