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Years ago, fireplaces were more functional than decorative. Probably the fireplace was used to heat the house, provide light throughout the evening hours, or perhaps accustomed to heat food. Traditionally, these fireplaces were placed near a wall and surrounded with brick.
Today, fireplaces are utilized more for adornment than for practical reasons. In fact, many homes that have a functioning fireplace don't even burn wood. Modern homes have fireplaces that have been fitted with gas logs to be able to burn quietly and cleanly.
Removing the brick that surrounds your fireplace is definitely an expensive and time consuming process. Today, you'll be able to retrofit your fireplace with pre-manufactured surround pieces. This makes the procedure a lot quicker and is less expensive.
Modern Fireplace Surrounds
Marble and granite would be the two most widely used choices for modern fireplace surrounds. Because of this, there are various types of designs from which to choose. You might wish to purchase a surround with Roman flair, or maybe you want a unit that has French Provincial overtones.
Remember that the more ornate the surround, the greater the cost. While pre-fabricated surrounds are less costly than other options, a surround piece can continue to cost thousands of dollars depending upon how ornate the decorations are. Surrounds work best with fireplaces that have been framed into a wall. Fireplaces that sit directly on the ground rather than on the hearth will also fully trust a surround.
Other Options For those who have a traditionally built fireplace, or if your fireplace is situated on the hearth, you may need to use a hand laid stone design. Even though this is a little bit more work, you will have a large number of options and may tailor your design with discretion on your fireplace.
Stones could be occur a pattern or using stones that all look the same. You may also wish to place decorative stones in the pattern. If you have a wooden mantel or hearth, you'll love the look of stone and wood together.
Some homeowners prefer to use granite when designing a fire surround. Others such as the look of smooth, rounded stones. Rough stones aren't used just as much today because they were in the past. Having said that, using rough stone to finish the surround of a cabin fireplace would look very attractive.
You may create A distinctive Look If you wish to produce a look that is completely to you, you might want to fully understand the process before beginning. Choose the color and style of the surround before beginning and make sure that you simply firmly like that which you have chosen. Nothing's more unpleasant than returning to re-do what's recently been done.
Speak with a contractor or designer before beginning the process to make sure that your ideas are in fact feasible. A good contractor or designer might think of products that you simply haven't even considered. For example, how the light will have on a certain area of the fireplace, or you want to surround the entire wall close to the fireplace with a similar material.
In many cases, designers and contractors have portfolios of their work. Ask to determine the portfolio before any work is done. This way, you can aquire a realistic concept of how your surround will look once it is finished.
