Fireplace Refacing
This tutorial demonstrates how I refaced my 1962 brick fireplace and added shiplap to the walls of my living room. This is actually my second attempt to reface this fireplace corner. I first tried to remedy the outdated brick fireplace shortly after we bought the house in 2008, but it was just a bandaid. You'll see the layers in the post and video below.
This is my finished living room and fireplace wall. At first glance it doesn't look that different, but it went through a huge makeover.
This is the before of my living room and fireplace wall. It isn't horrible but it's not good either.
First, I took down the old lumber I installed to cover/hide the original brick.
This is basically the way the wall looked when we bought our house 10 years ago. I quickly covered it with 1x4's (the picture above). My version of shiplap 10 years ago.
This is after I removed all the brick from the side walls of my fireplace. I hauled away tons of brick and rubble. The brick I plan to reuse in another project in my house. It was surprising how much cement rubble I had to throw away though.
I removed all the brick from the side walls and then closed up the walls with 4 x 8 sheets of thin plywood(underlayment) to match up with the existing paneling on the rest of my living room walls.
I created the small mantle piece around the firebox with trim moulding. I then cut the same thin plywood into 12" wide strips and applied them to the walls shiplap style.
The center of the fireplace is not shiplap. I only applied the shiplap treatment to the walls on each side of my fireplace and all the way around my living room.
A close-up sideview of my fireplace.
Another detail view of the fireplace.
The transformation is tremendous in person. The job was pretty simple but it did take a lot of hard work and elbow grease, but totally worth it in the end.
A time-lapse video...but stay tuned because I do stop in the middle a few times and explain the method to my madness.
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Thank you Lisa.
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You guys did an amazing job. We had a fireplace completely removed back in the 1990's by a professional, no easy feat. The difference in your room is like night and day, bet you wonder why you didn't do it sooner. Your room now looks magazine worthy.
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Thank you so much! Yes, I totally wished I did this sooner specially because it ended up being easier than I thought.
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Great job! Love what you did. Was there any insulation behind the brick, or were they interior walls?
Great inspiration for my own fam room fireplace.
Here is a before and after of my recent fireplace project.
was your ceiling grey? Beautiful. If you did the art you are really a gifted artist
What will you do with the left over brick?