How to Renovate a Fireplace With Rock

Renovating a tired old brick fireplace can give new life and a new centerpiece to your living room or family room. Of the new faces available, one of the nicest is rock. Rocking a fireplace is a permanent solution and should not be chosen lightly, but once selected, it’s easy to get great results. If you think you might come to a point where you would change your mind, consider an encasement option rather than a straight stone application when renovating your fireplace.

Instructions

1. Clean the surface, making sure it is rid of paint, oils, dust, grease, grime or any other things that make it difficult to set a firm bond when installing your new rock face on your fireplace. If you need to, sand away any paint previously applied. Even a wire brush can serve you well. In the end, it doesn’t matter how you accomplish the task of getting your brick clean, so long as when you finish, it’s clean.

2. Mix your bag of Portland cement or Quickset (depending on your preference) according to the directions on the side of the bag. When finished, it should be approximately as thick as peanut butter. Make sure when mixing, to mix thoroughly, eliminating as many clumps as you can. Clumps are usually dry powder that needs to be mixed better. Oblige them.

3. Spread the cement liberally to the brick, starting at the base of the fireplace, with a trowel. Also spread a thin layer of cement to the flat portion of the rock face that will lay against the brick. If using full round rocks, you will also want to spread cement on the tops and bottoms of the rocks you add as you go.

4. Starting at the base of the fireplace, press the rock to be used, into the cement and hold it until it stays stuck. If it doesn’t stick, consider using less heavy rocks or more cement. Continue adding rocks in layers to the fireplace as you go up, until you reach the top.

5. Allow the stone to dry for 24 hours before testing the grip. Then wait two weeks for it to cure thoroughly before lighting fire in fireplace.