Resurfacing Brick Fireplaces: Is It Necessary?
Brick fireplaces have held a special place in the history of mankind. The crackling of open flames, the subtle hint of wood smoke and the camaraderie of sitting around the fireplace, touches a chord deep inside the hearts of generation of brick fireplaces home owners.
But fireplaces have also produced since ancient times, nasty smoky stains, smears of black soot and piles of old ashes. And over time these messy and harmful elements have a destructive effect on your fireplace.
Like many other owners of brick fireplaces with wood fireboxes, you are faced the prospect of either remodeling or resurfacing those fireplaces. This article will attempt to explore the different options available for fireplaces.
“Why Do Fireplaces Smoke?"
Traditionally a brick fireplace works by warming a room with radiate or thermal heat…not necessarily by warming the air as most fireplace owners think. The thermal heat is supposed to heat up the room and the resulting wood smoke is supposed to fly up the vent or chimney away from the room.
But sometimes things just don’t go as planned. What happens is that the damper doesn’t work properly in the chimney or often fireplaces have problems with air drafts…or both. In either situation, soot and smoke can blow back into the room, staining your brickwork.
Fireplaces with wood fireboxes are especially prone to these problems but any type of combustible fuel can mark the masonry fireplace designs and mantels for brick fireplaces with stains. If you are like most homeowners you may be uncertain as how to properly maintain fireplaces.
So do you really have to get your fireplace resurfaced or is there something else you can do? YES!
First you need to decide if you want to go through the cost in time and money of remodeling. A minor resurfacing project can be done by almost anyone but for a major remodel or repair you will have to call in bricklaying professionals.
In either case the job will be both messy and time consuming. Plan on setting aside a weekend if you are going to do-it-yourself.
The most common methods of home fireplace remodels are by painting, putting on stucco or by staining the brick. Do some homework and read over how complex each method will be for you to do on your own. Remember, all wooden fireplace mantel designs will also have to be taken down and restored before you start and after you finish your project.
Next if you need to clean your fireplace to remove as much soot, smoke and ashes stains as possible. You can use a stiff scrub brush and a strong masonry cleaner like TSP (tri-sodium phosphate) along with a special dry soot-removal sponge (which takes off soot without smearing).
Once the brick is clean and dry, (wait at least 8-12 hours for any moisture in the brick pores to evaporate) you can start either painting or staining. Tape down your disposable drop cloths since any spilled paint or stain is guaranteed to mess up your carpet or flooring.
When choosing a paint or concrete stain, make sure you think long and hard about the colors you want. Paint and stains are very, very difficult to remove once they are absorbed into a fireplace, and depending on the product, may not be as easy to “paint over” as you would think.
Of course, if you are handy around the home, stucco is another alternative to resurfacing. You should use a bucket of readymade mix that comes in various colors or have your local hardware store or home center, customize a ready mix in the color that matches your decorating theme the best.
But in either case, redoing brick fireplaces can be done by you more cheaply than you can hire a professional to remodel your old brick fireplace for you.
