Supply List:
-Drop Cloth or Plastic Sheeting
-Painter's Tape
-Disposable Gloves
-Large Bucket
-White Mortar Mix
-Grout Sealer Bag
-Large Grouting Sponge
-Spray Bottle for water
-Brick Joiner (optional)
-Putty Knife (optional)
When moving in and talking about remodeling one
of the things on my list was the brick fireplace. I had always loved this
fireplace but it was so dark.
I love the look of
German Smear - or whitewashed brick - so I knew that was the
look I was wanting to go for.
But how to do
that?
Of course I checked out
Pinterest and found so many cool ideas and great looking fireplaces! But
everyone seemed to have their own method. Some used paint - which
seemed pretty simple; others used mortar - a little more
complex. The end results all looked good in pictures but what really looked
best in person?
I knew paint seemed
almost to good to be true but what the heck. On the backside in the bottom
corner I tried painting the black grout with some white paint and dry brushing
the white paint over two bricks. I did enough of an area that I could see what
it would look like. Needless to say my result did not look as good as the
pictures I had seen.
Mortar route it is.
This is definitely a two
person job – or in our case a two and half person. Why would I not recommend to
do this solo? Mortar dries faster than you think.
The day before we
started this project I cleaned the bricks. First, I used a shop-vac to get up
any construction dust that I could. I also used the brush attachment to get
between the bricks. After that was complete I cleaned the bricks with an all-purpose
cleaner.
The next day was a rainy
day so since Dustin couldn’t work outside we decided to tackle the fireplace.
He mixed up the mortar while Maddie and I prepped around the fireplace by taping
plastic down on the floor and at the neighboring walls. We also made sure that
the gas insert was off and covered up to prevent any mortar from falling in
there.
Dustin started at the top
of the fireplace and used the sealer bag to pipe the mortar into the cracks and
I started out trying to use the tool to smooth it in. I quickly decided it
was easier to use my finger. Now this is why two people are needing. As he
was piping, I needed to be smoothing before it had time to dry.
Our daughter Maddie is always
right in the mix when we are doing a project. She could easily be in her playroom
playing dolls, but she wanted to help. So we gave her the job of smearing the
brick. I used the spray bottle to barely dampen the sponge and let Maddie
follow behind us and rub the mortar onto the bricks.
This project took the 3
of us about 5 hours to complete.
The mantle was another
thing I wasn’t crazy about. The way it stepped up almost went to high for my
preference. I was wanting to put our TV on the mantle and for that to happen
the mantle needed to be a little lower.
Before we started on the remodel of the fireplace Dustin took off the top two layers of brick. Since Dustin was on shift the next day the fireplace had about a 48 hour time frame for the mortar to dry before we placed the wooden mantle on the bricks and secured it in place.
Once the mortar was dry
I took a small piece of sand paper and removed some of the rough pieces along
the hearth but other than that it was perfect! It has definitely brightened up
the living room.
Most projects I look back on and think – Would I do that again? Would I do anything different? In this case I am in LOVE with the new fireplace! I would definitely do it again. I think the process we used worked great for what we were wanting so I would not change it up.
Below is a picture of when we had just finished before putting the mantel on.
Now that the outside was
done though it was time to tackle the inside of the fireplace hearth.....
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