Help! Remodeling a 70s brick fireplace.?

Question

My wife and I bought a 1978 colonial with a natural fireplace. The original brick is a bit dated and we've talked about giving it a face lift. We've considered tile, stone, sheet rock as well as mounting drywall over it to limit the exposed brick. We have no idea about cost - whether we could do it ourselves (very limited home repair experience) or if we should contract it out. We want to avoid painting the brick.

The second issue is the mounting of a flat screen above the fireplace. We want to avoid exposed cords and are concerned about whether the height will be too high to enjoy (will we be craning our necks) the viewing experience? What type of mount works best? Cost estimate?

Answer 1

The best solution is a faux stone, its lightweight, affordable and simple enough where average homeowner should be able to apply it. You can always tuckpoint the brick, and even paint it to change the color.

  as far as the flat screen, run the electric behind the wall(demo) before you start with your new fireplace covering. IF you don't already install a mantel, this will help redirect heat away from the lcd. Some people dont recommend installing tv above fireplace due to heat, adn i'm not 100% sure if true but hear it could void warranty. But again many people still do it

      

Answer 2

with very limited diy experience contract this out there are fire codes that need to be followed around any open source flame best to start small projects till you get more experienced and with a new house you will definitely get more experience   as for your tv  yeah my guess it would be to high  but take some measurments and see   at the same time your having work done on fireplace have a electrcian come in and run new circuit for fireplace