Jennifer Coppola At Home
Fireplace Remodel: Safety First, Aesthetics Close Second
Mar 1
2 min read
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Our family room has been off to a slow start. The room started off as the unpacking room where all of our moving boxes lived for about 3 months. We purposely had all boxes placed here so it would force us to unpack and motivate us to use the room. Our plan worked for the unpacking process, but using the room as it was intended has taken a little longer.
We were very happy to have a gas fireplace in our family room after living in apartments that never had this as a feature. The TV would go above the fireplace and since there was already an electrical outlet and cable connection, we thought this was the one room where we didn’t have to do any work. Well, we were wrong.
After using the fireplace for a half hour one day, John thought that the wall above the fireplace (and where the TV would call home) felt a little too hot. He measured the temperature with one of the handy temperature guns on hand and it measured close to 185 degrees Fahrenheit, which is above the threshold that an electronic device can handle. We didn’t want our new TV to melt and realized that we needed a fireplace remodel.
We visited Bowden Fireplaces in Hamilton, NJ where we received some great recommendations on how to redirect the heat and enhance the look of our fireplace. This was one project that we didn't want to "DIY" so we were happy to hire this out.
Fireplace Remodel: Mantel, stone surround, and tread stone
Total time installation: 2 days
The floating mantel that we chose looks like distressed wood but is actually made of concrete. This helps redirect the heat when the fireplace is on into the room, rather than directly above to the TV. The great thing about this mantel is that you cannot tell that it's not real wood. The stain color coordinates with the hardwood floors and contrasts nicely against the wall color.
The stone was a choice I made directly with Bowden and I wanted a neutral color with a lot of texture. I do love color but I don't like making bold color choices on tile, flooring, or countertops since it's expensive and messy to make a change. I do love the stone that was picked though and can happily live with it for years.
Finally, the tread stone was laid on top of our existing hardwood floor. The tread stone wasn't on our list of materials when we first went to Bowden but was recommended to make the fireplace look complete. What we didn't know was that this tread stone was also going to plug up a draft that we noticed and couldn't locate! The tread stone sealed up the gap and we are no longer getting cold air from the outside creeping in.
What do you think about our choices? Let me know in the comments.
