Fireplaces: Straight From The Hearth

October 5, 2004

For those who make and sometimes install fireplaces, the fulfillment level can go infinitely higher, as clients turn to them to help create an image and a design that sometimes serves as more than the centerpiece of a room’s décor.
However, it’s not a responsibility that can be taken lightly. While finding the right stone for a particular job may not be difficult, jobs often require more than just a slab to work with. And, with much of the work being done in three dimensions, it’s fabrication that still needs plenty of handcrafting.
Design and installation offer other concerns as well as building and fire safety issues. And, it pays to keep an eye on the overall weight of a job; the vertical nature of these projects also means that installation can require something more than a thin adhesive.

NATURAL APPEAL
Santa Claus may have an affinity for masonry fireplaces, but when it comes to good looks and creativity, natural stone is the preferred choice of many homeowners. The reason: versatility.
“The number-one element with natural stone is its beauty,” says Stephen Cantryn of Powell River Custom Tile and Marble in Powell River, B.C. “There are a lot of synthetic products out there, but they don’t have the same appeal. The beauty of stone comes from Mother Nature and it lasts for generations.”
“There’s an unlimited number of things we can do with limestone,” says Michael Donham of the Bloomington, Ind.-based Accent Limestone and Carving. “Just leave it to your imagination, and we can do it.”
Whether facing a fireplace with granite or marble, creating a hand-carved masterpiece from limestone or building both beauty and practicality with a soapstone installation, the biggest issue for many of these people is the weight of their creations.
Walter S. Arnold, a Chicago-based sculptor and stone carver who specializes in carved limestone and marble fireplaces, says that issues regarding building and fire codes are typically the concern of others involved in new construction.
“The fire safety is usually handled by the mason who’s building the firebox,” Arnold says. “If the firebox is built properly and draws properly, there’s only a small amount I need to be concerned about. There are rules on the depth of the hearth and the width of noncombustible materials around the outside, but that’s pretty standard.”
Donham says that’s an area the general contractor deals with on new construction projects because they’re familiar with local codes. In fact, he says the only time he’s had anyone raise a concern was with a fireplace he sent to California – and the issues related to earthquake safety, rather than fire.
Still, it’s a good idea to be familiar with local regulations, says Dean Young, president of Southwest Tile and Marble in Oklahoma City.
“The fire codes generally set the dimensions from the firebox to any combustible material and that varies from city to city,” Young says. “Two of the cities we commonly work in have different codes for the depth of the hearth and the surround.”
A weightier concern can be well … weight. Bill Hopp of Dixie Cut Stone and Marble in Bridgeport, Mich., says in a new home, that’s usually an issue best handled by the builder. On retrofits, however, there may be a contractor, or it might fall to the homeowner.
“If the homeowner comes to us directly, we can tell them what the weights are,” he says. “We don’t take on the responsibility for weight issues or the floor load.”
Cantryn notes that most fireplaces go on exterior walls and go right through the floor to the foundation of the house. Where that’s not the case, Young says a facing may be the best answer because it can be cut from 2cm material and assembled to give the appearance of large blocks without the weight.
“In some cases we recommend extra support, especially if the fireplace is away from the wall quite a bit,” says Donham. “Most of the time it’s not really a problem, but we take each job on a case-by-case basis.”

RIGHT APPROACH
When it comes to stone selection, there really aren’t a lot of wrong answers – at least from a technical side.
Powell River’s Cantryn says he advises his clients against going with something soft for the hearth because it’s the area most likely to be scratched by metal fireplace tools. Otherwise, he suggests going with stones native to a particular area. If the buyer is thinking about future resale value, he says, an inappropriate stone can diminish that.
“If somebody wants a traditional look, they go with stone that’s available locally,” he says. “Of course, there’s only one stone that’s right for a particular project, and a lot does depend on individual taste.”
Southwest Tile’s Young agrees that the customer’s tastes go a long way toward dictating the best stone for a particular job.
“We want to know the style and the look they want to achieve,” Young says. “If they want an Old-World look or distressed stone, we’ll steer them toward a limestone or a lighter marble in a honed finish. If they’re looking for a more-formal look, we’ll show them some polished marbles.”
Accent Limestone’s Donham concurs that the desired look often dictates the stone. In his case, many prefer buff limestone for its look. Others, looking for a more-natural appearance, go with a rustic stone.
“When it’s an interior look, it’s going to show everything,” he adds. “We really sift through the pieces we’re going to use for fireplaces.”
Stone carver Arnold agrees with Cantryn that finding a stone that fits the area is best. From there, he looks for one that isn’t too soft or too crumbly or too brittle, and can be worked with and across the grain.
“It’s a combination of experience and eyeballing; if there’s any question, I’ll get a sample of the stone and do a test carve,” Arnold says.
Thanks to today’s central-heating systems, fireplaces have become more of a decorative feature and much less of a heat source than they were even a few decades ago. Where customers are looking for natural stone that helps heat, the most obvious answer is soapstone.
Ron Pihl of Pray, Mont.-based Cornerstone Masonry, says the most cost-effective method for most people is to have a company such as his import a Tulikivi soapstone stove from Finland.
His shop also builds custom soapstone installations and will face them with another stone at a customer’s request.
“They have to understand there’s going to be possibly a lowering of efficiency if they face it,” he says. “Often they’re willing to accept that to get the look they want. And, when we go to a core and a hand-built approach, the time it takes to build and the price usually goes up.”

3D PUZZLE
That pretty much holds true regardless of who’s doing a custom project. The finished price depends on the amount of work involved, much of which is handcrafted.
“We do a lot of veneer that’s dressed in different ways to accentuate the opening,” says Dixie’s Hopp. “We do limestone carvings that can get very ornate. Consequently, I’ve done mantles for more than $50,000 and for as little as $1,000 for something very simple.”
Being a full-service shop, Hopp says every effort is made to keep costs down as much as possible, although handwork is pretty standard for most of these projects.
“We’ll machine out as much as we can to help the process and eliminate hours spent by a carver, if we can,” he says. “There are many things that aren’t doable with the CNC and the profilers. The carver will have to finish it up.”
Powell River’s Cantryn says fabricating a fireplace is pretty much done utilizing hand tools. Accent Limestone’s Donham concurs.
“We’ll run things through a planer if the fireplace is big enough we can put a piece of stock on there and get several pieces out of it,” Donham says. “A lot of the time the pieces are so small that we do complete fireplaces without any machine work on them at all.”
Not surprisingly, time is often a major commodity in fabricating these fireplaces. Because he’s working by hand, sculptor Arnold says it typically takes four to nine months to turn a job around, depending on his backlog and the availability of stone.
“It’s not like the countertop people who have everything in stock and ready to turn around in a few days,” he says. “With dimensional stone, it has to be cut from blocks, so it can take months to get the stone.”
Arnold relates that he recently completed a marble fireplace 14’6” tall that involved some 70 different pieces and took 14 months to finish. He may turn out other jobs in as little as two months.
The other difference between fireplaces and countertops is their installation. It’s not a job that every installer of countertops and vanities may be trained to do. Southwest’s Young says there are several differences.
“A fireplace – depending on the stone, the sizes of the stone and the structure we’re anchoring to – may need different types of adhesives or anchors,” he says. “There is more movement in a wall, so we depend mostly on mechanical fasteners on wall facades, either stainless-steel wire tie anchors or strap-type anchors.”
Donham says it’s more comparable to doing a window surround on the exterior of a building.
“You’re using stainless-steel pins or you’re using different J anchors or S’anchors from stainless steel,” Donham says. “Almost everything is dry set, and then we come back and tuck point later on.”
One big concern, Powell River’s Cantryn says, is using the proper mortar.
“You want something that’s not going to stain the marble or granite,” he says. “Some of the marbles are quite light in color and mortars that are gray can form a cloud formation on your rock. You want to use a white mortar. Then, you can use epoxy grout to seam the joints.”
Particularly with carved limestone or marble projects that may be shipped around the country, those building fireplaces aren’t necessarily installing them. Many rely on stonemasons or even tile setters to do the work.
Arnold, for instance, says it’s up to the homeowner to arrange the installation of one of his creations, although he has a list of people – mainly architectural marble setters and stone setters – he’s been working with for years.
“It needs to be people who are used to doing three-dimensional installations” he says. “A traditional marble setter or stone setter is best because they’re used to working on the vertical with heavier pieces, and they’re used to fitting pieces together in three dimensions.”
Regardless of whether they’re fabricating and installing fireplaces, or carving them and leaving the installation to others, the people who specialize in these projects note that it takes natural stone’s image of beauty and permanence way beyond that of a countertop.
“Architecturally, for an interior, it can be the most-important element and the most-important feature of the house,” says Arnold. “It has to give a focus and make a statement to fit the whole house.”
“It makes such a bold statement I think it expresses confidence in what the house is,” echoes Cantryn. “It’s something they’re not going to change. It can stand alone because of the confidence of the person who built it, and the craftsmanship is what counts.”