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Cowracer
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 10:07am
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The last puzzle piece for my fireplace is I need some sort of hearth stone or something for the ledge in front of it.
Right now the ledge is just bare plywood. I'm trying to come up with some sort of 'stunning' way to finish it. Despite being in the corner, the fireplace is a visual focus of the room, and I need something with a bit of 'wow' to complete it.
I was thinking maybe of making a concrete 'countertop' for it, but I'm not sure if I am up to the task of making it look like anything other than a slab of sidewalk. The ledge is 12" deep and preferably I want something that hangs over an inch or so. The bottom veneer stones on either side of the fireplace are not installed permanent yet, so thickness of the hearth is not critical. I'll remove the stones, install the hearth, and then cut the stones down to size before I put them in for good.
I know there are some creative folk out there that have better ideas than me. I've been all over the internet looking for ideas, but nothing has jumped out and grabbed me yet.
Tim
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Just
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 11:26am
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A fire proof hearth mat may be all you need lots on line !!
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skootamattaschmidty
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 05:49pm
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Looking at the colour on the walls I had a different thought... What if you formed up concrete and not be too worried about the finish and then clad that over with a sheet of copper. May look really cool and as it changes colour will add character. I've never tried anything like that but just came to me when I saw the pic. May be pricey though. I love the stone work you did.
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rockies
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 08:19pm - Edited by: rockies
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A dark gray concrete hearth. It will tie in with all the other colors in the room and hide soot as well. Just mix a dark gray colorant into the concrete mortar mix.
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 28 Sep 2016 11:32pm
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Quoting: skootamattaschmidty Looking at the colour on the walls I had a different thought... What if you formed up concrete and not be too worried about the finish and then clad that over with a sheet of copper. May look really cool and as it changes colour will add character. I've never tried anything like that but just came to me when I saw the pic. May be pricey though. I love the stone work you did.
OOOohh! Now THAT would pop. I might have to see what the $$$ would be on that.
Tim
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KinAlberta
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# Posted: 30 Sep 2016 05:48pm - Edited by: KinAlberta
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In our city house, we have a similar design with large stone slabs that of the same stone as the vertical but it didn't look very good. So we covered it with black granite stone tiles. (Galaxy black maybe? With copper and silver flecks in it.) It transformed the whole look of the fireplace.
In your case a black granite would match the fireplace insert/metal work.
With a bit of cement board you could build it out a bit to give it more substance.
After he'd put the stone tiles down with the the edges of the top tiles showing along the face, I was worried about the grey/white look of the cut edges of the granite but our contractor said don't worry. Once he'd grouted everything in black grout it looked great. Pourous or rough edges I guess absorbed some grout colour and pretty much visually disappeared.
Googled images here. We had a similar look in the first place and now have a look similar to the second photo link. Note how the contrast looks good.
http://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/0721b35f02fa8b92_4-1444/indoor-fireplaces.jpg
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/dd/87/bc/dd87bc80c07c64368ee57baf6ed25 777.jpg
Because you have amber coloured walls. Some sort of espresso (VERY dark brown) knot coloured stone might tie everything together.
I'm facing a 'colour coordination' issue in our cabins. Both have varnished knotty pine walls that have that amber look. The original flooring looks good with unvarnished pine but that hasn't been the case for decades. The varnish changes everything.
Anyway, I've taken a number of floor samples out and not much looks good in there so I'm still looking. However one sample had very dark brown grain in it, which seemed to tie in with the walls better than any of the other samples. I think it's because of the similar colour in the knotty pine's knots.
Also, very dark grey also looked ok but not GREAT - which is what I'm after. (I've used Home Depot's 1x2 black tiles for a kitchen countertop. Their black is more like a very dark grey. It looks ok and 'works' with the amber walls and my yellowed maple cupboards.)
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Cowracer
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# Posted: 3 Oct 2016 10:17am
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KinAlberta and Rockies
Thanks SO much for the pictures. I like that look. I would have never in a million years thought of a black (or extremely dark grey) hearth, but I think that might just be the way to go. The contrast pleases the eye very well.
I might try do to do a DIY concrete top. What the hell... If it looks bad, I can always break it up and fall back to Plan B.
Tim
P.S. ~ Alberta, I used a dark brown floor with my amber shellac walls. I think the colors work very well together.
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