akamainegrower....you hit the nail right on the head....:) This is why I have been struggling so much with the situation. I have worried that reducing the size of the hearth might make the wall look too overbearing - out of proportion. When we removed the wood stove and the big black stove pipe that went up the middle of the design, I loved this even more. I designed it and drew it up right down to the exact amount of bricks needed, then had a local guy brick it up for me. I wanted a slight rise/arch, not a McDonald's type arch and when he first did the small left column, it was just too much. He kept telling me that it would blend together once finished. When he left that day, I just kept looking at it and knew I would look at it the rest of my life....so I removed it. When he came back the following day, he wasn't surprised and admitted that after leaving he told his other workers I would probably do that. Glad I didn't disappoint him...LOL I know I just need to weigh out the benefit vs the desire to have the additional room....:( I also know that once started...there is no going back. The home was built in 1979 and we removed the wall (engineered metal support beam) between the living room and dining/kitchen room which really opened it up. It allows you to view this accent wall from the living room (now great room) which you couldn't before. We removed a window and door, and installed Marvin French doors that open to a deck which lets a lot of light in. The extra 2 feet I would gain would allow me to center the table with the ceiling light fixture and the French doors. I am perplexed that if I do it and hate/ruin it I will regret it and if I don't do it I will always wonder what it could have been. I do appreciate your input. It helps to have someone on the outside looking in. I especially appreciate you pointing out the same concerns I have had.

Wow! That's expensive. But, maybe that's for a huge fireplace. I want a traditional colonial looking fireplace for its looks, not heating. My house is 170 years old and has 7 fireplaces in it, but not one I trust because we moved the house and I know the chimnies both have cracks in them. Not big enough to be stuctual problems, but enough that I don't want to build a fire in any of the fireplaces. I am adding on to the house and want to put a fireplace I can use in the new living room. I read in another thread that a chimney built from block and covered with brick around the firebox and above the roof line ran about $8000 a few years ago.

nhb, thanks, we like the details in this room too. The house was built in the 1920s and the woodwork in this room is mahogany. It's the only room in our house that has such nice trim, though. gwb and sheesh, thanks for noticing my bunny. It's actually a mask that we bought during our recent trip to Italy. The artist's shop was one we went to just because it was in a book we had, not intending to buy "one of those tacky Italian masks" -- LOL -- the masks were amazing! I had to have the bunny. The wire cage thing... I guess you call it a finial? Um, more leftover Christmas decorations -- it had been empty but I was going to fill it with ornaments/balls for Christmas -- didn't have enough to fill it, but then I kinda liked it partway full. And yes, it's almost Feb. and they're still there! I think I'll keep them there. So far the general consensus is to keep the paintings the way they were and keep the candleholder there by itself... at least until I find something better! If I could find some pottery, maybe 3 squatty pots in various sizes that picked up the dark greens and purple tones from that painting, that might make me happy...

I actually just went through this. My family room had a floor to ceiling brick veneer wall with fireplace and a hearth spanning the length of the wall which extended out about 18" x 18". B/c the wall was a veneer (i.e. a single layer of brick butting up against studs and insulation) I was leary of framing over it with 2" x 4" to hang drywall, shelves, TV's etc. It was also huge (20' x 10' wall), took up too much space and made the room look a lot darker. I believe alot of home owners did this back in the 70's, but the wife and I just weren't into it. In any event, for removal, I thought about using an angle grinder with a diamond wheel, but then I thought of the incredible amount of dust which would be generated and went after it instead with a cold pick chisel (or brick chisel) and a small sledgehammer (otherwise known as a "drilling" hammer). I'd basically go at it with the chisel in the mortar seams. Once I got the top row out (it butted right up to the ceiling drywall) the rest of the wall came down relatively easily. It took about 3 days (30 hours) and once completed I counted over 500 bricks and about 20 bags of broken mortar. I decided to save the whole bricks I was able to harvest from the wall and clean them with the chisel to remove excess mortar in case I'd like to use it for a future project (which probably added 2-4 hours to the job). As others have noted in this forum, the veneer is "held" to the studs and/or back wall using small thin strips of metal. The center of the strip is nailed to the stud and the ends of the strip were stuck into the morter between the bricks. The 18" extruding hearth was a little more difficult as the inside center (once I removed the outside bricks) contained large cement blocks. To "frame" out the fireplace and hearth to the size that we wanted I used the chisel and cut bricks where necessary. This by no means gives you a smooth cut, and I will need to tack a frame back around the fireplace edge and fill in the gaps with mortar to complete the job. Above the fireplace underneath the veneer was either brick, cement or a wooden header (at the top). When attaching studs to this I used both tapcons and masonery nails. Luckily I had a large wooden header at the top of the wall which I screwed into with 3" nails to hold the top of my stud frame. I first screwed/nailed in two by fours and then build it up further with 1" x 4" studs. Extending the depth of the frame was necessary so that I'd have enough space in the wall above the fireplace to contain electrical boxes, electical/video/audio cables and in-wall speakers. I also used this new frame to fasten the HDTV to. Other's have noted concerns about fireplace heat in regards to hanging HDTV above it and installing framing ontop of the brick. Our fireplace holds a wood pellet stove that is a closed system to increase efficiency. In this way, little heat actually goes up and out the chimney as a blower motor forces it all out into the room. I have little heat above the fireplace b/c of the way the stove is engineered, so I wasn't too concerned about damaging the TV or excessive heating of the chimney material above the fireplace creating a fire hazard with the wood frame that was added. I'll admit, it was alot of work and alot of material to remove, but then again, demo-ing a room (especially a room built back in the 60's) is always a messy job. Hope this info helps anyone interested in tackling the same job. smithmal