Brick is still the main material used to build fireplaces. Some looks great. In all the homes we owned (7 to be exact) we had brick. We only chose to change the brick fireplace in one home because it was ugly and dominated the room. I think if your brick is done right, if it's attractive, if it is to scale in the room, doesn't overwhelm the room then it won't become a decorator's nightmare in the future. I know the trend today is towards sleek, modern looking minimalist fireplaces, but I believe that is just a trend, and like all trends will be gone in a few years. If you like brick and like the look of your fireplace design then go for it and enjoy.

Thanks for weighing in Cordovamom. This makes me feel a little better about our choice. Guess I am living in the past but I thought most fireplaces were all brick. Seems I am not very observant as in the last two days, every one I have looked at or asked about is only bricked around the face of the fireplace. You are an engouragement to go ahead.

Nina

Hostagirl1 we too are using red brick, with a white mantel. We were debating over stone or brick and came to the conclusion that the brick was timeless, and more flexible in decorating. If you rent the movie Something's Gotta Give, there is an absolutely beautiful brick fireplace.

I also love brick fireplaces - they can be very beautiful. The reason we are tearing down our brick fireplace is that the scale is much too large plus it was built strangely - recessed between either side of a long wall with sides that stick out. So we have the wall sides inside of which are the jutting out brick sides - looks very strange. Plus low ceiling but the brick goes floor to ceiling - very dominant. And painted dark gray to boot!

I guess I'm trying to say that some people have a valid design reason for taking out brick (while others may just want a different look) so don't let that concern you. Brick imho is still very classic and classy. I think it'd look great in your country french home on the lake!

Hi hostagirl,

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a nice brick fireplace although there seems to be a lot of people refacing them....me included. You may have seen my post about refacing my red brick job. For me, it was just time for a change of decor and if you did see my post, you'll see that I'm doing it in such a way that there will be no damage to the brick. Myself or a subsequent owner may want to go back.

Ontario DIYguy

Have you ever heard or considered a Tulikivi? Since you are
constructing a new home? Or have you considered smaller designs by Wittus in Soapstone or Willach of Germany.
I suggest because I have friends that are in Upstate NY that have the smaller designed wittus unit in Soapstone it heats very evenly & doesn't blow you out of the room like most Cast iron inserts do. Of course if you want the ultimate in efficiency some people will not settle for anything less than a Tulikivi with a bake oven attached.
Good Luck
www.virginiaradiant.com
www.wittus.com

Just to hightlight what several other posters mentioned - its all in the scale and use of the material, not just the material itself. I've refaced a lot of brick fireplaces in other materials, and I've also refaced other materials with brick. The results were great in both cases.

A common theme seems to be that if the architect/designer tried to make a statement by some imposing design, or novel color or texture of brick, it later looks dated and gets refaced or torn out.

If the architect/designer takes the approach that the fireplace is just one part of the room, and uses materials in moderation, and materials that are more neutral, then the design becomes more timeless, and we don't find ourselves replacing it.

So, when you choose "used brick", try to get "gently used", not "driven around in a cement mixer" used. Choose classic colors, rather than trendy colors. And even in a large room, try to envision what a large expanse of one material will look like, vs. perhaps using that material along with complementary materials.

Oh, and brick samples are kind of like paint samples, only worse. If you look at one brick, a heavily varied texture might look good, but when you lay out a bunch, it starts to look very different indeed.

Reinhardt
quelle@homebedazzle.com

I agree with everyone else...there is nothing like a traditional brick fireplace. So many today are the pre-fab units with bricked frnts to simulate a real fire place and some do a pretty good job.

The thing I have found is that it is hard to find a mason that really knows how to build the firebox to draft properly. It is an art so I am told and my contractor says even the few masons left around that know how to build a traditional hand laid firebox don't always get it just right. Everything hinges on height, depth, width, height of chimney run... .Trust me, a fireplace that drafts poorly will be your nemesis.

That is where the alternative comes in and I am surprised that I have not seen them mentioned here. There are 2 semi-pre fab units (for lack of better words), one called Isokern and another called Firerock. Both are true masonary units but that are engineered to specific tolerances to make sure there are no drafting issues. The fireboxes are modular sections of a special high strength concrete mix engineered to withstand high levels of heat and are put together on site using mortar/thinset mix. They are then bricked in on the inside using traditional fire brick and on the outside using the brick or stone of your choice.

I have inspected, touched, hit/banged on and scrutinized these units and thay are absolutely the real thing when completed with out the worry that it will draft. The only draw back is that the biggest one is a 48 inch (inside clearance) firebox so if you are looking at a really big fireplace, this will not work. That said, the biggest - the Firerock Magnum 48 inch is pretty huge. It will hold a 36-42 inch log which is big no doubt.

BTW, this is the one I am putting in my house. They are not a cheaper alternative either, just more reliable when it comes to drafting. I believe the allowance for my unit all in is $10 or $12 thousand but I have a quite long chimney run through the roof of about 25 feet all brick up a gable end.

If your interested, both have pretty extensive websites.

Fire Rock units can be ordered in custom sizes to create a fireplace opening even larger than 48 inches - as large as 72 inches. There are some pictures of oversized boxes on the website link below.

These masonry fireplace kits allow you to get the quality and look of a masonry fireplace built out of brick - but at a cheaper price, quicker installation.

Also, the kits are pre engineered to work the same way everytime. One of the big issues with brick fireplace contruction is finding a mason who can really build the firepalce correctly.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oversized Fireplace Pictures

Not only do i have brick fireplaces, but i even painted the living room one to look like white washed brick. my wife i actually--but the stuff we used is worth taking a look at-i will include it in the link section.
mw

Here is a link that might be useful: brickanew

Ok-I am trying to figure out what to do with our floor to ceiling 70's brick fireplace and when I called the tile guy to find out about putting travertine on it-he said that I might want to hold off because he is seeing more and more brick in the higher end new homes. I think if I were designing a fireplace-it might be brick but wouldn't look as boring as ours does-floor to ceiling with a rectangle cut out for the glass doors-I agree with others that the style and type of brick are very important. Good luck with your house.

Another perspective. We have a used brick, with fire brick and tile liner wall with three fues, one for the master bedroom (fireplace has wooden/Dry Wall finish) one to the basement and one on the main floor which support a large fireplace with a large wood storage bin (with it's own exterior door for loading, we don't us it for that for obvious reasons), all finished inside with used brick. The whole unit is on an exterior wall with the flues exterior to the house proper all enclosed in used brick, real brick, may have block underneath, I don't know.

I don't recommend it if you're going to use it for heating, and I'd recommend it for decorating reasons only if that's real important, and would ask why not use brick veneer? Then the flues could be enclosed in an insulated structure that would help keep the flues warmer, cutting back on smell and improving the draft and heat utilization when heating with wood. Of course if you're using the fireplace "open" you'll be doing good to break even on heat gain/loss.

We're having the chimney people out on Tuesday to clean two of the flues, maybe power clean the flue to the main floor, it is used the most, and then install a "LockTop" damper at the top of the main fireplace flue so we can close a "storm door" like damper when the unit isn't in use. All this will run about $800, something to keep in mind when one thinks they are saving money when burning hard wood, we did use an insert in the main and it did heat well. We've been here almost 20 years and have burned upwards of two cords in a season, less in recent years. Not sure what all has changed, it isn't the used brick construction, but we have noticed an increase, under some weather conditions, of the old fire smell, thus the above mentioned work is intended to correct...we will of course have to remove the insert as the damper requires access to a chain coming down the flue for its operation, we'll just use he fireplace for ambiance on a few times a year going forward.

The subject of smell has been on the forum many times, and there is a general consensus that an exterior masonry chimney is more problematic than an interior chimeny or one in an insulated enclosure, as is done, I believe, in most stainless chimney installations that have a simple frame box around the chimney to cover its route to the roof.