I don't see why you couldn't use the flagstone, I think it's a great idea. Your fireplace is beautiful by the way!
V

Oh I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. We would like to put some kind of stone or rock on our fireplace as well and haven't found exactly what we're looking for yet.

In the model homes that our builder had on display, they had the fireplace with bricks/stones all the way up to the ceiling and it looked beautiful. But they charged $2500 to do it. Hubs thinks he can do it for much less.

I hope people will post pictures of their fireplaces w/stone on them for us to look at.

Your fireplace is beautiful by the way.

I don't have a picture, but my brother and his wife just did this to their fireplace. It looks beautiful!! They only put the stone in the area of where you have the tile. I don't remember if it was real or manmade (it looks like real stone), but either would work. We have a stone fireplace (real) and dh used manmade stone to build up the hearth. You can hardly tell the difference. I say go for it :-)

Like Shaun, I too will be keeping an eye on this topic and hope that many people will share their ideas.

Our builder wanted $7,500 to do the stone to the ceiling(2-story)and we took a pass. They put in the cheapest 12x12 tile just to pass code and no mantle so we will be starting from scratch.

Right about now I'd be happy with your "before" fireplace. It is beautiful.

You bet you can use Flagstone inside. It would be beautiful. As to whether or not the cultured stone would be "better"...LOL...that's a nice thread starter. tee hee I would say that for the most part the cultured stuff is less expensive but if you have your own handyman friend and a good resource for the flagstone it could work out better.

I live in the PNW where cultured stone in new houses is the norm. I have El Dorado Fieldledge on our exterior as well as two fireplaces. We love it. I'll post a few pics for you and if you Google Flagstone Fireplace images, you'll see many there too!! Good Luck on your project.

Here's my fireplace in Cultured Stone

Here's a few stone pics from my inspiration files

I found a picture of our stone fireplace. I think this is crab orchard stone (we live close by). Again, the top is real, the hearth, man made.

{{gwi:1544616}}

Thanks for the responses. I'm so happy that my picture posted!!! I've never been able to get that to work before. Woohoo!

I will probably try to do the real flagstone, since I think that it's cheaper here than the cultured stone. It's just a few dollars a stone from the local stone yard. I just wasn't sure if it would work inside or not, but you guys gave me the confidence to try it.

Do you think that expanding the white painted molding is a good idea? I was thinking of keeping the little trimming that is currently around the tile, and putting in a solid plain flat piece above it, with some sort of raised relief decoration in the middle,painted in the same white. Maybe that is too much ornamentation? Would it be better to leave the painted drywall, or to put the stone all the way up to the mantle? My fireplace screen (which is really a metal decorative wall hanging turned sideways) is pretty ornate already. Should I add to that theme with more molding, or would that be just too much?

How high is your ceiling? Do you have any more pics of the room in a longer shot? I'm not sure which flagstone you are looking at (there are many colors and shapes) but I put this one that has grays, golds and browns together and it looks great just below. If you have a bigger shot, I could do it to the ceiling. I would probably not keep the smaller trim as I don't think it goes as well with the rustic look of stone.

Thanks lindybarts for inserting that stone. I think that you're right about bringing it all the way up to the mantle. There is enough texture there already with the screen and stone that the extra molding would be overkill. I love it! I don't have any greys in the room, so I think that I would use beige/tan/rusty browns for the stone, which is what we have outside as well. That wall is angled up where it meets the ceiling (the right side of the fireplace wall is normal room height, but the other side of the room angles up to second story height), so I don't think that I want to emphasize that by bringing the stone all of the way up. (Plus, I love my SW empire gold walls and don't want to cover them up!) But I definitely like the look of the stone up to the mantle.

Thanks again!

We had ours done in limestone (native to our area) a few years ago when we had our stone patio built . The stonemason put the stone directly over the tile, and we had a hearth built up. The top of the hearth is one big piece of stone. We also had the stone built up to the mantle. It made a huge difference in the appearance of the room. If you can do it yourself, you can save $$$!

I read this post yesterday- and they finished our stone today. It's a fieldstone like cultured product local to our area.

We have been kind of "ignoring" our fireplaces with all the other things going on with our build and suddenly "here" they are! Since we did two types- one goes to the ceiling and one to the mantle thought I would post....

Stunning fireplaces, all of you who shared pictures! I'm loving the look of stone inside the home. I hope that mine turns out as nice as lindybarts, lafonda's, and ponydoc's.

You all have some beautiful warm looking fireplaces. I love stone. Here is a before and after DIY from a previous home.

Since you like the stone in your house and we do too, I thought I would share one more picture of how we used the man made stone. We still need to grout, but we really like how this came out. Please ignore the rest of the room, it's still a work in progress (we're going to make it a library with a fireplace and judges panels).

{{!gwi}}

OH these pictures are just beautiful! I see one that might be a good possibility for ours.

What kind of brick/stone is this? Anyone know?

{{!gwi}}

shaun, that photo was from the Owen's Corning site. It's Profit Ledgestone, and the color is Mojave.
Owen's Corning

Ah thanks so much, going to check it out now.

Just make sure your friend really does his homework. My neighbor had an inexperienced person install her fireplace and he really botched it up. Now she is looking to have someone else try and fix it. Just make sure he thinks about how it will look from all angles including the sides.

My husband is a bricklayer/stonemason. Of course, our FP is atrocious,ha.

I wanted to add that $2500 is a steal, $7500 is probably more like it.

Here is ours, Corinthian Granite, quarried in Queensbury, NY, dry stacked. We paid about $1200k for the stone and $1600k for installation.

Still don't have a mantel, we just can't decide whether we want stone or wood. Someday we'll get around to it.

sandyponder

::: waving to the man sitting at the table!!! :::

Beautiful fireplace!

Kathyga,

Was the botch of your neighbor's fireplace in the aesthetics or in the structure? I will be around for every project that my friend is going to do, so I think that I could help with the layout of the stone. But, I don't know anything about the nuts and bolts of attaching the stone to the wall. I worry that it might start falling off down the road. I will ask at the stone yard about how to do it right, but I wonder how difficult the installation really is. Our flagstone patio installation looked pretty straightforward, although easier, I'm sure, since it's not vertical.