If it's going to be a wood burning FP, then the bigger the better. We have a very big stone FP and we love the size of it, plus the heat come winter!

Our's goes up to the ceiling and it has a stone mantel.

Forgot to add, the FP shown above is a good example of how much stone you want on either side...at least. I wouldn't go less than that in inches even if it means you'll need the smaller insert.

If you want a fireplace design that performs flawlessly, then you design a fireplace exactly to the dimensions in the table on this page. If this means getting out a sledge hammer to help you, then so be it. Sorry, but it was time for some tough love.

I should have included that it will be a gas fireplace. I am awful at looking at a pic and figuring dimensions from it.

Would you say that the sample pic has about a foot of stone on either side of the box and 2 feet above?

cristopherjames, what table are you referring to?

To my eye that looks more like 18 on sides and 24 on top. I think you need to decide on how huge you want this to be. Do you want it to fit in the entire space between window and door or do you want some wall between each item. I worry that you will not have enough space between door and surround and I really think you need to have some wall showing. Do you have to have a window on the other side? Not sure what else is going on in room.

When we were installing our gas fireplace, I got brochures from all the major companies. There were many ideas from the living/bedroom/bath rooms they showed. We bought a Mendota which we are happy with, but I looked at a number of other company brochures when we were planning builtins/windows on that wall. So, my suggestion is go with the pros who want to show their fireplace in the best possible way. We did pick up ideas from them.

Kristin, here are a couple pics of our FP (woodburning w/a gas starter so we can later convert to gas logs if we want). Our insert is 41" wide for the door opening and 43" total. It's hard to see since our tile is black, but our insert has 8" of metal at the bottom, so how wide the bottom of your insert is will make a difference for you. I wanted the tile to be even all around the box, so it's about 8" - 9" around the insert.

The height of our mantle is about 56-1/2" and the width of the columns is about 75" (I didn't measure the top of the mantle since it blends into our bookcase on the left as you can see in the 2nd pic.) If it didn't run into the bookcase, it would be about 85" - 86" wide.

For scale, the wall that the FP is on is about 13-1/2' wide just to the doors.

HTH!

Kristin

Congrats on your remodel

Are you working w/Architect or designer? Personally I would want the fp centered on the wall w/some heft to either side. Meaning some wall space, lentils (legs) for the mantle & surround & not crowded by window which may detract from a focal point. I would also consider some symmetry on that wall -

Once you have the overall design: wall, windows, FP I would sit with the person whom is building the fp - a few things come to mind: Windows will have an effect on the draft/venting of the fp
2nd - depending on the firebox (actual opening) will then dictate what the surround should be. There are strict codes to adhere to when building a fp - ie "no combustible materials within..." so that will also play into the mix before deciding on the aesthetics

The surround is aesthetic, the hearth has function - but the fireplace must be built adhering to code first

Link below may help you decide

hope that helps

Here is a link that might be useful: images of fp

bump

Hello,

Thanks for the responses. and thanks for the link jejvtr.

I def want the fireplace flanked by floor to ceiling windows/sliders. Below are some pics of what I am envisioning with regards to the windows--but I want the fireplace itself to be like the pic in my original post.

We have a long room that is about 29 feet long. 13 feet of it is the dining area and 16 feet of it is the family room area.

What is pictured in the original post is the 16 feet of windows there now in the living room area. That is the area where the fireplace will go. Although the fireplace will have different size windows on either side, it will be straight ahead when you come up the stairs into the room (we have a split level). I can't have the same size windows on either side as one needs to be a slider to the deck.

What do you think?

Would you be able to put in a single French door instead of the slider? That would allow you to have some symmetry which I think you might want on that wall. (All three of the above pics are symmetrical, and if it's the focal point as you walk in...) That way, you could have a 6' or 7' surround and still have room for the door on one side and a window of the same width on the other side. But I do agree with Jejvtr that you need to find out what the specs are for the firebox first.

I have gone back and forth regarding whether it's going to look okay with different size windows. The problem is that we have a floor vent that would need to be moved if we wanted the windows/doors to be the same size. I am not sure how big of a project that is. Also, a french door will take up more space when opening vs a slider.

Maybe I need to look into how much effort it will be to move the vent over.

The windows in the unfinished pic above are different sizes--you can see if you look closely--but i can't see what it looks like overall.

This is the reasons we have not done this yet--I don't want to spend all the money and then have it look weird. Although my family all thinks its going to look fine with the different size windows--but they are not decorating experts!

kristinekr-

Here's a pic of our LR with french doors to the left of the FP and what was supposed to be a window seat (but has morphed into a plant annex) to the right. As you can see, the two openings are not symmetrical, but the FP is in the middle of the room and the door/window openings are each centered in their respective areas (if that makes sense). The room is something like 24 x 17. The FP is almost 9' across at its widest point, the ceiling is 14' high at its highest point.

As you can see, the windows on the other wall don't match either, but again, they are centered on that wall. If you can live with it depends on your tolerance for asymmetry and things not being matchy-matchy. Our tolerance is high, the whole house is a mish-mosh of styles and stuff, and we were more concerned about capturing views and having good accesst to the outdoors than having things look symmetrical.

Good luck-

sandyponder

Kristen, you need to talk to a brick mason. Find a good one because they're excellent at their craft and know what they're doing.

Find many pictures that you like and show it to the mason. Will you be using real or faux stone?

I'm assuming the masons install the faux stone, I don't know. We have real stone.

These guys will answer all your questions and give you the best advice after you show them pictures and what you want.

They'll be the one's who will tell you if it will work or not. And it should be free of charge for the consult if you hire them to do the work.

You need a professional for this.