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Flooring Design Dilemma Fireplaces

Help! Ideas for trim around brick fireplace and wooden beams?

Anne Blackstock-Bernstein

3 years ago

My new home has a huge (double) brick fireplace and hearth that is the centerpiece of the house--the entryway, living room, and dining room all circle around it. The previous owners installed trim that is meant to match the oak hardwood floors, but I don't like it. I'm wondering what my alternatives are. I wish I could avoid using trim at all so I could have a clean line between the floor and fireplace, but is the space between the bricks too wide? Would a quarter round look less noticeable than the existing trim?

There are also 3 vertical wooden beams that have the same trim at the floor, even though the beams are much darker. Could I remove this trim entirely? Or replace it with something different? Would it look strange to have a different trim just around the beams (smaller, stained a different color, etc.)?

This is my first home, so I'm really new at this...any advice is appreciated! In an ideal world, I'd replace all the trim in the house, since I don't like the way it looks, but that seems like an awfully big project that I don't think I'm up for.

Comments (2)

vicki denson
3 years ago
This is your home and you need to have what you like. Buy a couple of different types of trim and set them in front of the brick, you need to see it to find out if you like it. But I would consider this a long term project and be prepared to change all trim in the house eventually. Also measure where you want this new trim so you can do the math and determine if it is worth the cost.

The dark brown edges in the doorways would be driving me crazy.
PRO
Hansen Wholesale
3 years ago
You would need to remove some of it to see how it looks without it. Could be that there is a sizeable gap between the brick and the wood floor. Since that trim ties right in with all the other baseboard trim, it would look odd to change it to something different.

Here's a good article I found regarding how hardwood floors should be installed around a brick fireplace: https://macwoods.com/hardwood-meets-brick-fireplace/

I find it concerning that there is no hearth beneath the fireplace. It is required that there be a non-combustible hearth at least 16" - 20" deep and 8" to 12" wider than the opening, depending on this size of the opening.

You may want to consider adding Glass Doors to your fireplace if you plan on using it.
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