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.

Oh my gosh, I just talked to this guy today. You should call him. He totally gets color!!! His name is Michael Kornell, VP Sales & Marketing of Eco-Wares, 866-874-8070 Â Toll Free, 703-425-0439 Â Direct Line. Eco-Wares offers Trojan Masonry Sealer that leaves no trace, but they also have a TINTED one called Color Sealer. He's sending me the color chart of 36 colors. Yes, 36 colors! According to Michael, TCS dramatically changes the color of your brick without making it shiny, it's matte, it is permanent, and waterbased. It's a green product ta boot. Coolest stuff I've come across in a long time. Really excited about it. If you call him, get info, or use it, definitely post back. I don't have the color chart, so I can't make a guess at what might work to bring some harmony to your exterior, but honestly it doesn't sound like it would be that difficult to pull together a good exterior color combo. Here is a link that might be useful: CHANGE THE COLOR OF YOUR BRICK!

Yes, they had to sand it lightly and then carefully remove all dust and residue. I don’t get why you are buying this flooring to begin with though. I would never have bought it if I had known how poor the finish was and that the company didn’t care or stand behind their product. In the end, we spent much more than we would have if we had just bought a better product. There are quality wood and engineered floors out there. Why don’t you give them your business? I posted my experinece so that people could learn from my mistakes, not repeat them. 🙁

Thanks for all of the comments, minus a few they have been very helpful! No, it is not a custom built home, but they are quite excited, certainly not the end of the world, lol. It is bigger than it looks from the outside and has some nice views from the back and is well located next to schools, a rec center, bike paths and parks. They looked for an existing home in their price range, but they are flying off the market so fast in this area that every house they bid on was gone quickly. This house is on the smaller side in this neighborhood and yes they were not happy with the quality of some of the interior finishing touches offered so will probably be changing them quickly. Happily they sold their first home in one day, received multiple offers and nearly doubled their money. It was a small fixer upper that they rehabbed. The shame of this is that I would guess the model did not look like this and with the options they chose this was how the builder finished it off. I am sure it was in a picture and they missed this detail. Why any professional would think this was acceptable is beyond me. They could easily sell and get their money back and more if it bothers them too much. Housing stock is very limited here. Some of the ideas that have been suggested are not that expensive of a fix if they choose to do them. Thanks again for all of the productive comments. I have been passing them on along with all of the renderings. Special thanks to Pal!!! You have been so helpful, I am sure they will be ecstatic with all of the smart suggestions, many which they can do affordably!