San Diego Fireplace Contractor - Fireplace Design, Inspection, and Repair in San Diego (2023)

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Theunforgettable look of a stone fireplace

HistoricalElegance of a Batchelder Tile Fireplace

Buildinga RumfordFireplace - byPaul Walker

ARumford fireplace is a work of art. It's appreciated for its unique design and elegance, and well known forits superb heating efficiency. I began building Authentic Rumford fireplaces in London, England many years ago,and continue that tradition today in San Diego dedicated to old-worldexpertise and quality workmanship.

It'smypleasure to share with you just one of the many Rumford fireplaceprojects that have brought warmth and beauty to the homes of many of myfriends.

FireplaceLocation- Initial Layout

Whenwebegin your Rumford fireplace project we make sure it's safe and meetsmodern building code standards. We work with you to meet your needs, and assure you that your Rumfordfireplace is a "newtechnology fireplace"that meets or exceeds the U.S. EPA Phase II emissions standard. It'sCalifornia Certified!

Fromstart to finish.....we guarantee quality workmanship!

Floorcut prior tofoundation

Inthisexample we were working on an older home restoration project and neededto cut through the floor in preparation for laying a sturdy foundationfor the fireplace and chimney. We cut through the floor and dug a twelve inch deep hole in the groundfor the foundation. Then we reframed new floor joists to resupport thepieces that we cut out.

Thenextstep involves pouring the concrete fireplace foundation.

Fireplacefoundation - chimney support

Thefoundation (or footer) for a masonry fireplace is made of reinforcedconcrete poured at least 12" below undesturbed ground . If thefireplace is built in a house with a slab-on-grade foundation, the slabunder the fireplace and extending 6" outside the fireplace walls mustbe 12" thick. Here we have half inch steel framework horizontally withsix bars rising vertically in hole.

Nextweget inspection from the city and after inspection we then build up thefireplace structure with blockwork .

Laidup block work

Whenweget to the required height with block we place another pad of steel ontop of block which will serve to support our cantilevered hearth ,wethen pour a new minimum four inch concrete hearth which will supportthe outer edge of the fireplace , this area is called the hearth andits purpose is to keep combustible materials away from the opening

Whenbuilding up the back wall we extend any vertical steel. Most chimneysonly need four. Building code requires more steel depending on the sizeof the chimney brest.

Goingthrough theroof

Nextwego to the roof and cut out holes for the chimney breast. We need a twoinch clearance here to combustible. Then we place two earthquake strapsonto two by fours and tie off onto at least four joists in roof. Wealso need to reframe through the roof with two by six studs toreinforce and strengthen any studs we had to cut out.

Thenwefinish the constructionof the chimneyadding the flues as we build theblockwork, add a concrete crown, and place a spark arrester on top ofchimney.

Fireboxconstruction - reinforcing your fireplace with steel

Everyeighteen inches we place a horizontal tie through the masonry. We use aquarter inch steel pencil rod for this. We leave out at least eighteeninches of the rod protruding from the block to tie into the stone faceas we build it ,we will add more quarter inch steel to the stone facealso on eighteen inch center which will make a continuous loop aroundthe vertical steel.

Next,webegin laying the first course of split firebrick within the firebox.

Buildingthe firebox

Atthispoint we've double checked our Rumford firebox dimensions, and in thiscase we used a spectacular "herringbone" design with split firebrick. Later we installed a Rumford throat damper and smoke chamber as webuilt up on top of firebox leading to the first flue.

Steelrods extend out from the block used to make the firebox wall and willtie into the stone face as we build it.

Buildingthe stoneface

Herewebegan building up the face with decorative stone in this case with anarch. At a desired point at least twelve inches above fireplace opening weplace the Mantle. We have this distance for combustible reasons.

Next,wecontinue to add charm and beauty to the fireplace by adding moredecorative stone and embelish the hearth with tile.

Fireplacenearingcompletion

Withourmantle installed we continue the building process with decorative stoneabove the mantle all the way to the ceiling.>Chimney constructionis nearly complete and thehome owners are almost ready to enjoy their new Rumford fireplace.

Next,wewill finish the hearth to complement the work we've done and tieeverything together.

Finishingthe hearth

Inthiscase we used spanish tile to add contrast to the decorative stone andcut the flooring in a gentle arch to fit.

Withourfireplace almost done and built to code, the homeowners can be veryproud of their quality-built "certified" Rumford fireplace.

RumfordFireplace -finished project

CustomMasonry and Fireplace Design A San Diego Rumford Fireplace builder. "Wetake pride in our work andguarantee quality craftsmanship on every Rumford fireplace that webuild"....PaulWalker

"ThanksPaul, I love my fireplace. All the best!"
GregAndrews SanDiego> readtestimonial

Typicalreface of afireplace - byPaul Walker

Belowwewill show a series of photos from a typical reface of a fireplace.
If you have any questions please call me at 619-287-6464.

Takingdown the old face

Westarted with a typical brick fireplace and hearth. Next, we isolatedthe working area with a protective screen and began removing brick fromthe old face.

Aswecarefully removed the old brick we checked the structural integrity ofthe wall and looked for any signs of deterioration.

Removingthe old hearth
This was an illegalhearth, where the wood was tooclose to the firebox, so we removed the wood and prepared to build anew hearth foundation to code.

Rebuildingthe Hearth and Face

Atthisstage in the process it is important to build a safe and sturdyfoundation in preparation for the masonry face. Ourmasonry face provides a suitible surface to apply our stone. Before webegin a refacing project we have to determine how we will bond thestone to the surface. If the surface were brick or block we could applystone straight over the existing material as long as the surface has nosealer, as the sealed masonry would not provide a strong enough bond tothe surface and would eventually fall off.

Acommonproblem with fireplaces in the home tends to be that at some point theface has been painted ,this once again would prevent the stone frombonding properly .When presented with this problem, it is generallyquickest and easiest to take down the existing face and rebuild backwith block and brick and apply stone over the new surface.

Refacingwith Eldorado stone

Now,webegin laying the first course of Eldorado stone to the face of ourfireplace, spaced above the hearth foundation to accomodate thethickness of our hearth stones which will be layed down later.

Duringthe installation process we moisten the surface and using type s mortarwe apply the stone. Depending on the color of stone would determine ifwe would apply any color to our mortar.

Asweinstall the stone, we usually use a cakemix type bag called a blow bagto fill any joints that need more mortar and then we use small trowelsto finish off joints, making them uniform and continuous. Finally wewould use a wisp broom to clean off the face.

Layingdown the hearth stones

Onmostrefacing's we tend to use the hearthstones supplied by Eldorado orCultured stone. These stones are twenty inches square, about two inchesthick and come in a variety of colors. They are also layed with thetype s mortar. We also have the option of using a real stone here tocompliment whatever stone we would use on face.

Theyarealso layed with the type s mortar.We also have the option of using areal stone here to compliment whatever stone we would use on face.

Finally,the last course of facing stone is applied below the hearth stones asour refacing project comes to completion.

Thefinished fireplace refacing project was completed in twodays...ontime...and on budget. Photos: courtesy of the happyhomeowners! Thankyou - PaulWalker