It is not surprising, but modern man, spoiled by the benefits of civilization in the form of autonomous heating, electric radiators and other heaters, heated floors, sometimes experiences an irresistible to some extent even subconscious craving for open sources of fire.
Even the appearance of a fireplace in the interior of a room gives the room a feeling of calm and comfort. Not every building allows you to build a real fireplace with an open firebox, exhaust pipe and smoke collector. A successful replacement in this regard would be the creation of false fireplaces. And it is not even necessary for there to be a flame simulator or heating device in the depths of the fireplace. Beautifully laid out logs of birch or oak in the firebox will create the complete illusion of a working fireplace.
Making a false fireplace begins with creating a base that exactly replicates the shape of a real hearth. The shape of the fireplace is a rectangular parallelepiped with a niche (rectangular or rounded at the top) located in the center of the front edge. Materials for this can be:
- Regular or facing brick.
- Gas blocks.
- Chipboard, OSB or QSB boards.
- Drywall.
- Polyurethane.
Installation of a false fireplace made of brick
A false fireplace made of brick will have quite a lot of weight and therefore its installation on “weak” floors (chipboard on joists, etc.) is not recommended. The masonry is done in the usual way using a cement-sand (proportion 1 to 3) mortar. When laying facing bricks with jointing, further finishing of the front and side parts of the fireplace is not required. The firebox niche is arranged by analogy with the arrangement of openings in brickwork.
Installation of a false fireplace made of gas blocks
The installation principle is the same as with ordinary brick. The thickness of the blocks is 100 mm. After completion of the masonry, finishing with various decor will be necessary.
Installation of a false fireplace made of chipboard, OSB or QSB
The first stage is the construction of a frame made of wooden beams with a cross-section of at least 45 by 45 mm. The second is cladding with chipboard, OSB or QSB slabs using self-tapping screws. And the last one is finishing the front and side walls with decorative materials.
Installation of a false fireplace made of plasterboard
This installation is most preferable compared to others due to the light weight of the structure and relative ease of assembly.
Work begins with the assembly of a frame from galvanized partition profiles UW (width - 50 mm) and CW (width - 50 mm) for gypsum boards. To round the top of the firebox, the side edges of the UW profile are cut (the distance between the cuts is 20 - 30 mm). After which the profile is bent to the desired shape. Wall plasterboard (12.5 mm) is used for cladding. The heads of fastening hardware must be recessed into the body of the gypsum board.
The next stage after installing the false fireplace structure is the selection and fastening of the fireplace mantel:
- Finished mantelpiece. You can purchase it in specialized stores or in construction super and hypermarkets. The materials used are very diverse (wood, metal, granite, composite materials, etc.). The design and color range are wide, but the price is sometimes unreasonably high.
- Wooden mantelpiece. This can be made to order in a carpentry workshop. A more economical way is to make it yourself from tongue-and-groove floorboards, followed by painting and varnishing.
- Mantel made from pre-fabricated countertops. The material here is a finished tabletop (glossy or matte, with a wood or marble pattern) made of laminated chipboard. The side ends of the shelf are subjected to an edging operation.
- Mantel made from plastic window sills. Not the most aesthetic, but the cheapest option. Different widths of window sills (from 100 to 700 mm) will help avoid waste of materials. Unfortunately, the ends of the window sill closed with standard plugs will give the fireplace a not very sophisticated look.
The mantelpiece can be fastened either with hardware (followed by masking the heads with decorative plugs) or with adhesive compounds (for example, liquid nails).
The final chord in making a fireplace: finishing the front and side surfaces. The style, texture and finishing material of vertical surfaces should be harmoniously combined with the appearance of the mantel.
Finishing with ceramic tiles, granite or marble slabs and natural stone
The finishing technology complies with the instructions for laying the above materials. The principle is to decorate vertical surfaces according to one of the architectural styles:
- Rustic is a crushed, rough-hewn stone.
- Classicism - harmony and clarity of proportions, the predominance of straight lines.
- Russian Empire - the use of tiles (ceramic decorations) along with ordinary tiles.
Combined finishing
This is a decoration in the Renaissance, Empire, Baroque style. The main background of the walls of the false fireplace made of plaster (simple or decorative) is complemented by ornamental elements made of ceramics, columns and half-columns made of polyurethane , special portals made of stucco decoration and all kinds of cornices.
