Okay, so let me apologize in advance.
I had planned on posting a full, step-by-step tutorial about this project and I KNOW many of you were looking forward to that. BUT, my phone broke about a month ago and, of course, it had all of my photos and videos that I had been taken to show how accomplished this transformation. FORGIVE ME!!
However, I can do my best to talk you through how I did it and, of course, will link all of the tools and products I used for this DIY fireplace transformation. So, let’s start at the beginning.
The before.
The photo on the left is a photo I grabbed from the MLS listing before we purchased this house. The picture on the right is one that G took before I started working on this wall.
Now, let me tell you.. This is the room I had the most reservations about when we were first looking at this home. The odd shape, the fact that it has this weird merge with the adjacent room and the brick wall/outdated mantle all had me thrown for a loop at first. But, I took it one step at a time and slowly made it into something I now love!
Giving the brick wall a face lift.
Now, I know there are MANY people out there who are perfectly okay with a painted brick wall – love one even -and that’s wonderful. It just wasn’t the look and feel I was going for in this room/home of ours. I went over method after method in my head and researched all the things. In the end, I decided to use Venetian Plaster to cover up the brick and give the wall a more modern, organic appearance.
The first step in using this Venetian Plaster is to use this primer. I was concerned about how well the plaster would adhere to the brick wall because it had been painted over. Because of that, I applied two heavy layers of the primer with a standard paint roller. Once the primer had dried, it was time to apply the plaster. To do this, I used a standard drywall mud pan and joint knife. I tried to apply a fairly thick first layer, paying special attention to the grooves in between each brick. This was tedious, but it didn’t take me as long as I thought.
Just a heads up – you have to use two layers of the Venetian Plaster. The first layer will move and crack as it dries – totally normal! Just apply a second (and in some places more) layer and your plaster should eventually dry without cracking.
Finishing the plaster is all up to you. There’s a good chance that your surface will have some rough spots and ridges when you’re done. You can choose to sand them down with a sponge sander (like this one) or leave it as it is. I would definitely suggest sealing it, though. I always use this varnish which doesn’t yellow and helps the plaster to keep it’s matte, organic look and feel. Sealing the plaster will also make it easier to keep clean and helps it to last longer.
Shop the tools.
If you’d like to see the last fireplace makeover I did, you can click here. Also, I used this same Venetian Plaster method on our last kitchen range hood in this post if you want to check it out!
DIY Veneer Stone Fireplace Mantle.
This is where I really wish I had photos to show y’all.. BUT, you can sort of get an idea of how I built the frame for this mantle by watching these stories and also going through this blog post about the previous fireplace mantle I built – they’re very similar!
Once I had my frame built out and attached to the wall (photo above left), I covered it with Durock backer board (above right), which would give the heavy veneer stones a strong surface to adhere to. For this project, I used this stone veneer (3 sets) ordered through Home Depot! I applied them to the Durock using this thinset mortar, which says is geared toward large format tile.
One little pro tip in regards to using mortar with any tile or stone project – pick one that is in the same color family as the grout you will be using (i.e., white thinset for lighter grouts and gray for darker). That way, if any gets mixed, broken or shows up in the grout, it won’t stick out like a sore thumb.. don’t ask my how I know 😉
Also, it will seem daunting when you go to attempt to get the heavy stones to stay on the backer board. But rest assured – the thinset will do it’s job! You will probably just have to play with it for a bit to find the right amount. I used this trowel and applied the mortar directly onto the stones themselves. I used a fairly thick layer and made sure to create some deep grooves with the trowel to create good suction. I had a hard time in the beginning and just used some strong painters tape to help keep the stones in place while the mortar dried.. so you may want to have some of that on hand to help you! But, like I said, the mortar WILL do it’s job – you just have to find the right combination of thickness and groove placement.
DIY Overgrouted Stone Fireplace.
Once you have your stone up on your mantle and have given it time to dry, then it’s time to grout! I’m not going to lie – this was my least favorite part of the whole project. It was just time consuming and MESSY and it took a while to figure out how to get the grout to look the way I wanted. Fair warning, there will just be some trial and error with this. My grout spaces were VERY far apart (not sure I’d do them the same way if I were to do this all over again), so I used a masonry piping bag for some areas, my hand (with a glove on) in others and tried adhering it with a trowel in still other instances. Again, this is just going to be trial and error.. and personal preference.
I also kept a large bucket with water and a project sponge handy to help distribute the grout where I wanted it and also to sponge over a little grout white wash over the stones to make them a more uniform color. Some people also recommend using a masonry brush for smoothing the grout in between stone, but personally, I didn’t find it useful. Just thought I’d mention it in case you want to try!
Stone Veneer Fireplace Before and After.
And here is a side by side of the before and after! Which version do you like better?
Tools and Supplies.
Shop the tools and supplies your own DIY stone veneer and/or brick wall transformation project!