Carpenter for Fireplace Surround
I am looking for a carpenter who can help me design and build a fireplace surround and adjoining built in bookshelves for our 1914 craftsman fixer upper. The fireplace is currently stripped down to the brick bones and is a very sorry sight. I’m hoping to find someone creative and cost effective. Appreciate any referrals!
Oct 10, 2023
Parent Replies
First, let me apologize up-front if you've already dealt with these issues....
Many homes in Berkeley built in the late teens and early 20s have crumbling foundations due to problems in the concrete formulation. On my block, most of houses have new foundations, capped foundations (not great), or big gaps and cracks. Unfortunately, there are contractors who claim to earthquake-proof by bolting into these foundations -- as the guy who fixed a neighbor's foundation said, it's like bolting into butter.
In addition, many fireplaces were built without much foundation. In our case, the bricks of one edge of the fireplace sat on the foundation, the rest on the ground, so the chimney twisted and leaned away from the house. Same with our neighbors' chimneys. The movement cracked the chimney tiles, so that using the fireplace was a fire hazard. We ended up demolishing ours and replacing it with a wood-burning insert that functions as a furnace while still looking like a fireplace. Some of our neighbors rebuilt with inserts while others removed the fireplace entirely and rebuilt that part of the wall and roof. Few of the old masonry fireplaces remain. Even solid masonry is risky in earthquake country without adding serious support.
So if you haven't yet done so, please find out if your brick fireplace is salvageable, before you make it pretty!