Fireplaces come in many shapes and sizes. There are also different types of fireplaces, including Wood Fireplaces, Gas Fireplaces, Electric Fireplaces, Traditional Fireplaces, Stone Fireplaces

Wood Fireplaces

There used to be a time when the most suitable material for the fireplace and the mantel was marble, stone, or simple bricks and mortar. Nowadays, many houses substituted it with wood, or have a significant amount of wood fitted in and around it. Wood fireplaces can enhance beauty and warmth to a home on top of being energy efficient. Wood fireplaces are now available in a wide assortment of designs from modern to rural and everything in between. The newest designs include multi-view wood fireplaces, wood fireplaces with unique surrounds and mantels and see-through wood fireplaces.

Gas Fireplaces

Gas fireplaces are an outstanding options to wood burning fireplaces. They offer the warmth and comfort of a fire without splitting, hauling, or stacking wood. They are low-maintenance appliances that’s why a lot of people buy them. Gas fireplaces are growing popular significantly each year. The popularity of gas fireplaces is growing substantially every year. The high demand for gas fireplaces has produced a spike in production.

Stone Fireplaces

This other type of fireplace has one of the most traditional looks. A stone fireplace can look gigantic with large stones reaching up the chimney to the room’s ceiling, or it can look fragile with a white, carved stone fireplace surround. The stone fireplace can fit into any fashion of decorating. It can also bring a natural texture and color into a room. Stone fireplaces are usual in older and newer homes. The size of the fireboxes will establish the size of the fireplace needed. The firebox is the interior where the fire will be burning. Older stone fireplaces did not come with doors, but with screens.

Cast Iron Fireplaces

Those who have homes with very little room for a fireplace will like the cast iron fireplaces. This type can be put up in a home using just a cement slab, the size of the fireplace and a fire proof stone wall at the back. It will require venting into a chimney, or outside, according to your municipal codes. Cast iron fireplaces and stoves are perfect for small areas. Cast iron fireplaces create a smokeless fuel fire so they are appropriate for interiors.

Traditional Fireplaces

The most recognizable type of fireplace is the typical “wall-mounted” design found in living rooms, dens, and even bedrooms. It may be consisted of brick, cement, stone, ceramic, or some mixture of these materials. The opening will typically be covered with a metal or glass screen of some type. Fireplaces of this kind often are surrounded by an exterior mantle, which can be made of wood, stone, brick, marble, metal, or some other material. Mantle styles can vary from unadorned to stylish to ornate to fanciful. Due to their importance, they often set the decorative tone for the whole room. Mostly they use wood for fuel, but some can also burn peat, coal, and other materials. Fireplaces of this type are not for the most part energy-efficient.



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Fireplaces are found in homes across the world in all countries that witness severe cold during the winters and rains. A cozy and warm fire in the fireplace is enough to warm anyone’s heart on a chilly cold day or night. Traditionally built with either stone or brick, these fireplaces had brick faces and wooden mantels with ornate and carved designs on them. The entire fireplace could take up an entire wall of the room. This was considered all right as rooms too were large sized.

Creating a rustic charm

Brick fireplaces are generally found in great numbers in rural houses and cottages in the countryside. With winters being severe and no gas or electricity to provide heat and warmth, fireplaces were an important structure in every home. These fireplaces usually had a wooden mantel, which was decorated with carvings or with other prized treasures by the members of the house.

Since the fireplace was generally considered as the place where all the family members gathered, one finds many old paintings, which feature a brick fireplace when depicting a village scene or portrait.

Brick fireplace designs

Brick fireplaces were designed and built along with the other structures in the house. There are few examples of houses, which added a brick fireplace later on. A brick fireplace also meant a chimney as an outlet for the smoke and soot that was generated from the fireplace.

Any thing wrong with the fireplace meant that the room could be filled with soot that could darken the room and make it difficult to clean up the place. The size of the room and its location were considered before a fireplace could be built.

Replacing a brick fireplace

When wood was the only available material for burning, fireplaces were much in demand. Hence the idea of replacing a fireplace would never arise in the first place. But the invention of gas and electricity led many households to stop using and building brick fireplaces and adopt newer ways of heating up the room. Newer cities and towns also adopted gas and electricity and brick fireplaces came to serve a mere decorative purpose rather than a functional use.

Building a fireplace

If you were the kind of person who likes the old world charm of a country house, you would want to have a fireplace in your home. A fireplace is sure to provide warmth and heat and is a great place for a family get-together or an evening party with friends. You can build a fireplace in your house if you already don’t have one.

What to do before you build a fireplace

Before you begin building a fireplace, you must find out if your house can have a fireplace in the first place. You need to get the necessary permissions from Building Regulations authorities or from anyone else that would be concerned with smoke bellowing out of the chimney of your house.

Once you ensure legalities are in place, you need to find out if a fireplace can actually be built in your house. Since fireplaces take up a lot of space, you must make sure that the fireplace looks like a part of your room and not otherwise.

Materials for building a fireplace

Brick and stone fireplaces need materials such as concrete, bricks and stone besides chisels, hammer, mortar mix, grates and surrounds, water and a professional to help you build the fireplace and the chimney. Most old houses would have traces of a fireplace. You can build the fireplace at the same location.

In case there exists an outlet for the chimney as well, the job becomes easier. If you can find a chimney but no grate available, all you would need to do is to get a professional to install a grate and a sweep to advise you on cleaning it up. In case the fireplace has been blocked, a builder is the right person to advise you.

Replacing a brick fireplace

You can also build a new fireplace in the place of an old one. Using materials like cast iron and supplying gas and electricity, you can combine the rustic charm of a fireplace with clean and easy maintenance. Replacing old fireplaces can be done easily with minimum destruction of existing wall and with the help of professional builders and designers.



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