1.Manufactured vs Natural Stone Veneer for Your Fireplace
One of the main decisions you’ll have to make is whether you want to use manufactured or natural stone. The pros of manufactured stone are that it is much less expensive than natural stone and because it’s lighter than natural stone, it’s also simpler and less expensive to install. The pro of natural stone is its beauty – there is variation in each and every stone and the end product is gorgeous. If you have a large budget, natural stone is a great choice and may be the way for you to go.
2.Choosing the Style and Color of Fireplace Stone
The best way to choose the style and color of stone is to visit a few showrooms that have fireplaces on display with various stone options. Once you’ve narrowed down your selections by taking into consideration the colors and style of your home, ask to borrow some sample boards so that you can see how the stone looks in your home. If the showroom doesn’t have sample boards that they loan out, ask if you can borrow several pieces of stone (get a good variety in size and color) for each of your possible options.
3.Consider Keystones or Other Stone Trim
The best way to decide whether to incorporate keystones or other stone trim into your fireplace design is to seek inspiration online and in fireplace showrooms. Chose a basic layout without keystones or other stone trim, you could chose to do a keystone plus a row of accent stones above the fireplace opening, a simple arch design, one long, single stone above the fireplace opening , or any other design/pattern of trim stone that you can dream up.
4. Mantel or No Mantel
If you’d like to have a mantel, it is ideally installed in conjunction with the stone veneer so this decision should be made along with the selection of your stone. There are several different materials that can be used to create a mantel, such as stone, painted wood, or natural or stained wood.
5.Decide on the Design of Your Hearth
Most of the stone veneer manufacturers carry hearthstones designed to coordinate with your chosen stone veneer. The lesson here is to make sure you ask to see the coordinating hearthstones and not just assume that they will look just as good as the stone veneer you chose. If you don’t like what you see, shop around. Another option to consider is using natural stone for the hearth even if you used manufactured stone veneer for the rest of the fireplace. When natural stone is used, it’s often in a large slab of a material. The natural stone costs more than manufactured hearthstones but for most fireplaces it’s not too large of an area so the difference in cost may be affordable.
If you need help and advice on any aspect of installing a stone fire place then see your Teachers Discount specialist contractor for help below.
www.autunstone.co.uk Telephone: 07849 691 580
