Building A Rock Fireplace Wall

You will also need a five gallon bucket for the mixing of the mortar.

Building a rock fireplace wall.

Select your face type. For our rock wall we needed six 80 pound bags of sakrete mortar stucco type s mix you will need high strength. So armed with four tons of river rock a fireplace insert on a wooden box stand and the support of my family who foolishly believe i can do anything i started my rock work. Spread it evenly and cut the edges back with your trowel to prevent the mortar from oozing.

Then bend the lath around the sides of the fireplace using a scrap piece of wood to help if needed and nail it to the framing on the front and side walls to keep it in place and prevent the mortar from cracking. First moisten the area you wish to apply stone to don t moisten too much as the water may evaporate. Apply about a 1 2 inch thick layer of the mortar mix to the back of the stone. A freestanding stone wall can be a bit intricate but is more pleasing to the eye.

Apply the stones to the fireplace. Do not attempt this project with medium strength or anything other than the high strength stuff we tried it with medium strength and the stuff does not work well. The stacked stone effect takes a lot more time and effort and is generally only used in a few fireplaces in the southwest. If you re doing mountain rock you ll need to select whether you want your fireplace to have the full grout look or a stacked stone look.

I started out with the tools of the trade i d been told to purchase. Explore rustic rock wall interiors with the glow of a wood fired flame. Building a stone wall for your fireplace adds a touch of creativity and uniqueness to your home you can build it several ways with or without a compacting agent such as mortar. Nail horizontal lengths of lath directly into the wall s framing on the front of the fireplace overlapping each piece 2 inches or more and spacing the nails 6 inches apart.