Federated Handy People

I’m not sure if I’ve personally ever seen two identical fireplaces in my life. Even if I did each is somewhat unique in its own way.

Because a fireplace is a central point of focus for everybody’s eyes as they walk into its room, you better really like the one you have if it’s your house. I would guess that most homeowners with a fireplace just assume, it is what it is, and they can’t do anything about it.

For this client, the thing that called itself a fireplace was the repulsive part of the house. I forgot to take pictures of it before we rebuilt its wall, but below is a similar example of what she had to look at.

I’m sure somebody likes that look, but I don’t and she DEFINITELY hated it. Starting the removal process isn’t easy for this type, but once you get the top row out things go a lot faster.

What’s not obvious to most homeowners is that a fireplace has a few major component parts that seem like it’s a monolithic object. The parts you can touch without getting dirty are a facade that is separate from the other major parts. The dirty part, aka the firebox, and the flue which safely carries the hot air away don’t much care what the rest looks like. Another major component is the chase on the outside of the house; it boxes in the firebox and flue from the outside elements. The facade of the chase can be altered as you please without ever meddling with the rest.

Here’s what We Did With It

Only two strips of wood on the surround were store-bought pre-shaped, the rest were custom-made on-site from plain wood.

One of the hidden features is the gas valve. The padded upholstered parts of the hearth are held in place by velcro, so tipping up the center section reveals the gas valve and key.

Another hidden feature is the high-tech wiring that travels from a hidden location out of view, up through the floor, behind the surround, and across to the center of the mantle. The top of the mantle hides a Gold type HDMI wire, coaxial cable, RCA jack audio transporters for stereo in and out, and a surge-protected 110-Volt duplex receptacle. The television screen that hangs above the mantle seems to work by magic.

Use the tools of the photo browser below to flip through the images.

Extra Shielding

Because this isn't commonplace, I thought adding an extra Faraday Cage (tinfoil wrapping) around the data transport wires would be prudent. It's probably overkill, but I didn't want the power wires throwing electromagnetic interference into the HDMI wires and such.

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Homeowners are free to select any heat-safe material to finish the front edges of their firebox. A person’s only limitations of having a pleasing experience with their fireplace are their imagination, and the fire safety codes enumerated by the State Of New York’s building department.

What could you do to yours?