Our talented designer, Dianne Marciano, tackles a Fireplace Facelift in Old Town Alexandria.
Dianne’s client had already invested time and money to update their existing fireplace. But the result was far from aesthetically pleasing. Now they love spending time in the favorite room in the house and use the fireplace all the time.
I first met my clients in September 2021 at their home in Old Town Alexandria. They recently had work done to their fireplace on the first floor of their townhome. The plan called for a new surface around the fireplace, new slate hearth, and new reclaimed wood mantel.
We use the same process to make each project perfect!
The Problem: “It did not turn out as hoped. We’d like to start over and have it redone.” They were not happy with the brick façade as it looked cheap, and the slate hearth looked hideous.
The Vision: They very much wanted to work with a designer and a company who performs quality work to achieve the look they wanted. Overall, they wanted the fireplace to have a facelift, the mantel to be wood, add tile around the fireplace and they wanted the new hearth to be bigger and mentioned using porcelain but were open to ideas.
The Challenge: The fireplace is off centered, which made it a challenge to design around. The client also really liked shiplap and wanted to use a wood mantel. To meet codes, we needed to use a non-combustible material around the fire and have a minimum clearance to the top edge of the fireplace mantel.
The Plan: Foster has been in business for 40 years and we believe that it’s our process that has made us successful. We took the fireplace down to the studs and removed the brick veneer, reclaimed wood mantel, hearth and relocated electrical to meet code. To give the fireplace a purpose of being off centered we added a vertical trim that tied together both the shiplap and the crown molding. We updated the mantel that was made of red oak and finished it in the provincial stain. For the tile we used Daltile marble Sublimity in the color Breath Sequence SB61. For the hearth we used MSI Q quartz Fairy White.
Happy Customers!
The Result: This is now the client’s favorite room in the house, they use the fireplace all the time. Overall, the fireplace is now aesthetically pleasing, it’s the focal point of the room as it should be. The project completed overall on time; we did reorder the mantel for the client. Unfortunately, we have no control over receiving a damaged item. However, the client was on board to install the damaged one so it could be completed for the holidays. Once the new mantel came in, we installed it right away. This is what the client said at the end of the project:
Client Quote:
“10’s across the board!
Dianne’s design is so beautiful, and she is wonderful to work with. Same with Rich. His attention to detail is amazing. His work is clean and perfect. We still can’t believe the transformation. I know we still need the new mantle, but the fireplace has become the centerpiece of the room we had hoped!
Thanks so much”
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Written by Dianne Marciano – Foster Remodeling Solutions Design Consultant
