I’ve been meaning to fix up the old fireplace in my living room for a while now. It’s seen better days, and some of the bricks inside were cracked and crumbling. So, I finally decided to tackle it this weekend. First thing’s first, I needed to get some new firebricks.
I hopped in my car and drove down to the local Ace Hardware. They usually have what I need for these kinds of home improvement projects. I walked in, found an employee, and asked where they kept the firebricks. He pointed me to the back of the store, near the building materials.
They had a decent selection, and I picked out a few that matched the size of my old ones. They weren’t too expensive, which was a relief. I also grabbed a tub of fireclay mortar and a jointing compound, since I figured I’d need those too.
- firebricks
- fireclay mortar
- jointing compound
- trowel
Getting Started
Back home, I cleared out the fireplace and started removing the damaged bricks. Some of them were really stuck in there, but I managed to pry them out with a trowel. Once the old bricks were out, I cleaned up the area to get it ready for the new bricks.
Next, I mixed up the fireclay mortar according to the instructions on the tub. I’m no expert at this, but I tried my best to get the consistency right. I spread some mortar on the base of the fireplace and started laying the new firebricks. I used a level to make sure they were straight.
It was a bit of a slow process, carefully applying mortar and setting each brick. I also used some jointing compound to fill in the gaps between the bricks. I’m not gonna lie, my back was starting to ache after a while, but I pushed through.
After a few hours of work, I finally finished laying all the new firebricks. I let it dry overnight, just to be safe. The next day, I inspected my work. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked a whole lot better than before. I swept the remaining dirt and debris, and admired my own work.
I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. It’s definitely an improvement, and now I can finally enjoy cozy fires in my living room again. Plus, I saved a bunch of money by doing it myself instead of hiring someone.
