Basement Update: Marble Fireplace Remodel

The basement remodel project has been progressing along hence my absence lately on the blog. The remodeling portion of the project is complete, waiting on the new sofa and coffee table now. The furniture won’t be arriving until January. I am breaking up the reveal into sections that I will post over the next couple of months, starting first with the fireplace makeover.

RELATED POST: Basement Update – The Plan

BEFORE

The fireplace started as a simple builder grade model with 8″x8″ white ceramic tile surround and hearth. And a golden oak mantel that we had painted a cream color. It was simple enough that it didn’t drive me crazy. I knew that when we replaced the carpet, I would have the opportunity to change the tile around the fireplace at that time.

DESIGN PLAN

The plan was to reuse the mantel and to replace the hearth and surround. I have wanted white marble tile in a herringbone pattern in my home for years. White marble is classic and timeless material. And the herringbone pattern is a traditional pattern that doesn’t date itself. I didn’t want the pattern around the fireplace and on the floor. But I couldn’t find another marble tile pattern that I liked with it. I switched gears and checked with a local stone fabricator about options in marble stone for the fireplace instead. Using marble slabs still gives me the honed white marble that I wanted without worrying about a pattern and installation, win-win in my book.

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PREP

The mantel was removed and moved to a safe place until we were ready to put it back on. Craig removed the tile surround and tile hearth around the fireplace. For ease of demolition of the tile surround, we cut the sheetrock out around the tile. New sheetrock was added to patch the area — all ready for the stone template.

CHALLENGES USING STONE AROUND FIREPLACE INSERT

The challenge of using stone slabs is the thickness of the material. Typically stone is 3cm thick which is approximately 1 1/4″. I added a 1/2″ bevel edge to the top of the hearth slab to help with the height transition from stone to the carpet.

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For the surround I had them mill the stone down to a 2cm thickness which is approximately 3/4″. We are also overlapping the stone onto the fireplace insert itself leaving only a 1/4″ reveal around the fireplace. The sides and top will not be an equal size anymore, but I am excited to see less of the black fireplace insert.

MANTEL REINSTALL

The mantel needed to be trimmed the thickness of the new surround since it rests on the marble. A new molding piece was added to cover up this trimmed edge. Then we gave it a couple of coats of paint in the new trim color.

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FIREPLACE UPDATE REVEAL

I love how the fireplace turned out. You even get a preview of the new baseboards and carpet. What are your thoughts? Do you like my decision to go with marble slab verses tile?