How to Reface a Fireplace With Concrete

Brick fireplaces go in and out of fashion, and many people do not care for them at all. If brick facade is a bit too traditional or bucolic for your tastes, it is not difficult to make over your brick fireplace and give it a look that is a bit more updated. Using concrete mixed with sand, known as stucco, is a convenient and inexpensive way to do this. While stucco may bring to mind images of a rough, Southwestern-style surface, an untextured stucco finish is actually very sleek and modern looking and is something you can accomplish yourself in a weekend.

Large paintbrush
Concrete bonding agent
Large bucket
Mixing rod
Ready-made stucco
Flat metal trowel
Notched metal trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Make sure that your fireplace bricks are clean and dry.
- 2
  Use a large paintbrush to apply a generous, even coat of concrete bonding agent onto the bricks of your fireplace. Let the bonding agent dry for 30 to 45 minutes.
- 3
  In a large bucket, use a mixing rod to mix together ready-made stucco (which is a mixture of concrete and clean sand) and enough of the concrete bonding agent to make a toothpaste-like consistency.
- 4
  Trowel on a three-eighth-inch thick coat of stucco using a flat metal trowel. Ensure that this coat is even and level. Cover the fireplace edges. Let this coat dry for 30 minutes, until it is soft-set.
- 5
  With a notched trowel, make straight grooves in the first coat of stucco from one end of the fireplace to the other. This helps the second coat adhere to the first.
- 6
  Use the straight trowel again to apply a second, thicker coat of stucco that is also level and even in all areas. Again, do not forget the edges. Carefully smooth the surface of the stucco with the trowel.
- 7
  Let the refaced fireplace cure completely for two to three days before using it.

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