Concrete is a hot style these days for use in any residential building project. By installing a concrete fireplace surround, you can take that style and push it to the limit.
For quite some time, concrete has been a useful building material for the outside our homes. It forms the foundation, quite literally, of almost every house. Either mixed concrete is poured into forms and cured, or a foundation is created from concrete blocks and mortar.
Likewise, we’ve had concrete sidewalks lining the streets of our neighborhoods since the 1900s. We’re fortunate that some of these sidewalks survive to this day, with their date of pouring stamped into them as they cured: 1908, 1910, and 1922. Others, broken and cracked by tree limbs or earthquakes, are a patchwork of repairs.
Many new homes, to this day, have a concrete patio poured when the home is built. This is yet another outdoor application for concrete.
The New Look: Indoor Concrete
Current decorating trends highlight the use of natural materials such as concrete, iron and stone. Fireplace surrounds, flooring and countertops don’t just come in linoleum and formica anymore.
Among the advantages of using concrete for indoor uses is that it has the appearance of stone but is considerably easier to work with. This is because concrete is poured into forms before it sets, and these forms are made from a variety of materials that are easy to separate when fully cured. There’s such a large variety of available forms, including clay, Styrofoam or wood, that a concrete fireplace surround can be shaped into many creative patterns that couldn’t otherwise be achieved. For example, rounded edges could never be achieved with brick or stone.
A Contemporary Concrete Fireplace Surround
A natural concrete fireplace surround and hearth bench, with its natural, stone like surface and variegated hues of grey, fits the bill perfectly for a modern interior.
One of the most dramatic concrete fireplace surrounds available continues the concrete all the way up the wall to the ceiling, creating a concrete column surrounding the fireplace. A shiny black wooden fireplace mantel surrounds the firebox and sets the concrete off to its best advantage.
In another application, bright white concrete is molded in classic Federal columns, giving the appearance of white limestone, marble, or travertine.
Stained concrete is one of the most popular concrete fireplace surround finishes available today. Since concrete is one of the most porous materials known to humankind, it takes stain better than any other material, including wood. Because of varying amounts of moisture that remain in concrete as it cures, staining concrete produces a natural looking finish with appealing variations that can only occur at Nature’s hand.
