Stone fireplace walls and surrounds in White Bear Lake
Don Barger of Stonecrete Inc, based in White Bear Lake, Minnesota, sets stone and thin brick on fireplace walls and surrounds inside the house. Photos from his own jobs show stone from the floor to the ceiling, a wall that runs up a two story room, stacked stone and thin brick surrounds, and fieldstone behind a wood stove. He covers about 30 minutes around White Bear Lake. Call or text (612) 432-9467.
- Work
- Stone and thin brick on fireplace walls
- In Don's photos
- Floor to ceiling stone, thin brick, a stove hearth
- Area
- White Bear Lake and about 30 minutes around
- Call or text
- (612) 432-9467
Floor to ceiling, and up two stories
Don has set stone on fireplace walls from the floor to the ceiling, in a pale stone the color of limestone and in gray stacked stone. One wall, in gray stone, runs all the way up a two story room. He has also done a big fieldstone fireplace wall in a great room, with windows that look out on a lake.
A wall that tall is a lot of stone. Full thickness stone is heavy, and a tall wall of it has to sit on something that can carry it. Thin stone and thin brick weigh much less. They are stuck to the wall behind them with mortar, so that wall has to be solid.
Around a gas fireplace, the stone is Don's part
Most of the fireplaces in Don's photos are gas units. One of them has a surround of thin stacked stone. The unit is the fireplace installer's job, and so are the gas line and the venting. Don sets the stone on the wall around it.
So if the fireplace itself is not working right, that is a call to a fireplace company, not to Don.
Stacked stone and fieldstone look nothing alike
Stacked stone is flat pieces set tight together in long rows, with little or no mortar showing. From across the room you mostly see thin lines and shadow.
Fieldstone is rounder and rougher. Every piece is a different shape, and you usually see the mortar joints around each one.
Stacked stone looks more modern. Fieldstone has an older look, like the stone foundations under some of the lake cottages and older houses around White Bear Lake.
Thin brick instead of stone
One of the surrounds Don set is thin brick, white with gray joints.
Thin brick is brick made thin. It goes on the wall like tile instead of being laid up as a full brick wall, so it weighs less and takes up less room. Once the joints are filled, it looks like a brick wall.
It comes in plenty of colors besides white. If there is brick somewhere else in the house you want it to go with, send Don a close photo of that brick too.
A raised stone hearth for a wood stove
Don has also set fieldstone in a wood stove alcove, on the wall behind the stove, with a raised stone hearth for the stove to sit on.
The stove and its pipe are a separate job, for whoever installs the stove.
New stone on an old fireplace
An older fireplace can often take new stone, as long as the wall behind it is sound. Inside the house, stone has an easier life than it does on a front step through a Minnesota winter. It never sees road salt or a spring thaw. So the wall behind it is the main question. Ask Don about yours.
Stonecrete is based in White Bear Lake and covers about 30 minutes around it. Text Don at (612) 432-9467 with:
- A photo of the whole wall, taken from across the room
- A close photo of what is on it now
- Whether it burns gas or wood
- How high the ceiling is, if the stone is going all the way up
- Your town
Questions
Can my old brick fireplace be covered with stone?
Often, as long as the brick and the wall behind it are in good shape. Text Don a photo of the whole fireplace wall and a close one of the brick, and ask him what it would take.
Does Don put in the gas fireplace too?
No. The fireplace unit is the installer's job, gas line and venting included. Don does the stone on the wall around it.
What kinds of stone has Don set on fireplace walls?
His photos show gray stacked stone and a pale stone the color of limestone, both on walls that run floor to ceiling. Fieldstone on a great room wall and behind a wood stove. Thin stacked stone around a gas fireplace. And one surround in white thin brick with gray joints. If you have a different stone in mind, send Don a picture of it and ask.
Can the stone go all the way to the ceiling?
Yes. Some of Don's fireplace walls run floor to ceiling, and one goes up a two story room. Tell him how high your ceiling is when you send photos, since that changes how much stone the job takes.
Can Don do the fireplace stone on a house that is still being built?
Yes. Most of the jobs in Don's photos are new houses, many of them still partway through the build. With a gas fireplace, the installer usually has the unit in before the stone goes on around it.
How much does a stone fireplace wall cost?
It turns mostly on how much wall there is and which stone goes on it. What is on the wall now matters too, since old tile or paneling may have to come off first. Send Don photos and ask.
Don tells you plainly what the masonry needs, and what it does not, before any work starts.
