Popular Mechanics: Home Improvement

Historic Fireplace Kits

By Roy Berendsohn

An authentic-looking 17th or 18th century fireplace can be built using modern, hand-molded bricks with a kit developed by a Georgia brick company.

Many people like old houses, but recreating what makes them most appealing is difficult, if not impossible. Building materials and methods have changed, generally for the better. Yet Boral Bricks Inc. is attempting to strike a balance with the past by selling fireplace kits that can be built with modern mortar and methods, yet look like fireplaces built centuries ago. The bricks themselves are molded by hand, one at a time in wood molds.                             

Back in Time

Each kit consists of all the bricks necessary to build the decorative fireplace surround. The firebox and chimney are built using standard masonry materials—these bricks are not part of the kit. A variety of decorative brick shapes and patterns are available in three different colors. Each brick starts as clay that is pressed into a pine mold (Photo 1). Excess clay is shaved off with a taut wire tool called a striker (Photo 2) and then the finished brick (Photo 3) is fired to finish hardness and color in a kiln. Contrast this with modern brick making: A high-powered press extrudes clay through a die, and the bricks are automatically sliced to dimension with a taught wire frame. The bricks are fed en masse to an immense kiln. This meets the requirements of high-strength, highly uniform bricks necessary for modern building methods.

The handmade bricks, on the other hand, have minor irregularities, softer edges and very closely resemble bricks made in the 18th and even 17th centuries. The kits cost in the range of $1,500 and are available from Boral Brick distributors. For information, contact Boral Bricks, Mansell Overlook, 200 Mansell Ct. E., Suite 305, Roswell, GA 30076; 800-526-7255.

Photos

1) The clay is hand-packed into the brick mold. 2) A striker—a taut wire stretched across a frame—is used to shave off excess clay. 3) The finished shapes are dumped out and made ready for kiln firing.

Copyright © Popular Mechanics 2001. Reprinted by permission.

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