In my home I have a red brick wood-burning fireplace in the center of a wall in our family room. We rarely use the fireplace. We want to drywall over the brick (above the brick 'mantle'); ceramic tile around the opening to the firplace; build in a decorative mantle; and build in floor to ceiling bookshelves on either side. My question is concerning fire safety. Am I creating a fire hazard by covering a brick fireplace? What materials should I use (instead of standard drywall) to do this job properly?
Answer:
This is a job I've done in the past and found that it turned out great plus, because I did it with forethought, it was easy to reverse when new owners took over the house. I strapped the brick with 1X3 spruce but the straps were attached with screws because I drilled holes in the mortar between the bricks, filled the holes with soft pine plugs that I whittled myself. It was easy to drive the 2" drywall screws into the pine and they held very well. I used half-inch drywall with one-inch screws that I was able to place so they didn't damage the brick faces. I used wood trim at the ceiling as a deep cornice. Once that was done, we were able to prime and paint and that was that. The new owners simply removed the screws, did a tuck-pointing job on the mortar and they had the fireplace they wanted.
