By: Richard Sherwood

Richard Sherwood — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 15:23:59 +0000

I do custom carpentry in the Metro Detroit area, and updating fireplace surrounds and mantles seems to be the new hot trend here, so I wanted to get a new book for ideas. I thumbed through this book at lowes before buying it for less on amazon. I have been very pleased with this book because it has a lot of quality photos of a wide variety of fireplace styles. Some books of this nature have too many designs that, while striking, just are not practical for most homes. This book did not have that problem. In fact, I will likely need to buy a second copy because my customers spend so much time looking through the first copy over and over again, that it is getting prematurely worn. My only complaint about the book is that several of the designs do not meet current code requirements. In our area, as it is in most of the country, code requires 12″ of non combustible material from the opening of the firebox to any combustible material such as a wooden mantle. Many of these photos appear to be lucky if they have 6″, requiring me to alter the design, and therefor the appearance in order to meet code. This is a minor issue in comparison to the great ideas in this book, but I wanted to at least mention it. I would definately recommend buying it.
Rating: 5 / 5

By: remodeler in l.v.

remodeler in l.v. — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:53:41 +0000

I am glad I ordered this book. I was doing something with my fireplace and found a picture of what I wanted. Sometimes it’s so hard to explain something. I was able to show it to the worker I had doing it.
Rating: 4 / 5

By: John Madigan

John Madigan — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 13:40:38 +0000

This publication has some nice fireplace photos, but I was a litle disapointed that there was a “parts list” included incase you wanted to construct one.
Rating: 3 / 5

Comments on: Fireplace Design & Decorating Ideas

By: Richard Sherwood

By: remodeler in l.v.

By: John Madigan