Warning not up to code! for personal set design enjoyment only!!! How to build a set brick fire place
This fireplace was a last minute addition to a home haunt we had a few years back. WARNING- It is not up to code. This version will not pass a fire test, for personal use only!
STEP 1: The first step was the basic sculpt of shape of the over all fire place. We do floral work so we happened to have some floral boxes lying around. There are also boxes from amazon and target. Mainly we picked boxes for the shape. If I knew then what I know now I would of built the entire thing out of foam, but this was a cheap option that let us use what we had lying around.
STEP 2: One piece at a time apply a 3/4″ thick layer of joint compound (i use pre-mixed) or monster mud.
Pictured standing up, but I would recommend doing this layer lying down with the back side on the table.
After the layer is applied use your finger (latex gloves recommended) to trace in the mortar line of the bricks.
Cleaning and wetting your finger occasionally helps.
Let dry overnight.
STEP 4: While the drywall compound or monster mud is drying I took some time to cut a few foam strip details to add to the iron work on the interior then spray panted that whole section black. This was just a decorative pc so we also used a strip of foam as the mantle top.
STEP 5: Paint! We wanted a red brick look for this stove. We got the color from the oops! paint section at home depot (oops paint is discounted returned paint, most places that cary paint have one! You can save a lot of money on set pieces by looking there). First I went in with a layer of gray on the mortar between the bricks. Then the layer of red over the tops of all of the bricks. After they were both dry I took a mostly dry brush and created the ashy burnt look with black. To get this effect I would start by picking areas I thought should be very black then working radially out, as the brush gets dryer I would add accents to other bricks.
STEP 6: Add Fire!!! NOT REAL FIRE!!! As I mentioned before this is purely a decorative set piece. We propped up a 42″ flat screen from the spare bedroom and ran the Yule Log from a christmas disk! The disk we have has the option of music or no music. The no music has a nice fire crackle sound that added some enjoyable ambient noise to the room as well!
Hope you enjoyed! Have fun creating your own fire place or brick details to your set design!
