So, You’ve Found Your Favorite Regency Fireplace in our Denver Showroom. . .What About That Brick Surround?

At Fireplace Warehouse Etc., we carry the largest selection of Regency Fireplaces in Denver. With so many models to choose from it is easy to find one that suits your sense of style. Whether you’ve chosen a Regency Hampton wood burning insert or a Horizon gas burning insert, when it’s installed, many remodelers find out that the fresh face of their insert is betrayed by the tired old surround it is set into.

This visual clash is particularly distressing when the surround is made from common red brick, which was all the rage decades ago. Homeowners who have put their project money into their Regency Fireplace and its Denver area installation might still feel the need to do something about updating that brick surround, but on a tight budget. What to do?

Whitewashing Brick is a Cost Effective Option

As do-it-yourself projects on a fireplace surround, it doesn’t get any cheaper and easier than whitewashing red brick. Whitewashing your red brick surround takes it into a more neutral color spectrum for matching both the mantel and the nearby wall colors. It also refreshes the look of the brick, muting old soot stains, hiding chips, and making the mortar look cleaner.

The most common whitewash formula is 1:1 high quality white latex paint to water. Some people also swear by oil based stains that would be thinned with turpentine in the same ratio. Ideally, you’d whitewash the surround prior to the installation of your Regency Fireplace by Denver’s own Fireplace Warehouse Etc., but if you find yourself deciding to whitewash afterwards, just carefully tape and mask off both the insert and the mantel just as if you were painting a wall.

Whether you go with latex or oil based paint, the brick is porous and will accept more whitewash than you’d think possible, which is why it is critical that it be brushed on and any excess promptly removed using clean rags. Since there is no telling how your brick and whitewash will interact, it’s always best to experiment upon an area that isn’t easily visible before taking your whitewash solution to the rest of the surround.

The best thing about whitewashing is that it is merely a technique rather than a predetermined outcome. If you are adventurous you can always color tint your whitewash for a more dramatic outcome.