And then do it yourself, youve opened up a different kind of toolbox. The home depot proud sponsor of ask this old house. And doing it right. Gmc is proud to sponsor ask this old house. We are professional grade. Gmc. Their office is a truck and their woplace is your home. You wont find them on main street. But, for over 20 years, youve been able to find them on homeadvisor. You can book a local pro for your next home project online or th the app. The challenges keep coming. All day. All year round. Take on all of them. Kubota is a proud sponsor of ask this old house. It can cause creosote. So, a fireplace should be inspected every year. Most of the time, youre gonna look up there, and youre gonna see creosote, and they have a brush on a wire that you push up the chimney and you shake it up and down. You clean the creosote and make it so it wont cause a chimney fire. Kevin and an inspection may end with nothing more than a cleaning. That would be great, but sometimes, they can reveal bigger problems, right . So, if you get a good chimney sweep, theyre gonna inspect the fire box, the Smoke Chamber, right . Theyre gonna look at the hearth right there. They might even go underneath and check it out. Mark theyll go underneath and check all that stuff. But one of the first things that i look at is gonna be those flue tiles. People dont realize that that clay is pretty dry and sucks up all the mortar out of the masonry cement. So, as soon as that connection is made, its actually starting to dry. Well come back a number of years later, and those joints will be empty. Kevin right, and that can be a big projects, you know, fixing all those joints. But as we learned, sometimes you can fix it from the inside out, right . Alright. What do we got here, flint . Flint so, these are the terracotta flue tile liners, similar to the ones that are installed in the chimney here. Kevin mmhmm. Flint originally, these liners would have been mortared together. Kevin to stack one on top of the other all the way up the chimney. Flint yes, from the top of the Smoke Chamber to the top of the flue. And over time, these joints deteriorate. Kevin and what causes that deterioration . Flint water coming down the chimney. Creosote mixes with water and produces sulfuric acid. Kevin right. Flint so over time, these joints get eroded, deteriorate. Kevin and we dont want those joints. Woman no. Flint no. Smoke, heat, and Carbon Monoxide can escape through these areas. Kevin not gonna be going in your house. Okay. So, how are you actually gonna fix those, given the fact that those tiles are already in the chimney . Flint were going to use this custommade foaming set. Kevin how does this work . Flint we seat this foam set at the bottom of the flue tiles. This will be pulled up the chimney with the cable here. Kevin so this is shaped to be the exact size of our flue. Flint yes. Kevin very cool. Flint this will be pulled up with the material on the inside. Were going to dump the material down the chimney and were gonna winch this up, and you can see from the shape of this that this is gonna push the material back into the joints. Kevin o, basically, youve got mortar gog in above this. And this is just kind of, like, a foam trowel. Flint yes. Kevin well, that is cool. I got to see that. Woman yeah. Kevin oh, yeah. It is a perfect fit. Nice and tight. Woman awesome. Kevin hes pulling it up. Cant see any daylight at all. There it goes. [ cranking ] mark thats a great way to fix a clay flue liner, definitely, but around here, 50 of the chimneys arent even lined. Richard unlined . Mark unlined. Kevin and so if you want to use the chimney, right, for fire, youve got to line it, and typically, you guys will choose a stainlesssteel liner, right . So, it could be round or oval, and you insert it from the top, push it down until it gets all the way down into the fire box. Mark right. Kevin the installer then attaches a mesh base plate to the bottom and pushes it back up to form the top of the Smoke Chamber. The base plate is secured with screws and then covered with two coats of insulated mortar. And the final step is to add an insulation layer between the chimney and the liner, and that can be done with an insulating blanket or by troweling in loose vermiculite insulation to fill the void. Tom lining the chimney like that is really not a job for a homeowner because theres a lot going into it. But not only lining the chimney, you got to think about the firebox. You may have to remove or repair the tile on the bottom or even the three walls in the fire box. Richard i love a good wood fire as much as anybody, but sometimes, its just too complicated or too expenve to get it repaired properly. Mark id work cheap for you. Believe me, very cheap. Richard sometimes,the besty turns out be a gas fireplace, and there are two main types. The first is a sealed combustion gas insert. These units require an electrical connection and a gas line in the fire box. With proper ducting, a frhair intake, and exhaust gases, these units are highly efficient because they dont allow any conditioned air to leave the building, and people love them because they go off and on with the push of a button. The other main type of gas fireplace is called a gas log. It has a burner on the bottom, a grate like you might see in a real woodburning fireplace and then ceramic logs on top. The flame is open to the room, so it looks and feels like a traditional fire. Tom i like the look of a gas fireplace, especially when it doesnt have that glass panel in front of it. Kevin im with you on that one. So, mark, you get a million questions from homeowners, whether they got an old house or a new house. What are they asking of you . Mark a lot of the questns are about operation. Does the draft work properly . Maybe you have some cracked brick, but we can fix all that stuff. The second set of questions i always get is about aesthetics. Were remodeling the room. Were remodeling the house. The brick looked tired. Take those out, replace them with something else. Richard is that something the homeowner can do . Mark definitely. If you have just a little bit of skill, its demo, and then its just putting pieces back, and a good place that i think for a homeowner to start is probably on the hearth. I usually start by using a cold chisel to remove a single clay tile. There you go. After that, the remaining tiles should pop out pretty easily. If the subhearth is in good condition, you can cut the ceramic tiles and dry fit them into t opening using tile spacers. Then just lay down a bed a thinset with a notched trowel and set the tiles in place. Once the grout is applied, youll have a beautiful new hearth. And, of course, if you want to do the hearth and the surround, you can do that as well. So, here are our four new pieces of granite. We actually got them from the same fabricator that we would go to for a countertop or any other granite product. Were going to apply this concrete adhesive generously to the back of the granite to ensure a tight bond. And i like the way you stayed off the edges because you know when we put that up, that stuff is going to spread. Krysten, youre a natural. Alright, great. So now just take the notch trowel and drag it all the way down and spread the stuff out as nicely as possible. Krysten okay. Mark great. You can bounce that a little, too. Yeah, exactly. So, why dont you grab that edge . Yep. And now. Were gonna go flat, so now we want to start at the bottom, and we want to flip it up. Look at this, krysten. See how you. . Thats how much contact were making right now. Alright. Wheres that 2footer . Krysten right here. Mark great. Krysten okay. See, were all plumbed up. We want to check the face. Which, again, looks perfect. So, lets grab that other leg, and well do the same thing. Thats great. Yeah. Looking good. Okay. So, were going to let these legs set up, and then were going to be ready for the top piece. This is going pretty smoothly. Now, remember, we want to roll it up, lets see how this fits in. Make sure the legs dont kick out. Krysten yep. Mark alright. Alright. Hold that, and ill give it. Nice. Alright. What do you think . Krysten came out amazing. Kevin yeah, i mean, its pretty cool that you can take a traditional looking fireplace and make it look more contemporary with just a few pieces of granite. Mark right, and i love that type of project, but ive actually done the opposite where ive taken a contemporary fireplace and made it traditional. Ill usually start by removing the existing material and cleaning up the original surfaces. Then ill use thin brick veneer, which is a regular clay brick cut into thin strips. Ill back butter each pieceand e and wiggle it just a little bit to fill all the voids. Once the thin sehas cured, ill fill in the joints with type n mortar and knock off the high spots with a brush. When you add theight mantle, that fireplace will look like it was original to the house. Tom you know, i might be a little biased, but i think the mantle is the most important part of a fireplace. Kevin you think the carpenters a little biased . Richard just a little bit. Tom alright. So maybe the masonry is important, but when i look at a fireplace, first thing i look at is the mantle, and i look at the care and the architectural planning that the builder did when he made it. Now, maybe you want to change it. Alright . So, there are places that you can go like architectural salvage yards, where you can buy used mantles like this right here. Maybe you can find one that will go around your fireplace. Now, this one was for a coal insert, but this would be a great piece to have on a wall. Lets say if you had a wood stove sitting in front of it, this would be right behind it. But, really, look at the detail. This was done by hand, made these curves, the little groove here, the flat and the bevels. And look at this star carved in this beautiful marble. Richard artistry, rlly. Tom sure is. Yeah, and if you dont like the marble, look at this beautiful one right here that came off of a job site. Richard look at that. And i look at the detail in here. This this molding detail right here is all done with the hide glue, and its set in a form, and then stuck on. You can see the picture frame right here and signs of the old molding that fell off. And i like the detail that goes around the opening, acts like a picture frame, but more molding detail here. And then the pilasters look at the work in this flat panels here, flat panels here. But more molding detail down here, really a statement. Richard so, what do you do if you dont live near the architectural salvage yard . Tom well, you can get them online. And replicas or different looks that you want, and they go together pretty easy. They come in different styles in kits, usually in three separate pieces. There it goes. To secure it in place, you attach a few cleats to the wall, and then nail or screw the mantle to the cleats. The last step is installing a small piece of molding around the inside of the opening. Mark boy, those stock mantle kits go together pretty easy. Tom yes, they do, but im a Custom Woodworking guy, so any chance i can get to build something on site, im in. But any homeowner with a little bit of skill can build a mantle of their taste to match their house exactly. This is very nice. Nice and quaint. Chris thanks. Tom you have a wood stove. Heat the house . Chris it does heat the house, and we love it. But what were looking for is that final finishing touch. Were thinking a mantle might be nice. Tom a mantle would be nice. Nice tile work. Did you guys do this . Chris we did, yeah. Tom very nice. Chris there was 70s wood paneling, and we decided to upgrade, but this is as far as we got. Tom okay. So, do you have any idea what you want the mantle to look like . Do you want it to be ornate . Do you want it to be plain . Chris yeah, were looking for something simple and clean, maybe a little bit more modern. Tom okay. Lets see what youve got around here. Lets look at this window trim right here. Now, the casing around this window is plain. Its got a nice flat casing. I like this little detail right here, and really like this stool. Its nice and thick. Why dont we cue off of that and build a mantle to match . Chris sounds perfect. Tom alright. Lets get started. Chris okay. Tom alright. Ive cut three pieces for the mantle on my saw. On the side, were gonna use a piece of 5 4x8. Across the top, were gonna use a piece of 1x8. Chris alright. Tom now, the different thickness shows right here. When i put them together, theres a reveal. Now, i think that reveal is a little bit too heavy. So, to lesson that, ive cut some thin strips down. Im gonna slide them underneath the piece like this and place it. And that makes a reveal softer. Chris nice, subtle. Tom now, to fasten the top to the sides, i used a special jig, that special jig allowed me to drill holes on an angle so i can attach the pieces together using pocket screws. Chris alright. Tom i also put a little bit of glue in that joint, chris and, obviously, we wont see this from the front. Tom i hope not. Chris [ laughs ] alright, let me show you what i want to do here. Want our mantle to sit on top of the tile, to cover this top edge and down each side. Thats why i cut a rabbet up each side and across the top with my router, a straight edge, and a straight cutting bit. Chris alright. Tom alright. Now, when we place the mantle on top of our plinth blocks and we center it, you can see we have a nice straight edge along the top and down the side. Chris beautiful. Tom alright . Now we have to do a filler on each side here. Well cut a fier strip there and attach it. Chris perfect. Tom alright, chris. Were picking up cues for a mantle from this window detail. Chris right. Tom weve already built the sides and the header. Next thing i want to make is this little detail right here. Chris i love it. Perfect. Tom okay. Lets go do it. Chris alright. Tom to make up the small detail, i ripped a strip of wood on my table saw. I mitered it on a 45degree angle, glued it, d nailed it in place. Alright. Let me show you the next detail that were gonna build. Chris okay. Tom alright. It starts with this piece right here. Weve actually made a thicker piece of this one. Chris okay. Tom weve also ripped a piece and held it on an angle, so its a flat Crown Molding, and then it will return into the wall. Chris i love it. Tom okay. So were gonna start with making this piece right here. Now, remember that your mantle is thicker on one end than it is on the other. So, this boards gonna have to be cut on a taper. So, im going to take a board. Im going to stand it up. And im gonna mark right here in the face of the mantle. And now ill mark this end right here. Chris okay. Tom now i want this piece to stick 3 8ths beyond the face of the mantle. So, im going to measure 3 8ths from that mark. Chris alright. Tom and put a mark. Im gonna do the same thing on the other end. Now, i need to rip this board on a taper. To do that, im gonna use my circular saw and guide it with the table. Now, i need two pieces of filler strips one to attach the mantle to the wall, and one to attach my Crown Molding to. To attach the small piece of trim and the nailers to the mantle, ill use pket screws. Now Crown Molding, when it goes on the wall, it sits at an angle. Chris right. Tom s theres a flat section that goes against the wall and a flat section that goes against the ceiling. But we dont want this crown detail. Chris right. Tom we want our Crown Molding to be flat. So, were gonna take a piece of 1x5 and rip it down. Were nna rip the piece thats flat against the nailer that we placed and flat to go against the cap of your mantle. Chris sounds great. Tom alright. Now, to match that Crown Molding angle on the back, you can take the Crown Molding, lay it on the saw upside down. Chris okay. Tom we tilt the saw to follow that angle, and youre all set. Alright. Now, this is how our Crown Molding is gonna sit on top of our mantle. That angle right there. Chris nice. But we have to make a 45degree angle cut on this end and that end, so that the Crown Molding can return around the corner. Chris okay. Tom okay . So, we have to make sure we hold it in the right orientation when we cut it. So to do that now, think of it. Heres the nailer, and heres the top of our shelf. Now, what i want to do is, i want to turn it up like this, bring it over on to the saw, and i want the back of the saw to be our nailer and the bottom of the saw to be under a shell. Chris so opposite. Tom right. Now, my saw is set at a 45degree angle. I also want to make sure i hold the board tight against the saw. Chris okay. Tom at the back and at the bottom. I slide it down, and now ill cut my outside miter. Alright. Now weve cut our return, and we also cut our front piece. So, what i want to do now is, i want to glue the end and nail it together. Chris okay. Tom alright . Chris alrighty. Tom okay. Good. Now, i want to take this piece and slide it together. Just like that. Nice and tight, ooze that glue out, and make sure im even on the top. And now im gonna tack it with a gun. Get one on the front here. Okay. You ready . Chris yep. Alright. Lets put it in place. Chris ooh, its coming together. Tom is coming together. Come to me with it. There you go. Chris okay. Right down. Good. Chris this is so exciting. Tom yes. Lets slide it to you a little bit. Chris okay. Tom okay. Hows that . Chris it is amazing. Tom alright. Let me get some screws, and well screw it to the wall. Chris awesome. What kind of screws are that. Tom these are actually 3inch ceramic screws. Im gonna countersink the screws so you can putty over them when you paint it. Chris perfect. Tom okay. Good. Now why dont you take this end of the board and hold it up just a little bit because i want to potion it in the right location before we drop it down. Chris okay. Tom okay. Let it down. Chris alright. Tom okay. Now ill nail it in place. Chris okay. So, thats what the nailing strip was for. Tom you got it. Chris alright. Now im gonna nail up through the molding. Chris alright. Tom alright, chris. The mantle is done, and im passing it off to you. All you have to do is fill some holes, sand it, and paint it. Chris i will do that. I am so excited. Thank you so much. Its beautiful. Tom it looks pretty good. Kevin well, you know what, whether it is wood or gas, whether its operational or just for looks, i think we can all agree that a fireplace is a key element in any home. I mean, adds a lot of character. Tom and value. Kevin yeah, that, too. Alright. Well, until next time. Im kevin oconnor. Tom im tom silva. Mark im mark mccullough. Richard im richard trethewey. Kevin for ask this old house. Tom alright. Here you go, sonny. Richard oh, great. Kevin whoa, what do you tom watch out now. Thats hot. Kevin a smore . Richard yeah. Kevin holy mackerel. Did you guys actually melt these. Richard yeah. Kevin on that . Tom no, thats electric, you dummy. Mark [ chuckles ] kevin unbelievable. Tom used my heat gun. Kevin mmm. Pretty good. Richard torch. Kevin oh, good. Well share some of our own holiday renovation nightmares. [ laughter ] oh, no jenn im gonna share a few of my favorite things about christmas trees. Keith and ill show you how to turn the front of your house into a winter wonderland. So, were gonna start with the icicle lights in the gutter. Woman okay. Keith to do this, were gonna use a clip. Woman oh, cool. Keith, i love it. Its just magical. I wish you the happiest of holiday. Keith you too, and thanks for having me. And then do it yourself, youve opened up a different kind of toolbox. The home depot proud sponsor of ask this old house. And doing it right. Gmc is proud to sponsor ask this old house. We are professional grade. Gmc. Their office is a truck and their workplace is your home. You wont find them on main street. But, for over 20 years, youve been able to find them on homeadvisor. You can book a local pro for your next home project online or with the app. All these projects to do. Get them all done. The kubota bx series proud sponsor of ask this old house. Stihl is a proud sponsor of ask this old house. To watch full episodes any time, go to pbs. Org askthisoldhouse and join us on facebook, twitter, and instagram. This old house magazine, the companion to our television series, provides trusted information from our team of experts. You can use your cdit card to subscribe for one year. Thats six issues for 10. Just call 18002215900. Vo youre watching pbs. The people who gave the money to make Mister Rogers neighborhood are the people of this and other. And. Its a Beautiful Day in this neighborhood a Beautiful Day for a neighbor would you be mine