[RinSF]

Hi, hoping for some advice or ideas here...

Someone had covered my fireplace with floor tile (don't ask), and after removing I found the original brick below. No problems there…I already figured it would be unusable: My plan was always to just tile around the opening and build a decorative wood frame around the perimeter.

The problem is...the brick is somewhat detached from the wall: If you grab onto the top, you can rock/pull it forward a bit…it basically moves as one large piece. To be fair, it takes a bit of muscle, but it can still be moved.

I know zero about brickwork or fireplace construction, but it appears it’s just plaster wall behind it…and I honestly don’t see how or where this was ever even attached to it. Not sure if it’s normal that it would just be freestanding like this??

Anyhow, in order to tile and re-do as described above, I feel like I need to properly secure things here. Options?

• 
  Obviously the safest/smartest thing would be to remove all the brick and rebuild it…which, well...seems like a nightmare.

• 
  Cut one large piece of cementboard to cover the front and drive some 8” bolts through to bolt the whole thing to the wall. This seems like a good idea and would also provide a proper backing to tile, but if it’s plaster behind there, I'd definitely have to find the studs.

• 
  Bolt some metal retaining straps across the face? (Although...I just tried to see if there are studs at the very far left and right, and it's hard to tell)

• 
  Tile over it as-is and call it a day? The previous floor tile was no doubt helping to hold things together, but obviously this isn’t the smartest route to go.

• 
  Other? :/

Thanks so much for reading.

 

[jomama45]

There could be a few corrugated wall ties between the brick and the block backing that corroded away, or maybe they never used any?

Either way, if there's a way you can build your mantel to tie into the header or studs above, while encapsulating the top brick a little, I wouldn't worry too much.

You could also drill a few long Tapcons through the face brick and into the block behind.

If you're really nervous, look into "helical masonry ties", which are designed exactly for this situation.

 

[Tscarborough]

Helical ties were the first thing I thought of, but you can't buy a couple and the tool to install them is $150.00.

 

[RinSF]

Thanks for your help. Small update: I removed a few bricks at the top (the entire top row looks like filler someone put in and is all loose) and just wanted to add some new notes:

• This entire facade appears to be ornamental...it's certainly not supporting anything

• Most of the top-right is okay...maybe a few bricks in the top 2-3 rows are loose and could use some fresh mortar

• The left side is all loose though: rocking the top will move bricks 6-7 rows down (although I guess that's good they're still tied together)

• There are studs around 1-2" in from each side, so at least I know I can tap into those

If I can get the brick better tied to itself, then maybe a few tapcons as suggested might be all that's needed to then attach it to the wall (in addition to some fresh mortar, of course). Maybe even adding my "cover with cementboard and bolt through the bricks" trick would help too. Main concern is that I'm in Oakland, so it's a seismically-active area.

 

[Tscarborough]

If it is a facade, why not just tear it out and redo it?

 

[RinSF]

Tscarborough: Yes, that's one of the options...I'm just trying to see if there are some simpler solutions before I go there.

Since I knew the facing was likely in bad shape, I was always planning to cover over it with tile and woodwork (i.e., if I can simply secure the brick, I can then cover it).

Now that I think about it though, I'm usually the stickler for retaining original details...so maybe I should just rebuild it using the original brick and be the proud owner of a brick fireplace. I'm not even sure the brick was the original facing (it doesn't show any signs of smoke or fire on it)...it's possible it used to be tiled for all I know. Also not sure how many bricks are missing/damaged. Urgh...didn't plan for this hiccup :/