How do I make a 1970s floor-to-ceiling stone fireplace look modern?

Cosmetics and heat in one project

Plenty of the older Hazelwood-area homes we see have a big floor-to-ceiling stone wall wrapped around a drafty open firebox that loses more heat up the flue than it puts in the room. Lightening the stone with a mineral wash or refacing it with clean tile fixes the dated look, but on its own it leaves you with the same weak, cold-climate performer.

Because Waynesville runs ten to fifteen degrees colder than the lower valleys, we usually pair the new face with a sealed insert so the wall finally earns its keep on a January night.

Fuel, permit, and the licensed line

Waynesville is mixed-fuel country — some homes reach natural gas, many run propane — and the two need different orifices and pressures, so the conversion has to be set up for whichever you actually have. Propane burns hotter per unit and a wrong-fuel setup soots the new glass fast.

We pull the Haywood County permit, run and pressure-test the gas line, and meet the inspector — the part a mason laying your stone legally cannot touch. Thirty-five minutes from our Asheville showroom, and one crew handles the surround, the venting, and the fuel.

Time it before the long cold

Because Waynesville's heating season starts early and runs late, the practical advice is to schedule the remodel and conversion in late summer or early fall, before you are leaning on the hearth every night. That is also when we handle annual service — over an idle off-season, spiders and dust clog a pilot assembly and burner orifices, and you would rather find that in September than during the first hard freeze. One visit can cover the update and set you up for the winter ahead. Call (828) 545-0525 for a free in-home assessment.