Self Install Fireplaces Glass
If your fireplace has soot on the walls, you will want to begin by cleaning your fireplace with wire brush to remove any soot build up. Wipe the surfaces clean with a dry cloth to remove any dust. If you are painting mask off the areas you don’t want any paint on and spray your high heat paint.
Now you want to hook up your burner and place it in the center of the fireplace. Turn the gas on and light it to check that you have the flame pattern in the center and going up and not lapping on the back wall. This will cause soot. Now you have found the general location for the burner.
Pour in about 2” worth of filler (sand or crushed lava). The goal is to raise your burner so that its level with your gas connection. Keep the front clear of filler as we don’t want it to show through.
Place the burner on top of the filler, test the burner again, checking for the flame pattern again. Looks good? Now you are ready to pour the glass.
Starting from the front to back, we recommend you do this slowly as it looks better if you take your time. We also have found that if you do this at nighttime it makes more sense as you can see the actual effects of the fire.
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The picture below is of the completed Fireplace Surround, Direct Vent Conversion, FireGlass installation and the FireBalls Looks great!
Click "HERE" or on the picture below to see how this was made and installed.
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The pictures below are of Dr Micheal Marshall Fireplace Surrounds
CLICK on the link or the picture below to see the surrounds with the Star-Burst Pattern!
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Click HERE or on the picture below to see how this was assembled!
Black Magic, Sterling Silver Panels and Surround
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Click "HERE" or on the picture below to see how this was made and installed.
Rick Rogina Fireplace Surround, FireBalls, Direct Vent Conversion with FireGlass
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Click HERE or on the picture below to see how this was installed and what we used!
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Click HERE or on the picture to see how it was transformed to this!
From THIS! (BELOW) again YUK!
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Self installation is so easy, even adorable babies can do it.
You want to have the sand foundation raise the fireplace burner so that its level with the gas connection. The burner is then tested to assure its working fine and that the position doesn't have the flames riding the walls; which would cause soot.
So all there is left to do is pour the Azurlite Base Glass FireGlass over the burner and add a few White FireBalls.
The fireplace below is in Palm Springs California.
We remove the doors, very simple. One screw on each side at the top generally removes the doors. Below, remove the end of the flex line and screw it on to the stub out coming out of the wall.
Below, now attach the flex line from the burner to the stub out. Keeping the flex line curled under the burner. Below, pour in as much sand (on lighter colors) as you would like to raise the glass bed.
Look how easy! Bring the burner to the top of the sand so it can operate properly. And Keep your sand/ lava at least 3" to 4" away from the front! Pour some Starfire Base Glass and you are done!
Looks awesome!
The next fireplace was a self installation by Chris in Palm Springs California. He used about 3" of a sand as base.
The fireplaces below are located in Palm Desert California. These were both filler with crushed lava (3" to 4" each) and then topped with a Bronze Base Glass. We then added 6" gray FireBalls. We will explain the installation as we proceed, First they poured about 4" of crushed lava filler.
This was the outdoor fireplace, so for the burner they used a stainless steel 38" "H" burner for natural gas. Followed by pouring in about 1 1/2" of Bronze Base Glass. Then we stacked in the 6" gray FireBalls. We couldn't get any burning pictures because it was to bright outdoors.
The fireplace below was indoors in the family room. We started with about 3" to 4" of filler (crushed lava). We used a 38" "H" burner again in this fireplace as well. Then we tested the flame pattern to insure the flames were not hitting the walls.
Then we added the 6" gray FireBalls to the top of the Bronze Base Glass.
One very nice family room!
The fireplace below was installed by Scott Hansford of Palm Springs California. We made an aluminum border to separate the glass from the outer stone layer. This helped in design and saved on glass as well. We will explain as we move on. Do you see how high the gas connection is? We sent a 90 degree elbow to point the gas line down and then added enough filler to the bottom of the gas line to conceal it under the glass. The metal border is installed holding the outer layer of rock in place.
They didn't like the post in the fireplace so we cut a mirror to preview if in fact they wanted it covered at all. If they would of wanted it covered we would of made piece of super 8 stainless steel (highly polished) to cover the post. The mirror was only a temporary visual. DON'T USE REGULAR GLASS NEAR ANY FIRE! So if you are not sure, preview it. The glass we used was a
Bronze Base Glass with
Gold Base Glass and
Clear Diamonds.
The fireplace below is a direct vent conversion. The most important issue to address here is to NEVER increase the amount of fuel that your fireplace was designed to burn. We will explain as we move forward, This is the burner in this particular direct vent fireplace. This burner will work just fine. Nice Logs? Isn't teat the WOW! factor you were looking for?
Now we add
Bronze Rust Copper Base Glass with
Gold Base Glass on top.
You tell me, which looks better?
The fireplace below is a self installation by Thom Toben of Studio T2 Designs in Kansas. Below the burner is installed with the flex line under the burner.
Now the lava goes in and the burner is brought up to the surface. Test the burner to insure the flame don't hit the back wall.
The Clear Base Glass and Starfire Base Glass was poured on top of the lava. Then Thom placed all of the other selected to match the room. & colors were installed and they are, Clear Base Glass with Starfire Base Glass mixed together over Medium Amber Topping, Bronze Rust Copper Base Glass, Black Luster Topper, Yellow Amber Topper and Turquoise Blue Topper.
The pictures below are from Tom and Maria, here are their fireplace pictures and self installation. Family room side above, Living room side below.
Paint the walls.
Pour in the larger lava as a base and then cover it with our small crushed lava.
And they installed Bronze Base Glass with lava as a filler. Then you are done!
We would like to share their comments:
From:Tom and Maria
Ed:
Sorry it took me so long to get the pictures off to you. Anyway, we are digging the new look in the fireplace. You and your staff have been wonderful, from the first phone call to the last question. The handful of times I called for clarification or assistance it was about making sure I was comfortable, not once did I feel as though you guys left me hanging. As you promised during that first call, this really was one of easiest do it yourself projects I have ever completed. Thanks, you guys made it easy. I feel fortunate to have landed with you and your organization.
From: T R [mailto:trnmaria@msn.com]
Sent: Monday, December 14, 2009 9:17 PM
The fireplace pictures below belong to John Krakowski. This is a complete make over/ transformation of his fireplace. The colors that were used are, Bronze Base Glass, Bronze Reflective Base Glass, Yellow Topper,
Yellow Amber Topper, Dark Red Orange Topper, This is a very nice self installation: A picture is worth a thousand words!
The fireplace pictures below will show how simple and easy it actually is to install. Above you can see how nice it WAS! YUK! Below they painted, we always recommend painting the lines first and then painting each brick separately. Using this technique you can eliminate spots.
Install the burner. We usually recommend curling the flex line from underneath, but this works as well if your flex line is long enough. The reason for the flex line: it allows you to move the burner forward to prevent the flames from hitting the back wall. Below the
lava has been poured and test the flame pattern.
Pour the glass from the front going to the back. You can use a cup or pour from the bucket. Turn it on and you are done!
The glass that was used is, Starfire Base Glass, 1 lb of Gold Base Glass, Amber Diamonds, Ice Ice Ice Topper for one simple but nice fireplace!
The fireplace below belongs to Marcia and here is what we did to update her fireplace. First here is what your fireplace may looks like now,dirty!
We reconfigure the pilot, burner, base plate, venturi and get it to burn properly. Nice flames, then we continue.
If you look below we are showing you proper pilot light placement.
Paint is and you are done! The glass that was used is Starfire Base Glass, Bronze Rust Copper Base Glass and Bronze Reflective Base Glass on top.
If your fireplace does not work this easy or look this simple, then we didn't do it! Let us help you make your fireplace work right and look good.
Click "HERE" or on the picture below to see how this started and finished, very simple and very nice
The fireplace below is in Pasadena, California. Ursula did a nice job, (2004!) but just recently she had us update it withe Sterling Silver walls.
The next 5 pictures are from Ursula in Pasadena. She just recently had us update her fireplace with a Sterling Silver interior. Nice touch!
This next fireplace is in Mammoth Lakes, California. They install a Propane pan burner and covered it with Bronze Rust Copper Base Glass. See the full Condo story by CLICKING HERE! Click HERE to see even more!
The next fireplace was installed by Brian Cooper. The glass that he installed is: Starfire Base Glass, Bronze Reflective Base Glass, and Emerald Green Topper. Nice, huh?
2" method, sand base for lighter colored glass.
The next fireplace ventless conversion was from Eric at Neutral Interiors. We built a pan to recess into the floor of the fireplace and to access the controls Eric cut a hole on the left side of the fireplace for easy access in the event it had to be reset or turned off. We will explain as we move on: The lower hole is the access hole.
Simple, clean and finished! He installed Starfire Base Glass.
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The next fireplace is in Palm Desert California. It is a
propane pan burner with
Sky Blue Base Glass. We will show you step by step on how to install a clean burning
propane pan burner, no really!
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The fireplace below had a few issues, but easily repaired. Be sure to not let this happen to you! If anyone tries this type of installation, stop them and throw them out! This fireplace installation was in Palm Springs California. It was done with the 2" method which is fine except for the burner the fireplace shop installed. We will explain as we move forward and show you the finished fireplace. Below is what we saw when we arrived. Then we tested the burner we were to replace, oh my!
We uncovered to see what was installed and found a single pipe burner. Great Flame! Another issue was the paint job was hideous which was later repainted. Don't let these ignorant installer tell you their stories. They told the customer the paint would dry to match. We do approve of a sand filler indoors under lighter colored glass, but the burner must be on top!
Now we installed a double burner and just watch!
Below is what they pawned off on the customer, DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN TO YOU!
Much better. Then we took several pictures of the fireplace just because! We did top it off with about 15 lbs of Starfire Base Glass to help hide the sand that was exposed and it worked out just fine.
Self installation of a glass fireplace is easy. Often the most difficult part (if necessary) is cleaning the fireplace prior to installation, click here to see "How to Paint Your Fireplace".
Below, the fireplace has a bed of crushed lava with a double 18" steel fireplace burner connected via a flex hose to the natural gas connection.
Pour your base glass, over burner and crushed lava and you are done. Below Clear Base Glass FireGlass with Emerald Green Toppers.
The fireplace below is a
propane pan burner with a lava rock filler. You can use larger lava around the edges of the pan, but you will want to use crushed lava in the pan. Unfortunately our customers found this out too late, and had to manually crush the lava before installing.
The fireplace below is a Direct-Vent self installation with a Starfire Base Glass and Hyacinth Topper. There are a few fireplace companies who say this can't be done, really! So I guess this didn't really didn't happen? ;)
Above you see all the components that make a direct vent work and below you see the finished product. This was completed by Teresa Leets, an attorney in Los Angeles.
The fireplace below was installed by our customer Kim Clark. We fabricated a custom propane burner with remote control.
The picture below shows the burner being tested. With the remote control shown on the lower right, with the pilot light assembly. Topped with
Starfire Base Glass, the fireplace was transformed form Ordinary to Extraordinary!
The fireplace below was modified to look like an HGTV fireplace we had done a while back. We use Bronze Rust Copper Base Glass in the fireplace.
