Mortar a brick fireplace all on your own. Follow these how-to instructions, it's very beginner friendly.
WHAT YOU NEED TO MORTAR BRICK FIREPLACE
Water Spray Bottle
Scrub Brush
*Before you begin to mortar a brick fireplace make sure to clean the brick of any loose debris.
STEP 1: Mix Mortar
Following the instructions on the bag to mix the mortar for the brick fireplace. Making sure to work in small sections at a time as the mortar dries fairly quickly. We mixed about 5 cups at a time.
STEP 2: Add Mortar to Grout Bag
Add mortar to grout bag. We found that it was easier to mix our mortar more on the thin side, as it moved better through the bag.
Step 3: Wet the Brick and Old Grout with Water
It's best to have some help as time is an issue when working with mortar. While one person is mixing fresh mortar have the other person prepping the brick. Wet a small section of brick at one time.
Step 4: Mortar Brick Fireplace
Mortar brick fireplace over wet section using the grout bag. We found this method to be rather easy and worked great for beginners.
Grout one section at a time allowing the mortar to sit just a minute or two before smoothing it out.
Step 5: Smooth Out Mortar
This next step is actually called pointing. But if you are like us and have never done this before then 'smoothing' out the mortar is a more helpful description.
After just a few minutes go over the mortar with a pointing trowel, pushing the mortar into the old grout lines. This is going to make a huge mess, just embrace it.
Once the mortar starts to dry chip off any loose mortar and smooth out the grout lines with a brush. We used a cheap scrub brush we got from the dollar store.
Going over the grout lines with a brush gives it a nice smooth finish.
Step 6: Repeat!
Start the process all over again! Give yourself a little time to get used to the hang of things. You will find your rhythm.
Prepare yourself for a huge mess. But other then a mess this project is totally do able and very beginner friendly!
Why did we mortar a brick fireplace?
Our before and after shots are not that impressive. In fact you can't even tell we did anything at all.
We have big plans for a fireplace makeover but didn't want to jump the gun without perfecting the look of our brick. I was not a fan of the large grout gaps. I wanted brick that was almost flush with the mortar, but of course with lots of texture.
In 28 days we can start the real transforming magic! (It takes 28 days for mortar to fully cure)
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