Fireplaces, Heating Stoves, Flues and Chimneys - Concreting over a brick chimney

Hi helpful folks:

My wife and I recently bought a 50 yr. old house with a brick chimney and brick chimney surround inside our dining room. We would like to change that to a more modern smooth concrete finish that we could stain with concrete stain.

So question to the audience here is: What type of concrete should we use? We're looking for something that would trowel onto a vertical surface well and have a smooth finish. Any special considerations for the application?

Thanks!

You could apply it in a process called stucco. Here's how:

http://doityourself.com/concrete/stuccoconcreteblock.htm

Hope this helps.

Hi:

I want to do exactly the same thing to the ugly brown (more than red) brick fireplace in my living room. I want to transform it into a modern concrete fireplace.

I don't think stucco is what I'm looking for -- too prone to cracking and I do not want the sandy/pointy texture.

I really want a smooth grey concrete, post-modern fireplace and I want to do it for the most economical price possible.

Here's something I found from a Debbie Travis article online:

"get a flat working surface, I covered the brick with smooth, fire-resistant cement fiberboard, cut in panels to fit, then glued and screwed into place. The seams were sealed with drywall tape. I then spread a skim coat of cement mortar (the stuff you use to patch exterior walls) over the fiberboard.

"The stained wood mantel and moldings were sanded, primed and painted the same stone gray as the tile adhesive so that the entire surface would have a uniform finish."

One designer who is hot right now, doing all concrete stuff is Fu-Tung Cheng. Amazon has his just-released book Concrete at Home : Innovative Forms and Finishes: Countertops, Floors, Walls, and Fireplaces. Haven't seen it yet.

Another book not yet released is Decorating With Concrete: Indoors: Fireplaces, Floors, Countertops, & More by Tina Skinner & ConcreteNetwork.com

Anyway, I'm very interested in finding out what you decided to do and how -- I hope that you check back and are willing to share.

much thanks :)