| Travertine, Marble, Granite or Cast Concrete/Cement Columns for your Natural Stone Fireplace. Brought to you by Cole Farms, Inc. |
Some components of your fireplace surround, mantle and hearth will be fairly easy to find. Columns are not one of those items. We were fortunate to find Stirling Stone Works where we were able to obtain cast cement columns that gave us the Roman look we wanted. We did find other options via google searches. Fiberglass columns were available as well as solid marble ones. The ones you choose will depend on the look you want and how much weight they need to support.
Our stone installer wanted to wrap them in travertine which we thought would be impossible but after some consideration we agreed. Needless to say, we were very pleased with the results. If you look at the picture above you will see the columns in their original state. Ours were wrapped by cutting slivers of travertine tile and epoxying them to the column and then grouting with epoxy. Then they were ground with a diamond polisher and rounded out. It was explained to us that this would strengthen the column and would also make it match the travertine.
You will notice in the picture that the columns come as halves which you would normally bond to the fireplace. We purchased two sets of each so that we could form a complete column. They were not terribly expensive and they were fairly easy to epoxy together. Wrapping them in travertine was another story. If our installer was not so talented this would have not been possible. I know if took about 6 hours of just grinding to smooth the 4 columns out. If you go to our tools and materials page you can see the epoxy that was used as well as the diamond polisher.
It is important to note that the columns are not made to support any particular amount of weight and are made to be decorative. Ours are supporting some downward weight but much of the weight of the mantle is supported by brackets. If you need your columns to support all the weight of a mantle, Stirling makes them where they are hollow and a steel rod or support beam is used in the middle. Never attempt to use anything to support weight that is was not designed to support.
You will find below an index of the articles that I have put together on this subject. I have tried to cover building a granite, travertine or marble fireplace hearth, surround and mantle using a step by step approach.
Step by Step Articles on Building a Travertine, Marble or Granite Fireplace Surround.
Intro - An Overview of Designing your Stone Fireplace Surround, Mantel and Hearth - Overview of our articles on Building a Natural Stone Fireplace.
Article 1 - Sketching and Designing your Stone Fireplace Surround - Measuring, planning and sketching out your Natural Stone Fireplace.
Article 2 - Finding an Stone Installer - Choosing a craftsman to build your travertine, marble or granite for your natural stone fireplace.
Article 3 - Finding your Materials - Choosing your travertine, marble or granite for your natural stone fireplace.
Article 4 - Finding your Materials 2 - Finding Marble, Travertine, Granite, Concrete or Cement Columns for your Fireplace
Article 5 - Installing the Fireplace Hearth - Installing your Marble, Travertine, Granite, or Limestore Fireplace Hearth
Article 6 - Installing the Fireplace Surround - Installing a Marble, Travertine, Granite Tile or Slab Fireplace Surround
Article 7 - Installing the Fireplace Mantel - Installing a Marble, Travertine, Granite Tile or Slab Fireplace Mantel
Article 8 - Installing the Fireplace Surround - Installing Wall Tile on a Marble, Travertine, Granite Tile or Slab Fireplace
Article 9 - Grouting the Fireplace Surround - Grouting Wall Tile on a Marble, Travertine, Granite Tile or Slab Fireplace
Article 10 - Enhancing and Sealing your Fireplace Surround - Applying Enhancer/Sealer to your Travertine or Natural Stone Fireplace Surround.
Picture Page 1 - Photos, Pictures, Images of Installing a Marble, Granite, Travertine or Limestone Fireplace Hearth, Mantel and Surround.
Picture Page 2 - Photos, Pictures, Images of Installing a Marble, Granite, Travertine or Limestone Fireplace Hearth, Mantel and Surround.
