How to buy a Marble Fireplace

I have been making and installing marble and stone fireplaces for over 40 years. I have seen every type of customer come and go, from those who are superbly prepared, to those who have given almost no thought about what type of fireplace that they are going to buy.

I hope this article will give you a few tips and prepare you to buy the right marble fireplace for you.

I have no axe to grind. I am semi retired and no longer have any interests in any fireplace business - so my advice is completely impartial and honest.

The best source for a marble fireplace is a marble mason who actually makes them. My guess is that such creatures are rare and elusive anywhere in the world, so the next best source is a quality specialist fireplace showroom. It is always best to buy a fireplace and get it installed by the same people.

If you're reading this article in the hope that I'm going to tell you which type or style of fireplace to buy, I'm afraid you are going to be sadly disappointed. I'm nobody's idea of a style guru. I was a stone and marble mason, more used to humping around great lumps of rock or creating dust storms with a chisel than deciding what shade of pink goes with green!

Even a lifetime of discussing fireplaces and fireplace designs with my customers has left me no wiser about style or colour coordination than I was when I was 15.

However I will say this: a Marble fireplace is without doubt the most prestigious and impressive type of fireplace you can buy. It takes real skill and hard work to make even a simple marble fireplace. Every marble fireplace made has been created by a skilled craftsman, this skill and commitment should be respected.

What I can do is try to guide you about the type of things you should think about before you start shopping for your new fireplace. You could consider this article as a check list, to prepare yourself before you shop.

A fireplace is the single most important factor in any living room. It should be the first thing you decide upon - before decorating - before furnishing.

It is never wise to choose a fireplace at the last minute. It shouldn't be an afterthought, or purchased on a sudden whim. A fireplace should be thought about, should suit your home and complement your style of living.

The planning stage of buying a marble fireplace should be done well in advance of any re-decorating or re-modelling. You may end up choosing a custom or bespoke design, in which case you need to consider the manufacturing time as well as delivery and installation.

Order your new fireplace in good time. Installing a new fireplace can be a messy and dusty operation. If you are re-modelling the room, install the marble surround after the builders have finished.

In my experience all builders are either pathologically clumsy or they have a hatred of marble fireplaces installed in their DNA.

Plan to have the installation completed before the decorators begin. This will give you a chance to cover up your new beautiful fireplace before the decorators can splatter it with paint and wallpaper paste. If given half a chance they will do this! Remember that as close genetic cousins to the builders, decorators will never pass up an opportunity to ruin a marble fireplace.

Trust me on this. I have seen it too often in my life for these so called accidents to be random chance.

Your choice of style for your fireplace will be dictated by several things.

The age and design period of your property, your style of décor and of course your own personal taste. Try to consider the following:

Do you live in a period property or a country cottage? Is the design a period Victorian or Georgian, or is it modern and contemporary?

If possible choose a style of fireplace that is true to the original design of the property, one that will always suit your home. A fireplace is not like a new carpet or a new chair, to be replaced every time you decorate. Once a quality fireplace is installed it becomes “the room” it will dictate the character of the room and influence the way you decorate for ever more! (or at least till you move, or you replace the fireplace, or you forget to cover it up when the decorators arrive!)

Ask yourself if you prefer ornate designs or simple. Do you want to achieve some design goal, are you perhaps trying to create a Art Nouveau or Art Deco look?

These are questions always worth asking. Only you have the answers.

Deciding on the general style of the fireplace before you start shopping is important as it may prevent you being sidetracked, falling in love with, perhaps, an inappropriate design of fireplace that you see in the showroom. At the very least, it may give you pause for thought.

The actual colour or type of marble will largely depend on the style of fireplace, your personal taste, and what is currently available. The colour and veining of any marble will often vary from batch to batch, this is quite natural. As the quarry workers cut through the rock-face the colour and markings will change.

With all natural materials its best to buy what you see, if your fireplace is bespoke ask to visit the workshop to see the marble slab before it is made.

(Now I may get just a bit hot and bothered on this next subject. Years of dealing with recalcitrant customers has worn my patience a bit thin!)

Marble is a natural rock. It's a stone. It's quarried from mountain and hill, it's an absolute bloody miracle of nature.

Never, NEVER bring your computer printed cushion covers or your mass produced carpet samples into a mason's workshop to demand a matching marble! You may get away with it in some fireplace showrooms, the salesman are specially trained to grind their teeth quietly but we masons may not be so understanding!

Listen! - Choose the fireplace and the marble first - then match your decorations and your colour scheme to the marble.

..........OK I'm calm again now, we can get on!

The type of fire you are going to use will affect many of the details on the new fireplace. Many modern fireplaces are really only designed to be used with electrical or gas fires. If you're going to burn an open fire or use a log burning stove you must inform your supplier as the fireplace will have to be prepared accordingly. On a fireplace that's going to be used with an open fire for instance, the hearth or base plate will often be cross cut into three pieces to allow for heat expansion. Or it may have an inset section of tile or granite to take the heat of the fire. Your fireplace supplier or marble mason may also recommend that the fire surround should be slabbed with fireproof concrete.

This will depend on the style of fireplace and the type of model you choose. Listen to your marble mason and take his advice.

Once you have decided on the style of your fireplace. You can think about the size that would be appropriate for the room where it's going to be sited. If you are going to be redecorating fairly shortly try drawing out the size of the mantelpiece height and width on the wall. Better still, to create an illusion of depth, try mocking it up with a few bits of cardboard and perhaps a timber shelf. ( look I don't know what you've got lying around, use your imagination!)

Study your mock-up, stand as far away from it in the room as you can get, does it seem too small? Or is it going to dwarf everything else in the room?

Once you have your ideal size fixed in your head you can judge this size against what you are offered in the showroom.

That's it. I can't think of anything else, if I do I can add it at a later date.

I hope that this check list equips you to buy a superb marble fireplace that will give you pleasure for decades to come!

More Information About Marble Fireplaces:

How Marble is Quarried and Processed:

A Guide to the Creation of Natural Marble: