Tips on Upgrading and Maintaining the Fireplace in your Mid Century Home

The fireplace in our Streng Bros home burns gas that filters through glass.

Your fireplace might be the last thing on your mind as the hot summer temperatures arrive in Sacramento.

But now is the time to have your chimney cleaned and to consider any upgrades.

Upgrading the Look of Your mcm Fireplace

Our fireplace, like many we have seen in other Streng homes, had a very unattractive black chain screen which had seen better days. We wanted to remove the chain screen and replace it with glass doors.

We reached out to Custom Fireside, a local Sacramento company who provides a wide range of fireplace inserts and other products. Their showroom is well stocked with examples and their sales people are helpful and knowledgable.

A mid century fireplace built from stone.

They sent a technician to our home to measure and evaluate our fireplace.  Unfortunately, given how the brick juts out from the chimney we would require a custom inset which we didn’t want to do. We wanted to preserve the original look of the fireplace.

We opted instead to remove the screen entirely and leave the hearth open. At some point in the home’s history the fireplace had been converted to gas. We decided to layer decorative glass on the hearth. The technician painted the hearth with high heat matt black paint and after preparing the hearth, laid layers of decorative black glass.

We think it looks fabulous. You could also select other decorative items like fireballs.

Soot Stains on Your Brick Fireplace

The question of how to get rid of the unsightly soot stains on the exterior and the interior of the chimney that is visible is one we see often in Facebook groups and when we speak to potential buyers and sellers.

We reached out to Martin Serrano, manager of A1 Professional Home Services to understand if anything can be done to eliminate these soot stains.

“Soot markings indicate that the smoke is rolling out of the chimney which means the chimney is plugged and needs cleaning.  Smoke needs a smooth surface to go up. If the chimney is plugged it will back up into the house,” explained Serrano.

This fireplace takes center stage in a Sacramento Streng Bros mid century modern home.

Serrano recommends having your chimney serviced every one-two years, depending on how often you use your fireplace.

And now is the time to book their services to clean and service your chimney.

“Our busy season is September-February and as a result you might need to wait to have your chimney serviced and you will pay a slighter higher service fee.  Instead, book an appointment March-August and your fireplace will be ready to use once the cold weather rolls around again,” said Serrano.

But can anything be done to get rid of existing soot stains? We asked Serrano about some do-it-yourself solutions we found while surfing the internet.

“These cleaning products might actually make the stains look worse. Fireplace bricks are porous which means stains will be next to impossible to remove. Cleaning solutions will be absorbed by the bricks and might actually make the stain look worse. Best to leave the stains alone or paint,” he said.

Speaking of painting, a recent Instagram poll we conducted showed that mid century home owners and enthusiasts are vehemently against painting the fireplace bricks. Best to leave them in their natural state and be part of the home’s story.