Comments on: Was my 50s fireplace originally painted – or unpainted? Spokane Chris ponders. http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/05/was-my-50s-fireplace-originally-painted-or-unpainted-spokane-chris-ponders/ Remodeling, decor and home improvement for old homes Thu, 24 May 2012 23:13:29 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Irving Steinberg http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/05/was-my-50s-fireplace-originally-painted-or-unpainted-spokane-chris-ponders/comment-page-1/#comment-69983 Irving Steinberg Thu, 17 Mar 2011 16:38:55 +0000 http://retrorenovation.com/?p=4148#comment-69983 Yes, our 1962 track ranch's fireplace bricks are sadly grey concrete made to look like bricks and painted white. There is a piece of slate or granite as a lip like yours sticking out that is painted black. There was a insert with a door on the fireplace that I removed and noticed that the black paint on the lip was missing along the outline of the insert. The insert was not original to the house so I am wondering if I should try to remove the black paint and go back to the original grey of the stone lip or just finish the paint job and make it all black? Ah, so many restorative questions... Yes, our 1962 track ranch’s fireplace bricks are sadly grey concrete made to look like bricks and painted white. There is a piece of slate or granite as a lip like yours sticking out that is painted black. There was a insert with a door on the fireplace that I removed and noticed that the black paint on the lip was missing along the outline of the insert. The insert was not original to the house so I am wondering if I should try to remove the black paint and go back to the original grey of the stone lip or just finish the paint job and make it all black? Ah, so many restorative questions…

]]> By: John http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/05/was-my-50s-fireplace-originally-painted-or-unpainted-spokane-chris-ponders/comment-page-1/#comment-66527 John Sat, 12 Feb 2011 14:27:52 +0000 http://retrorenovation.com/?p=4148#comment-66527 If you can scrape paint off of an inconspicuous area, you will probably discover that the fireplace brick is actually concrete blocks formed into a brick shape. Many of the homes in my neighborhood, including mine (Milwaukee 1950-1955) are this way. So yes, they would have been painted when new. If you can scrape paint off of an inconspicuous area, you will probably discover that the fireplace brick is actually concrete blocks formed into a brick shape. Many of the homes in my neighborhood, including mine (Milwaukee 1950-1955) are this way. So yes, they would have been painted when new.

]]> By: Darcy http://retrorenovation.com/2008/09/05/was-my-50s-fireplace-originally-painted-or-unpainted-spokane-chris-ponders/comment-page-1/#comment-66004 Darcy Sun, 06 Feb 2011 02:44:19 +0000 http://retrorenovation.com/?p=4148#comment-66004 Chris, when I was growing up in the early 1960's, all the houses on our block had natural brick fireplaces. They were originally built in the 50's. My dad painted our fireplace white about 1965 or so. He was a carpenter and built tract homes, and probably it was something he saw on the job. He was always working on improving our homes, so it was probably something he did to "modernize." Chris, when I was growing up in the early 1960′s, all the houses on our block had natural brick fireplaces. They were originally built in the 50′s.

My dad painted our fireplace white about 1965 or so. He was a carpenter and built tract homes, and probably it was something he saw on the job. He was always working on improving our homes, so it was probably something he did to “modernize.”

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