Legendary Masonry St Louis designs and builds beautiful brick fireplaces for homes across St Louis, MO. Whether you want an indoor brick surround or a full outdoor fireplace, we create features that are safe, functional, and eye catching. Our masons also repair damaged fireplace brick and smoke stained joints.
Legendary Masonry St. Louis provides professional brick fireplace throughout St Louis, MO, Missouri and the surrounding area. Our licensed, insured crew delivers safe, clean, on-time work with a free estimate before anything begins. Call 314-788-7849 or request your free quote.
Custom Brick Fireplaces Built for St Louis Homes
A brick fireplace changes how a St Louis home feels and functions. At Legendary Masonry St. Louis, we design and build fireplaces that actually fit your room, your heating needs, and your budget, not just a picture from a catalog.
We begin with a walk‑through of the space. We look at the existing chimney (if you have one), wall structure, floor framing under the hearth, and how people move through the room. In older city homes in neighborhoods like Tower Grove or Soulard, we often find closed‑up coal fireplaces or brick chimneys buried behind drywall. In many West County homes, we are working with blank walls and gas lines but no chimney at all.
Once we understand the structure, we talk about function. Some customers want a wood‑burning fireplace for backup heat during winter power outages. Others prefer a clean, low‑maintenance gas insert with a traditional brick surround. We explain what is possible with your existing flue or whether a stainless steel liner or new vent system is needed.
Legendary Masonry St. Louis handles the layout, clearances to combustibles, and coordination with your HVAC or fireplace insert company if needed. You get a brick fireplace that is sized correctly, vents safely, and looks like it was always part of the house.
Design Options: Brick Types, Patterns, and Surround Details
Brick fireplaces are not one‑style‑fits‑all. The look depends heavily on brick type, pattern, joints, and mantle details. We bring sample boards to your home so you can see how colors look in your actual light, not just in a showroom.
For St Louis homes, we often match or complement existing exterior brick. In older red‑brick houses, we may use reclaimed brick or locally sourced reds with a light wash to soften the color. In newer builds, customers sometimes prefer wire‑cut modular brick in neutral tones like buff or charcoal. For a more historic feel, we may use hand‑molded brick with slightly irregular edges.
Patterns change the character and cost of your fireplace. A simple running bond on the face with a soldier course at the opening is cost‑effective and classic. Herringbone panels inside the firebox back wall or above the opening look sharp but take more layout time and labor. We also discuss joint style. Flush or slightly recessed joints with tight tooling give a clean look and are easier to keep free of soot. Raked or deeply recessed joints cast more shadows but can trap more dust.
Mantles and surrounds can be simple brick returns, cast stone, or solid wood supported with non‑combustible corbels. We help you maintain required clearances between a wood mantle and the brick fireplace opening, which is one area local inspectors pay close attention to. For raised hearths, we select brick or stone that will stand up to foot traffic and fireplace tools without chipping easily.
How We Build a Brick Fireplace: Step‑by‑Step Process
A well‑built brick fireplace is more than just a brick face around a firebox. Legendary Masonry St. Louis follows a clear, methodical process so you know exactly what is happening at every stage.
1. Site prep and protection. We cover flooring, seal off nearby rooms when needed, and set up dust control. If we are opening a wall to expose an original chimney in a South City home, we prepare for plaster, lath, and surprise framing issues. Debris is bagged and removed daily so the rest of your home stays livable.
2. Structural assessment. We verify that the hearth area can support the additional weight of brick and any stone or concrete hearth extension. In older basements with marginal joists, we sometimes add blocking or posts under the fireplace location. If the existing chimney is cracked, offset, or lined with old clay tile that is failing, we recommend a stainless liner or a new vent system matched to your chosen appliance.
3. Firebox and flue work. For a true masonry wood‑burning fireplace, we construct a firebox with firebrick and high‑temperature refractory mortar. We shape the interior for proper draft, often with a sloped smoke shelf and properly sized throat. For gas inserts, we adapt the opening and surround so the insert manufacturer’s specs and clearances are met, then coordinate with your licensed gas fitter.
4. Brick facing and hearth. Once the inner structure is correct, we lay out the visible brickwork. We dry‑lay key courses around the opening so you can confirm pattern and joint size. Then we set brick with type N or S mortar as appropriate, keeping joints consistent and checking plumb and level constantly. The hearth extension is tied into the subfloor or slab so it will not crack away from the face over time.
5. Curing and cleanup. Masonry needs time to cure. We advise when it is safe to start small, low fires if you have a wood‑burning box, and how to bring the fireplace up to temperature gradually so you do not shock the new work. Then we clean the brick, remove haze, and do a final walkthrough so you know how to use and maintain your new brick fireplace.
Local Codes, Permits, and What St Louis Homeowners Should Know
Fireplaces deal with open flames and hot exhaust, so we take St Louis and county code requirements seriously. In many cases, a permit is required for a new wood‑burning fireplace, a significant change to an existing chimney, or structural changes to support a larger hearth. Legendary Masonry St. Louis can handle permit paperwork with the City of St Louis or the appropriate county office, or we can prepare the drawings and specs if you prefer to submit yourself.
Local inspectors typically check for minimum hearth extension, non‑combustible materials around the opening, proper liner sizing, and clearance from framing members. In St Louis brick homes, we often find historic chimneys that look solid from the outside but have internal voids, broken flue tiles, or mortar that has turned to powder. We use camera inspections or mirror and light to see inside and may recommend relining rather than cosmetic fixes alone.
HOAs in some St Louis suburbs, such as newer communities in St Charles County or West County, sometimes have rules about exterior chimney terminations and visible caps. If your brick fireplace upgrade affects the outside appearance of your chimney, we can provide photos and material specs to help with HOA approvals.
Insurance companies are also stricter now about solid‑fuel appliances. If you are reviving an old wood‑burning fireplace, we suggest contacting your insurer in advance. We can provide documentation or photos of the rebuilt firebox, liner, and clearances so you can keep or adjust your coverage confidently.
Before you hire any mason for a brick fireplace, ask how they confirm code compliance, how they size flues, and whether they use firebrick and refractory mortar in heat areas. If they only talk about the visible brick, you are not getting the whole picture.
Cost, Common Problems, and Long‑Term Care of Brick Fireplaces
Brick fireplace cost in St Louis varies depending on whether we are resurfacing an existing opening, building a new surround for a gas insert, or constructing a full wood‑burning masonry fireplace with a new chimney section. Material choice (standard modular brick versus reclaimed or special order), pattern complexity, and mantle or stone accents also affect price. During our estimate, Legendary Masonry St. Louis breaks out labor, materials, and any needed liner or structural work so you can see exactly what you are paying for.
Common problems we fix include smoking fireplaces that never draw right, cracked firebrick, and loose or crumbling mortar around the opening. Many smoking issues come from a flue that is too small, a chimney that is too short relative to the roof, or a poorly shaped smoke chamber. We correct these with flue relining, smoke shelf adjustments, or sometimes by slightly modifying the opening size to restore the proper ratio between opening and flue.
Spalling brick (faces flaking off) around the exterior of St Louis chimneys is another issue, especially on north and west exposures that see freeze‑thaw cycles and wind‑driven rain. If your interior brick fireplace ties into that same chimney, water problems outside can eventually show up as staining or efflorescence on the inside. We address water intrusion with proper crown repair, flashing, and, when appropriate, breathable masonry sealers above the roofline while keeping the firebox area able to release moisture.
For long‑term care, we recommend having your wood‑burning fireplace and chimney inspected annually and cleaned as needed by a certified sweep. Gas fireplaces should be checked at least every couple of years to confirm the venting path is clear and the surround joints are intact. Avoid harsh acids or pressure washers on interior brick. For soot staining, we use masonry‑safe cleaners and test a small area first so you do not etch or discolor the brick.
When Legendary Masonry St. Louis finishes a brick fireplace, we leave you with simple written guidelines on use, curing fires (for new wood‑burning units), and cleaning. That way the fireplace that looks good on day one still looks and functions right ten winters from now.
