It’s a new year which means now is the time for resolutions and new beginnings. Although most people tend to make resolutions related to their personal lives, now is also a great time to resolve to give new life to your fireplace as well. Although you love your fireplace, after years fireplaceof service, it might begin to look a little rundown. In addition to this, fireplace styles change throughout the years and maybe your fireplace is looking a little outdated compared to your home’s current decor. If you think that your fireplace needs a new look for the new year, fireplace refacing is a great way to totally transform the way your fireplace looks, without having to demo and rebuild. Starting out as a tuckpointing business in 1966, Leonard and Son’s has been bringing new life to old masonry in the Chicagoland area for the past 54 years! You will be hard-pressed to find anyone else with that amount of masonry experience. If you want to change the way your fireplace looks, Leonard and Son’s is the chimney service provider to call!

What is refacing?

If you want to change the way your fireplace looks, refacing is a great option. In short, refacing consists of removing the current masonry of your fireplace, and replacing it with new masonry. This may sound easy, but it takes an incredible amount of expertise to properly reface a fireplace. Since fireplaces often are the centerpiece of a home’s decor, if your fireplace is outdated, it can really limit what you do with the rest of your home’s decor. In fact, one of the most common reasons for refacing a fireplace is to coincide with a home interior makeover. The best thing about a fireplace refacing that there are nearly an endless amount of options available for what your fireplace can look like. There are a lot of materials available for refacing including brick, stone, and tiles, so whether you want a sleek modern design, an antiquated look, or a cozy rustic feel to your home, we here at Leonard and Son’s can fit your personal design needs.

Other times, homeowners may like the design of their fireplace, but it might look old and worn out. At Leonard and Son’s we also have experience restoring older fireplaces. Although restoring an older fireplace sometimes requires refacing, it oftentimes just requires some simpler repairs. If your fireplace masonry is starting to crumble in some places, we can remove the crumbling brick and mortar and replace it with new materials. This is a difficult task because older fireplaces often used types of brick that are hard to come by these days. That’s why it often takes a professional to assure that your new masonry will blend in naturally with your fireplace. Another option for improving the look of your fireplace masonry includes making sure that your fireplace masonry is clean. Soot, smoke, and efflorescence stains can make any masonry look old and disheveled. At Leonard and Son’s we use a product called Paint “N” Peel to quickly and effectively remove stains from your masonry.

Other masonry projects that we do

Although we do a lot of fireplace and chimney work, the masons at Leonard and Son’s can perform about any type of masonry project that you need. Whether you are thinking of adding a stone masonry finish on a wall to achieve a cozy, rustic feel in your den, or you want us to design and construct a traditional style wine cellar in your basement, we can perform any masonry project you want.

When is a good time to complete an indoor masonry project?

Although you can do an indoor masonry project at any time of the year, we like doing as many indoor masonry projects during the colder months. It’s not that we don’t like working out in the cold, although that is an added bonus. The fact is that masonry needs warmer conditions to set properly. If certain temperature thresholds are not met, there could be issues with your masonry later on. January is also a great time to commit to a masonry project because it allows you to start the new year with a new look for your home.

Begin your new year off right with a new look for your fireplace! To set up an appointment with one of our experienced masons today by calling us Leonard and Son’s at 847-658-7659 or check us out online to schedule. Our experienced masons will talk to you about what materials, design, and budget you are looking for and start work on your project as soon as we get your approval. Our masons are Chimney Safety Institute of America (CSIA) certified, which means that they have met the high safety and technical standards of the CSIA certification process. [www.csia.org] This means that you can trust that we will do the job correctly, keeping your family’s safety a top priority. Let us show you why, after 54 years of service, we are still Chicagoland’s number one chimney and fireplace service provider. We look forward to serving you in 2020!