A few weeks ago I reached out to AirStone to see if they would be willing to partner with me on our fireplace design. I was SO excited when they said yes!
I knew it would be the perfect product for us because I had been told by our builder and my engineer of a husband that the structure of our house wouldn’t support the weight of an entire wall of real stone, like I originally wanted. The living room is in the middle of the house, so this fireplace is on an interior wall sitting over the middle of our open basement. It just doesn’t have enough structural support for that much weight in one spot, not to mention that there was no way real stone was going to fit in the budget.
AirStone weighs 75% less than real stone, but you honestly can’t tell the difference just by looking at it. The texture is rough and it is cool to the touch, just like real stone, it just weighs a lot less. Plus, it is made out of 80% recycled materials and it is super easy to install, as you will see in a minute. AND it’s very reasonably priced.
The first thing we did was install the flagstone hearth.
I also painted the walls behind the AirStone a dark color at the recommendation of one of our contractors, who had worked with this product before.
We used the online calculator to figure out how much we would need. There are flat edge, natural edge (for edges that will show in the finished product, like the sides of our fireplace wall), and corner pieces available. We needed some of each for this project. We also needed two buckets of the adhesive. We placed our order online for pickup at our local Lowes and I picked up our supplies the next day.
One of the hardest parts was getting started. We were a little overwhelmed because it seemed like a giant jigsaw puzzle.
Our contractor was there and he gave us a few tips and told us how he would usually install a product like this.
Once we got up the courage to get started, it wasn’t hard at all.
Just use a putty knife to spread the adhesive on the stone like you are frosting a cupcake or buttering a piece of toast, then stick the stone on the wall.
It’s really important to clean the front of the stone right away if you accidentally get some adhesive on it! That is some strong stuff and it dries pretty quickly, but I really appreciated that the smell wasn’t noticeable. We were doing this project with our kids in the house and no one complained at all, not even Nicholas, who has some sensory issues and is very sensitive to smells.
We started working up each side, using a pocket level to make sure we were keeping our lines as straight as possible. We used painters tape and cardboard to protect the fireplace insert.
If we needed to cut a piece we would take it outside and cut it with a hacksaw. This worked fine, but Eddie said it would have been much faster if we could have used his angle grinder. Unfortunately, a lot of our tools are still in storage. It does make a lot of dust, so I recommend doing it outside if you can.
Under the hearthstone we used the corner pieces. We had to buy a whole box just for six pieces. I wish they sold these pieces individually.
We used 1/2″ strips of plywood to keep the stones on the hearth slightly up off the floor so that there is a gap for the carpet, which will be installed in about two weeks.
When we got to the top of the fireplace insert, we had to cut vertical supports so that the stones wouldn’t side down before the adhesive set, due to gravity.
One quick tip: We used small pieces ripped right from the AirStone box as spacers to keep our stones level. It saved us a lot of frustration.
We had been warned by someone who had used this product before that it was difficult to keep level, especially once you get to the top. We found this to be true as well.
The last three stones were definitely the hardest!
We still have some caulking to do around the gas fireplace insert and scrape off the drywall mud that accidentally was spread onto it. (I have to admit I’m more than a little irritated about that because there are also two large scratches on it from where someone tried to scape off the mud.)
Overall, I’m really happy with the finished product!
We will be making a nice big, chunky mantle within the next few weeks and the painter is starting TODAY.
Only about three weeks until our projected finish date!
UPDATE: See our finished fireplace and how to build a floating fireplace mantle:
Thanks to AirStone for sponsoring this project! I was provided with the materials to complete this project. All opinions are my own.
This is gorgeous! I love how you are creating such an amazing space for your family and the product looks fantastic.
Thanks, babe! I can’t wait to have your family over once we are all settled in. 🙂
How did u prepare the frame for the fireplace
Plz
i have had this idea for one yr already
but just did some major update in my house i bought last yr
n still figuring what would b the budget for it
That looks so nice. You can’t even tell it isn’t real stone. I’m loving watching your progress on your house. So fun!!
Thanks, Kathleen! I agree, it looks exactly like the real thing, even in person. Thank you so much for following our progress!
Looks great. I like how you put some long ways. I did not think of that but it bring more interest. Great job. Can’t wait to finish my wall. I am waiting for my husband to move the thermostat to another wall but we are both sick so that project is taking time.
So sorry that you aren’t feeling well. 🙁
But I can’t wait to see your wall!
Wow! This looks really great! We have a similar product in our basement and I love it. We built our bar out of it too. You guys did an amazing job. You made it look easy to use and it turned out beautifully.
Thanks, Jen! I’m glad to hear that these kinds of products hold up well in your experience! It was a pretty easy product to work with and all of my experiences with the company were very friendly.
Hey there! I’m just about to start using airstone around my fireplace and I am struggling to understand what to do w/ exposed edges — they don’t have the same color as the stone face so I’m wondering what people are doing — do you use the corner pieces on the sides? what do you do for the bottom of the FP where you can see the top edge of the stones?
Hi Darlene! When we did our fireplace we needed to purchase 3 types of stone: the regular stones, corner pieces, and finished edge pieces. It sounds like you are looking for the Finished Edge pieces to complete your project.
It looks amazing! Wow. I never would have considered doing something like that myself, but it seems fairly doable. Thanks for the helpful tips.
Hi Rita! It really was doable. And now for years and years we’ll be able to look at it every day and know we did it ourselves. 🙂
Hi Stephanie!
We are about to begin this same project but can’t figure out what to do about a mantle. Have you finished yours and/or do you have a plan of how to do it?
Thanks!
Hi Jessica!
We are building our own mantle out of wood and molding from the home improvement store and paining it white. I plan to have the post up in the next few weeks.
Did you get the slab from air stone also?
No, we got the slab from a local concrete yard. It is Pennsylvania bluestone.
I explained how to do it in this post: http://binkiesandbriefcases.com/fireplace-makeover-part-1-the-falgstone-hearth/
HI i have a question for you which color did you use for your project? I love the color you have chosen…I’m fixing to use airstone in my kitchen for the back splash and loved the way yours turned out!
Hi Lindsay! We used Spring Creek. (The all gray option.) We bought several different boxes, opened them all, and mixed the various color tones.
Hi, I was wondering if this product and the adhesive are flame resistant? I would like to use on our wood burning fireplace. Also, does it come in a more brown/ tan color?
Hi Jenni. I don’t work for AirStone, so I can’t speak to the flame resistance. Our fireplace is a gas insert. But Yes, it does come in a more tan color.
I have a quick question before I start my project. Do the ‘natural edge’ airstone pieces fit flush with the straight pieces? Or should I cut the side straight that I’m not using on the exposed edge and connecting to a flat edge piece?
You don’t have to cut the sides. Just but them right up against each other. We used pieces of the box as spacers at needed.
We started using this product today on our fireplace. It’s simple easy n it’ll look great once done.
Hi there! I was just wondering what kind of paint you used to prime your walls before installing the airstone over top. The finished product looks great! We’re about to try this on our basement walls too. 🙂
We just used a grey Valspar paint from Lowes. I think I used one they had in their “oops” pile or it might have been left over from another project. If I had to do it over again, I would have primed the wall first because I put the paint right onto the drywall, which wasn’t the best idea- the paint started to peel a bit before I put the Airstone on top of it. Although in the end you can’t tell, so I guess it didn’t matter much. But I would still prefer to go back and do it the right way with the primer first, then the paint. As long as the paint color is dark and in the same color family as the Airstone you are using, don’t fret too much over it. You won’t really be able to see very much of it, it’s almost like a very thin grout line between the stones.
Okay great – thanks for that info Stephanie! We picked up a grey can of Behr’s paint+primer (I think it’s a latex paint), and painted over bare drywall too, so hopefully that does the trick! Did you have to score the walls or anything before applying your airstone, or do the tiles stick well to the paint as-is? Thanks again! 🙂
Nope, we didn’t score the walls. Just stuck the stones right on there. It’s been about a year and a half and it still looks great!
Looks great as long as you don’t use real fire. Have the experienced contractor and the store sales people ever thought that poly-stone + glue and fire don’t mix. I would only use faked fireplace electric heater in there to save your house from possible fire. There are faked poly-stones but you have to ask the store to sell you the fire rated faked stones for fireplace, not for regular wall. You have to do your own research. IMO, sales people are contractors just want to get it done and get paid. Their knowledge can be outdated. I asked them for the opinion but don’t just trust them.
Hi! this is such a great intro for a project like this. We’re considering using AirStone for our fireplace in our new house. I wondered *why* your contractor recommended painting the wall behind the AirStone darker? Also do they mean the wall that you’re actually adhering the AirStone to, or the wall on the sides… I guess I’m wondering which walls you mean exactly. Thank you so much!
Hi Jandazza. There are very, very small spaces between the stones, almost like very thin grout lines, so if you do not paint the wall behind the stones you will see the wall behind them. Painting the wall that you are adhering the stone to so that it matches the stone just helps minimize a distracting look.
We are thinking about Airstone for our fireplace, is your hearthstone also from that company?
Hi Erin! No, our hearthstone was purchased from a local concrete yard. It is a slab of Pennsylvania bluestone.
can i use the airstone over a brick fireplace and would there be something different to prep the bricks before putting on the airstone it is also a wood burning fireplace Would also love to hear more about the mantle
Hi Joyce!
This blogger did put AirStone over brick, you can see how they did it in this post: http://inmyownstyle.com/2012/07/diy-fireplace-makeover-on-a-budget.html
And you can see more about our fireplace mantle here: http://binkiesandbriefcases.com/build-floating-fireplace-mantle/
Check out the other colors as well. This video shows a similar installation of airstone:
Can this be installed for a wood burning fireplace? Or is it unsafe to use with real fire places ?
Thanks
Hi Nikki! I don’t work for AirStone, I am just a mom who they let test their product in my home. We do run our gas fireplace with this product and haven’t had any issues in the three years we have lived in our house. But if you want to contact the company before you install it, you can do that here: http://airstone.com/contact-us/
Thanks for reading my blog!
LOOKS AWESOME How.many boxes did you use?
Thanks
Thanks, Latricia! If I remember correctly, I think I ordered about 6 boxes. Every project will be different though. For this one I need edge pieces and corner pieces. You can use the Airstone calculator here to figure out what you need for your project. http://airstone.com/hello-world/