Reclaimed Fireplaces – Choosing an Antique Fireplace for Your Home

 

To reclaim something means to “bring into or return to a suitable condition for use” by its very definition. One of the most popular types of reclaimed fireplaces is the Victorian fireplace, and important era in British history. The Gothic and Classical architectural styles were locked in battle at the time, so the fireplaces from that period tend to have either a Gothic or a classical look, depending on the designer who originally created it.
England was then in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, so the artisans had better tools to mimic the Gothic and Classical styles that came before them.

 

Cast iron reclaimed fireplaces for the living room and bedroom are available for sale, as well as arched and tiled inserts and a number of other types and models. Mantels come in timber, marble, stone, slate, cast iron and other materials. To many people these fireplaces are worth every penny, even though they’re much more expensive than the mass-produced variety.

 

Reclaimed fireplaces can be expensive, especially the Victorian ones. If you already have a fireplace, you can use reclaimed wood to make a new mantle instead. It’s easy: just locate or purchase a long beam of reclaimed wood and cut it to go with the distance across your fireplace. Distress the wood by throwing it to the ground, hitting it with a paving stone, pounding it with a hammer – do whatever you can to give it some character. After this, you can sand it lightly, stain it, and install it over your fireplace.

 

Besides Victorian reclaimed fireplaces, there are many innovative options you can use to give your home nineteenth-century character. For example, you can use reclaimed red and buff brick, produced over one hundred years ago, to line your fireplaces. This material is removed brick by brick from old buildings scheduled for demolition, and is also used for other interior applications.