Stone by Design by Lew French

Author:Lew French
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gibbs Smith
Published: 2005-11-23T16:00:00+00:00

When the pressure is great enough, you not only feel the stone start to crack but hear it ripping apart. Instead of one stone, now you have two.

Splitting or cracking stones apart with a three-piece iron set is a very old stone working method. Drilling the holes and placing the sets is the first step of the process.

A Hearth of Stone

The Hollinshead Fireplace

A stone fireplace is the focal point of the home. No other architectural feature makes as dynamic a visual statement as stonework. The impact a stone fireplace has on its surroundings is more important than we imagine. The fireplace should be harmonious with the other components of the room. The design scale and proportion need to be in balance with the room’s size, texture, and other critical features. In creating a fireplace you need to first be comfortable with the type of stone, the patterns that the stones create when combined, and the fireplace’s projected overall mass. Blending these components into a design is always the challenging part.

A stone fireplace can appear heavy and bulky or clumsy and even feel oppressive if a design is not thought out fully. Good stonework has a sense of being solid and grounded, but it has a rhythmic, flowing lightness about it. When I describe stonework, I like to say the best pieces have a feminine quality about them. I want my fireplaces to fit in with the design of the home, not stand out brashly. A stone fireplace should be a visual starting point that complements and enhances the other decorative aspects in a room, and act as an anchor from which the other elements radiate. The design of the stonework should hold your attention and be fresh and interesting every time you enter the room. The actual stone-fitting style is critical in a fireplace because, unlike an exterior stone detail where there is generally some distance between you and the work being viewed, with a fireplace most people at some point have a close-up look at the fitting of the stone. The stonework in an interior space should be tightly controlled. A piece of work well done looks good from a distance as well as close up. Lots of times stonework seems great from a distance, but as you get closer the technique and fitting of the stones diminishes in their effect and quality.

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