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If you’re remodeling a fireplace, choosing the fireplace itself is only half the battle.

Then somebody asks:

“So…what are we putting around it?”

And suddenly you’re looking at 400 pictures of stone, wondering why you somehow have 27 different shades of gray saved to your phone.

Stone veneer for fireplaces is one of our favorite ways to completely change the look of a room.

It can take an outdated fireplace and turn it into the focal point of the house—whether you’re going rustic, traditional, modern, lake-house, mountain-home or somewhere in between.

At Skyline Hearth & Fire, we’ve used Versetta Stone on fireplace projects for years.

We’re now expanding our stone offerings with even more profiles, colors and styles from ProVia, Dutch Quality Stone and Casa di Sassi.

More choices are great.

They also make choosing the right stone a little more complicated.

So let’s make it easier.

What Is Manufactured Stone Veneer?

Manufactured stone veneer is designed to recreate the look, texture and variation of natural stone without using full-depth quarried stone.

And if “manufactured stone” immediately makes you picture some fake-looking concrete rocks from 1987, you really need to see what’s available today.

Modern manufactured stone can reproduce the texture, color variation, depth and irregularity of natural masonry incredibly well.

ProVia’s manufactured stone collection, for example, includes a wide range of profiles and colors that can work beautifully around fireplaces.

That means we can create something clean and modern or something that looks like it belongs in a 150-year-old mountain lodge.

Same basic category of material.

Completely different fireplace.

Versetta Stone vs. Adhered Stone Veneer

One important thing to understand is that not all stone veneer is installed the same way.

Versetta Stone

Versetta Stone has been one of our longtime fireplace finishes.

It’s a mortarless, panelized stone system that is mechanically fastened rather than individually setting traditional veneer stones into mortar.

We’ve used it successfully on a lot of fireplace projects, particularly floor-to-ceiling transformations, and we’ll continue to offer it.

Adhered Manufactured Stone Veneer

ProVia, Dutch Quality Stone and Casa di Sassi open up another world of design options through adhered manufactured stone veneer.

Instead of being limited to a couple of panel profiles, we can work with different individual stone shapes, sizes, textures, grout styles and dry-stack appearances.

Neither system is automatically better.

The real question is:

Which one gives us the right look for your fireplace?

Fireplace Stone Brands Available Through Skyline Hearth & Fire

We’re expanding our fireplace stone selection for a simple reason:

We don’t want every fireplace we build to look the same.

Versetta Stone

Versetta Stone remains a great choice when we want the appearance and consistency of a mortarless panel system.

It’s a product we already know well and have used successfully on many fireplace transformations.

ProVia Stone

ProVia Stone gives us a massive range of profiles, textures and colors.

Their fireplace applications can range from traditional fieldstone and limestone looks to much cleaner dry-stack and contemporary designs.

You can also browse ProVia fireplace stone ideas here.

Translation:

There’s a LOT to play with.

Dutch Quality Stone

Dutch Quality Stone gives us another broad selection of stone veneer styles, colors and sizes.

Some profiles are clean and linear.

Others create a heavier, more traditional masonry appearance.

That flexibility matters when we’re designing everything from a contemporary fireplace in Roanoke to a rustic fireplace at Smith Mountain Lake.

Casa di Sassi

Casa di Sassi brings another great group of stone profiles and color palettes into the mix.

Their product lineup gives us additional options when we want something with more architectural character or a different texture than we’ve traditionally offered.

In other words, we now have enough stone choices to make you dangerously indecisive.

That’s where we come in.

Dry Stack or Grouted Stone?

This choice can completely change the personality of the fireplace.

Dry-Stack Stone

Dry-stack stone has little or no visible mortar joint between the stones.

It generally creates a tighter appearance and works especially well with contemporary fireplaces, mountain homes, lake houses, linear gas fireplaces and floor-to-ceiling feature walls.

Grouted Stone

Grouted stone leaves a visible mortar joint between individual pieces.

Depending on the stone profile, joint style and mortar color, it can create anything from a traditional masonry fireplace to an old-world rustic look.

And yes—grout color matters.

The same stone can look dramatically different depending on what happens between the pieces.

Don’t Choose Fireplace Stone Based on Color Alone

This is probably one of the biggest mistakes homeowners make.

They see a sample and say:

“I like that gray one.”

Okay.

But what shape is it?

How large are the individual stones?

How much texture does it have?

Are we covering four feet of wall or fourteen feet?

Are we pairing it with a rustic wood mantel or a clean noncombustible mantel?

All of that matters.

Long horizontal ledgestone can visually widen a fireplace.

Large irregular fieldstone creates a heavier, more traditional appearance.

Limestone or ashlar-style profiles can feel cleaner and more architectural.

The stone profile matters just as much as the color.

Floor-to-Ceiling Stone or Stop at the Mantel?

Both can look great.

Stopping stone around the mantel can create a more traditional fireplace and allow drywall, paint or another finish above it.

Running stone all the way to the ceiling turns the fireplace into a much bigger architectural feature.

And personally?

If we’re already ripping apart an outdated fireplace, reframing the wall, installing a beautiful new fireplace and rebuilding the whole thing…

Sometimes subtle is overrated.

If you want to see how far one of these projects can actually go, read our guide:

Can You Completely Remodel an Old Fireplace? From Simple Makeovers to Full Fireplace Transformations

Good Stonework Is About More Than Buying Good Stone

You can buy beautiful stone and still end up with an ugly fireplace.

Layout matters.

Color blending matters.

Corners matter.

Joint placement matters.

And repeating the same obvious pattern over and over can make expensive veneer look like somebody hung stone wallpaper.

Current manufactured stone veneer installation guidance from CMHA covers proper materials, detailing and installation practices for adhered manufactured stone veneer.

Good stone installation should look natural—not like somebody opened one box, installed everything in it, then moved on to the next.

Corners Can Make or Break a Fireplace

Outside corners are another detail most homeowners don’t think about until the fireplace is finished.

Quality corner pieces wrap around the fireplace and help create the appearance of full-depth masonry.

Bad corner planning makes it immediately obvious that you’re looking at thin material stuck to the face of a wall.

That’s why we look at the entire fireplace before stone installation begins.

The fireplace opening.

The hearth.

The mantel.

Outside corners.

The ceiling.

Adjacent walls.

Television location.

Built-ins or cabinetry.

It all needs to work together.

Can Stone Veneer Go Over an Existing Brick Fireplace?

Sometimes.

But that isn’t a yes-or-no question without seeing the fireplace.

If the existing fireplace and masonry are sound and the project is primarily cosmetic, refacing may be an option.

But if we’re replacing the fireplace, changing the opening, converting fuel types, moving the mantel or completely redesigning the wall, keeping the old structure simply because it’s already there may not make sense.

That’s why we prefer to start with one question:

What do you ultimately want this fireplace to look like and do?

Then we work backward.

And yes—we’ll give the brick-refacing question its own article because there’s plenty more to talk about.

What Goes Behind the Stone Matters Too

A fireplace wall isn’t just another decorative accent wall.

The stone system has installation requirements.

The substrate has requirements.

And most importantly, the fireplace manufacturer has requirements.

Clearances to combustible materials, noncombustible facing areas, hearth requirements and mantel placement can all depend on the specific fireplace being installed.

That’s why we design the fireplace system first and build the finish materials around it.

If you’re also planning a television above the fireplace, read:

Can You Put a TV Above a Gas Fireplace? Heat, Clearances & Fireplace Wall Design

The fireplace, framing, venting, electrical, gas, mantel, hearth, television and stone shouldn’t be seven separate decisions made by seven different people.

It’s one fireplace.

Design it that way.

See Fireplace Stone in Person Before You Decide

This is a big one.

Don’t pick thousands of dollars worth of fireplace stone entirely from your phone.

Lighting changes it.

Flooring changes it.

Wall color changes it.

The mantel changes it.

And once you spread that stone across a large fireplace wall, it can look completely different than it did on a little sample.

That’s exactly why we’re expanding the stone options available through our Roanoke showroom.

We want homeowners to see different profiles, textures and colors in person before making a final decision.

Fireplace Stone & Fireplace Remodeling in Roanoke, VA

Skyline Hearth & Fire designs and installs fireplace projects throughout Roanoke, Salem, Smith Mountain Lake, Bedford, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Lexington, Lynchburg, Forest and surrounding areas of Southwest Virginia.

Whether you’re simply changing the stone or planning an entire fireplace transformation, we can help design the whole project.

From the fireplace itself to framing, gas, electrical, venting, hearths, mantels and stone, our goal is simple:

Make the whole thing work together.

Because the stone shouldn’t look like an afterthought.

And neither should the fireplace.

Ready to Start Your Fireplace Transformation?

Come visit Skyline Hearth & Fire in Roanoke and see fireplace designs, stone options, mantels and products in person.

Or skip the guessing altogether and schedule a free in-home design consultation.

We’ll look at what you currently have, talk about what you actually want and figure out the best way to get from one to the other.



You can also contact Skyline Hearth & Fire here to start planning your project.