Modular System Eases Firebrick Installations

In the competitive new home market, Desa Hearth Products offers what company officials contend are quality fireplace installations with Old World appeal

In the competitive new home market, Desa Hearth Products offers what company officials contend are quality fireplace installations with Old World appeal and healthy profit margins. Marketed under Fmi (Fireplace Manufacturers Inc.) and Vanguard brands, the Mosaic Masonry technology is a process for lining a manufactured fireplace chassis with standard firebrick, netting true-brick fireplaces at a reported fraction of the time and cost of site-built masonry.

Mosaic Masonry assemblies are large, factory-built, zero-clearance fireplaces lined with stainless steel template panels on the inner walls and hearth. Pre-cut Mosaic firebricks, labeled to securely snap into corresponding templates, are grouted in place to create a finished structure. The UL 127-listed, factory-built units are lab-tested and certified for guaranteed consistency and performance, alleviating the risk of nontested, noncertified products. Due to ease of assembly, furthermore, the Mosaic fireplace with venting can be completed by a trained installer in about half a day.

Mosaic Masonry Technology was developed to provide the high-end housing market with a factory-built, true-masonry product, explains Desa Hearth Products President Mark Klein. The hand-grouted finish reflects time-honored brickwork, while the pre-engineered chassis makes installation time and cost effective. The benefits of Mosaic Masonry fireplaces have led to their increasing prevalence in fine home developments nationwide, he adds.

Louie Falco of Spokane, Wash., installs an average of two Mosaic fireplaces a day in prestigious golf course communities like Coeur d’Alene, Idaho’s Black Rock development. According to Falco, You can’t distinguish the finished Mosaic Masonry work from site-built. And, when the builder learned their cost was half that of any alternative, he exclaimed, ÎWhy would we use anything else?Ì

In Tennessee, Nashville Fireplace’s Ingrid Carter Û an industry expert and 30-year veteran in the hearth trade Û reports success with Mosaic fireplace installations in unique applications. As the lightweight characteristics of Mosaic-built hearth structures enable upper-floor placement without additional reinforcement, she recently installed the fireplaces in a high-rise luxury condominium. Their versatility and ease of installation also promote creative placement in outdoor rooms, kitchens, en suite bathrooms, and bedrooms, in addition to family and living rooms.

It’s getting tougher to find skilled masons to work on site-built fireplaces, and most builders can’t afford the time and expense, Carter asserts. The finished Mosaic Masonry fireplaces keep true masonry alive. Û Desa Hearth Products, Bowling Green, Ky.; www.desaint.com