Charlene's Rumford

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Charlene's Rumford

Charlene's Rumford started out as a regular masonry fireplace built about 1970 with a stone surround and a cantilvered raised hearth extension. Charlene didn't like either the raised hearth or the heavy stone surround but she didn't want to go to the trouble and expense of cutting out the floor to pour a new floor level hearth either.
In the end she decided to go with simple functionality. The stone was removed and the wall surrounding the fireplace simply plastered. The hearth extension was also removed and the wood floor below the fireplace tiled as is permitted by code if the inner hearth is at least 8" above the floor. The smoke chamber and flue were in good shape and didn't need to be replaced. The job only took one day and a few hundred dollars for the Rumford throat and firebrick. She's using newspaper to stuff in the throat instead of a damper.
She's not sure how the plaster will wear, especially below the firebox but a tall Rumford screen made for a 48" Rumford fit very well covering the fireplace opening while sitting on the floor. At least her cats couldn't figure out how to get into the fireplace.