Fireplace chamber finishes: brick, porcelain, stone or paintable?

Brick: the classic, in 27 colours

Brick slips laid inside the chamber give the fireplace warmth, texture and a sense that it has always been there. We carry 27 colours, from soft creams through buffs to deep clarets, laid straight or herringbone, and where possible we match the brick your house was built from, which is the detail that makes a chamber read as original.

Upkeep is honest: brick shrugs off heat and age gracefully, darkening a little around a hard-working stove in a way most owners like. It suits period terraces, farmhouses and anywhere the room leans traditional.

Porcelain: the clean modern panel

Large-format porcelain panels line the chamber with almost no joints: crisp, contemporary and the easiest of the four to keep, a wipe brings it back to new. It pairs beautifully with black glass cassette stoves and modern freestanding designs, and it is the finish we reach for in renovated interiors where brick would feel like a costume.

The material handles heat comfortably on the right backer boards and adhesives, which is build quality rather than luck; getting that substrate right is most of the job.

Stone: weight and geology

Natural stone brings what neither brick nor porcelain can: real geological character, no two pieces alike. It suits inglenooks, farmhouses and rooms with existing stone, and it takes heat with total indifference. Cost varies with the stone and the cutting, so it is quoted to the design.

Pair it with a stone or oak beam and a flagstone-style hearth and the fireplace becomes the oldest-looking thing in the house, in the best way.

Glasroc: the quiet one

Paintable Glasroc Firecase is a fireproof board finish that simply takes your wall colour, so the chamber recedes and the stove becomes the whole show. It is the most affordable route, the easiest to change your mind about (repaint it), and the right answer more often than its modesty suggests, especially around sculptural stoves that deserve a plain backdrop.

One build note that applies to all four finishes: everything in a chamber lives close to real heat, so the boards, adhesives and materials must all be heat-rated. Ordinary plasterboard in a chamber is the most common fault we are asked to rescue.

Common questions