DIY Exposed Brick Chimney
Hey friend!
I hope you’re having great week! After letting my elbow tendonitis rest for a few days I dug my heels in and got the chimney exposed in what will be our bedroom! It turned out even better than I’d hoped! I’m excited to share how I DIY exposed brick chimney!
Exposing the Brick Video!
You can check out the video of this project here!
How to Expose a Brick Chimney
This isn’t the first chimney I’ve exposed. I exposed one in our last house too 🙂 The only tools I used for this project were: a hammer, a crow bar, and a screw driver. And after I got the baseboards removed I was hoping it would go fairly quickly as it did with the last chimney. However, that wasn’t the case haha so I had to adjust my technique!
With the one I had done before I was able to hammer my crow bar pretty far up between the brick and the plaster and remove pieces the size of a sheet of paper. But this chimney pre-dates the one I had done before by about 40 years, which I’m thinking made all the difference. This chimney’s plaster was holding on!
Removing the Plaster to Expose the Brick
The method I found that worked the best for this particular chimney was to work my way up hitting and breaking loose about a 4-6 inch section at a time with my hammer first. Then I would hammer my crow bar underneath to remove that section.
Corner Chimney Brackets
On both chimneys I’ve exposed there have been these corner brackets, which are attached to the brick with nails. I used the same technique of getting my crow bar under them and then tapping and pulling them out with the hammer.
How Long Did It Take?
From start to finish this project took at least one entire day. The most tedious spots were beside the window moldings where I had to use a screw driver and hammer to break up and wedge out mortar. And then there’s the whole cleanup fiasco lol! I highly recommend laying down a blanket to protect your flooring and a sheet of plastic to catch the mess!
Beautiful Brick!
Even though it cost me some time I’m really really glad I took the time to expose the brick chimney! I consider waiting but waiting for what? Lol! In my experience if you’re already in a room making a mess you might as well make a really big one! Otherwise I highly doubt it will ever happen!
Also this brick is what dreams are made of! I can’t believe how beautiful the color is! If you noticed there are some black areas those are just soot and wipe off easily! And I’ll be sharing how I clean and finish the chimney soon!
DIY Exposed Brick Chimney
I hope you enjoyed this fun diy exposed brick chimney project as much as me! I can’t believe how much warmth and interest it has added to this room! We have 3 chimneys in the farmhouse and they’re on both floors! Soooo I definitely see more chimney exposures in our future!! 😉 But now I’m ready to caulk and fill in the cracks and seams and get this room painted!!
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog!!

15 Comments
Becca Tuttle
Wow!! It is absolutely beautiful!!😍😍
Amanda
Oh my gosh thank you SO much Becca!!! I’m feelin a little sore today! 😂😂
Myra
It looks great but what will you be doing with the big round hole in the chimney?
Amanda
Thanks!! I have a new chimney glue cap that I’ll be putting on it 😊
Sonia Hess
GAHHHHH!!!! I love it SO much!!! How satisfying after all that work!
Amanda
THANK YOU!!! This seriously means so much to me!!! It felt really good!!
Toni
It will add so much character to your room! Great job.
Amanda
Thank you!!! I think so too!! ❤️❤️
Judy
Looks awesome. What a difference. I love it.
Amanda
Thank you so much! I really appreciate you saying that!! Have a great day!!
Maureen Ellis
Great job! So lucky to have more chimneys, such character when the brick is exposed.
Amanda
Thank you!! And we definitely are!
Amanda
Agreed! It’s like finding a buried treasure!!
Heather Davis
We are doing the same thing in my husband’s office and will also be exposing it in our bedroom. Can’t wait to see how you clean it up. Ours are a little rougher then yours so will take a bit of love!
Amanda
Oh awesome!! The plan is to wipe it down and then seal it with a matte poly! Good luck with your project!