A brick fireplace is a common sight in many Westchester homes, but it may not fit more modern tastes. Here’s what to do if you want a change. We recently moved to a 1960s, contemporary-style house ...

If the fireplace front is brick, you should remove the entire brick. You can do this with a hammer and a cold chisel. First chip out the mortar around each brick to be removed.

Cost: Drywalling over a brick fireplace could run about $1,500. Parko says a 6-foot-wide floor-to-ceiling paint-grade oak or poplar fireplace with a tiled hearth could run around $2,000.

Removing fireplace's brick facade not so hard. By Bill Burnett, Kevin Burnett March 24, 2007. This goes with sweat equity column for 3-24-2006.

It also has an old-fashioned, open-hearth brick fireplace that goes floor to ceiling. The brickwork extends to the outside of the house, so the interior bricks are very cold in winter.