Flanking Cabinets
The base cabinets on either side of the fireplace are the core of most jobs. Their doors and drawer fronts go to our spray booth, and the boxes are sprayed in place.
Mantels and fireplace walls
Fireplace Built-In Painting in Kitchener
The fireplace wall is the first thing people notice when they walk into a living room, so a painted built-in there is on show every day. Kitchener Elite Cabinet Painting & Refinishing paints fireplace built-ins, wood mantels and the cabinets that flank them in homes across Kitchener, Guelph and the rest of our service area.
A fireplace job is more than a bookcase with a hearth in the middle. Wood close to a firebox or gas insert gets warm, the stone or tile surround has to stay spotless, and everything is finished in place in a room you are still living in.
Over 16 years and more than 1,700 jobs, we have painted honey oak mantels from the 1990s, dark cherry surrounds and plain MDF units that only needed a better colour. A typical fireplace wall takes 2 to 4 days and costs $1,200 to $3,800 before HST.
- Written fixed quote
- WSIB covered crew
- 1-year labour warranty
What we paint
Fireplace Built-In and Mantel Painting Services
Most fireplace walls combine three or four kinds of woodwork, and we paint all of them so the wall reads as one finished piece. Stone, brick, tile and the fireplace itself stay exactly as they are, and bookcases elsewhere in the room fall under our living room built-in painting service.
Open Shelving and Niches
Shelves above the cabinets, arched niches and display ledges are sanded and sprayed on all visible faces, including the front edges that take the most wear.
Wood Mantels and Surrounds
Stained oak, pine and cherry mantels, plus the wood pilasters and frieze boards around the opening, are primed with a stain blocker and painted to match or contrast.
Gas Insert Cabinetry
Cabinet-style surrounds built around a gas insert, often with a TV niche above, are painted around the insert's metal trim and glass front without touching either.
Safety first
Heat Near the Firebox: What We Check First
Before we paint any wood near a fireplace, we check how close it sits to the opening and how hot it gets when the fire is running. Painting does not change the safe distance between combustible wood and a firebox, so we want to know the wall is right before we make it beautiful.
Every fireplace or insert has an installation manual that sets minimum clearances to combustible mantels and side trim. A gas insert is installed to that manual under the CSA B149.1 gas code, and we read it with you when it is available.
- The height of the mantel shelf above the top of the opening
- The distance from the opening to the side trim or pilasters
- How warm the mantel and cabinet faces feel after an hour of burning
- Darkened, scorched or cracked finish on the existing wood, a sign it runs hot
- Whether a TV niche or cabinet above the insert traps rising heat
We never paint the firebox, the metal louvres, the glass doors or any part the manual says needs a high-heat coating. If a mantel looks too close to the opening, we will tell you and suggest you have a fireplace technician confirm it before the job goes ahead.
Common layouts
Fireplace Built-In Styles We Paint
Fireplace built-ins in Waterloo Region tend to follow three layouts, and each one changes how we plan the job. The layout decides how much is sprayed on site, how much goes to the shop and how long the room is out of use.
Flanking Cabinets With Open Shelves
This is the layout we see most: two base cabinets with doors and two or three open shelves above, one on each side of the fireplace. It is usually a 2 to 3 day job.
Adjustable shelves come out and go to the shop with the doors, while fixed shelves are sprayed in place.
Full-Wall Built-Ins With a Wood Mantel
When the cabinets, shelves and mantel run wall to wall and up to the ceiling, the job is larger and nearly everything is finished in place. Crown moulding and the mantel are part of the same spray so the sheen matches across the wall.
These walls sit at the upper end of our price range and usually take the full 4 days.
Gas Insert Surrounds With a TV Niche
Newer homes often frame a linear gas insert with cabinetry and a recessed niche for the TV above it. We paint the woodwork around the insert and plan the job around the TV mount and cables.
If the wall is more about the screen than the fire, our entertainment centre and media wall painting service covers the cable and equipment details.
Colour ideas
Colour Ideas for Fireplace Walls
The right colour for a fireplace built-in depends as much on the stone or brick as on the walls. We look at the undertone of the surround first, then spray a sample board you can hold against it before we choose.
Tone-on-Tone With the Walls
Painting the built-ins the same colour as the walls, or one step deeper, makes the fireplace wall feel calm and architectural. Warm whites like Benjamin Moore Pale Oak (OC-20) suit beige and buff stone.
Contrast Against White Walls
A mid-tone such as Sherwin-Williams Urbane Bronze (SW 7048) makes the built-ins stand out as a feature and frames light grey stone nicely. A contrasting mantel or back panel can be added as a second colour for $250.
Dark Built-Ins for Cosy Rooms
Deep colours like Benjamin Moore Wrought Iron (2124-10) make a family room or den feel warm in winter. In matte or satin they also hide the dust that collects on shelves near a fireplace.
Our cabinet colour guide has more Benjamin Moore and Sherwin-Williams shades that work with stone and brick.
In-home finishing
How We Paint Fixed Built-Ins in a Finished Room
Fireplace built-ins are fixed to the wall, so the boxes, shelves and mantel are sprayed in place with a fine-finish HVLP sprayer, not brushed or rolled. The doors still go to our shop, where they get the same booth finish as a kitchen.
Please clear the shelves and move decor and small furniture before day 1. The full sequence is on our cabinet painting process page.
Seal Off the Wall
Ram Board goes on the floor, plastic zip walls close off the fireplace wall from the rest of the room, and a negative-air fan with a filter vents out a window.
Prep and Prime
Every surface is degreased twice, sanded with Festool sanders on HEPA extraction, filled and caulked. Stained oak and cherry get Zinsser B-I-N to stop tannin bleed.
Spray in Place
Boxes, shelves, mantel and crown are sprayed with Benjamin Moore ADVANCE, matched to the shop-sprayed Renner 2K doors in colour and sheen. We sand with 320 grit between coats.
Rehang and Clean Up
Doors go back on, hinges are adjusted, the masking comes down and the stone is checked inch by inch. You get a care sheet and the warranty at the walkthrough.
Pricing
Fireplace Built-In Painting Prices
Painting a fireplace built-in costs $1,200 to $3,800 before HST, depending on how much woodwork surrounds the fireplace. A pair of flanking cabinets sits near the low end, and a full wall with crown and a mantel sits near the top.
| Scope or extra | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Fireplace built-in or full fireplace wall | $1,200 to $3,800 |
| Cabinet door, both sides sprayed | $110 to $150 each |
| Drawer front | $75 to $95 each |
| Tall door or full-height panel | $160 to $220 each |
| Second colour on the mantel or back panels | $250 flat |
| Oak grain filling | $35 per door or drawer face |
| Minimum job, such as a mantel on its own | $650 |
Deep raised panels, oak grain filling and a white-over-dark colour change push the price up, while flat MDF doors keep it down. Our cabinet painting price guide shows how every piece is counted.
FAQ
Fireplace Built-In FAQs
Fireplace owners usually ask about three things before booking: the old stain, the surround and when they can light the first fire.
Can you paint a stained wood mantel?
Yes. We degrease and sand the mantel, then prime it with Zinsser B-I-N, a shellac-based primer that stops the yellow-brown tannin stain in oak and cherry from bleeding through. The same method is used for whole kitchens on our painting oak cabinets page.
How long before I can light the fireplace?
Keep the fireplace off from day 1 until our walkthrough. After that, normal fires are fine, but the paint takes about 30 days to reach full hardness, so avoid long, hot burns and resting anything warm on the mantel during the first month.
Will you paint the brick or stone too?
No. We paint wood and MDF only, and the stone, brick and tile are masked and left as they are. Painting masonry needs different products and prep, and it is very hard to undo.
Can you paint built-ins with a TV mounted above the fireplace?
Yes. Ask your installer or a TV technician to take the TV down before day 1, and we will mask the mount and cable plate. We do not do electrical work or move outlets.
Do we have to leave the house?
Usually not. The work zone is sealed with zip walls, the coatings are waterborne and low odour, and the rest of the house stays usable.
Free estimate
Book a Fireplace Wall Estimate
Send us a straight-on photo of the fireplace wall and a close-up of the mantel, and we will reply with a fixed written quote within 1 business day. Fall and the weeks before Christmas fill up fast, so book early if you want the wall done for the holidays.
- Fireplace walls from $1,200 to $3,800 before HST
- Heat clearances checked and stone, brick and tile fully masked
- 2 to 4 days, finished in place with dust control
- Shop
- 330 Gage Ave, Kitchener, ON N2M 5C6
- Monday to Saturday
- 7:00 am to 9:30 pm
- Sunday
- 9:00 am to 9:00 pm