Redoing my parents house. They had an original rock fireplace almost identical to the first shown in this post. Real rock not faux. We were going to remove it and then have something else put up, but it was NOT coming off. We decided to have our trusty mason "cover" it with used brick ( which matches the brick work that has been done to exterior of house in the past) My husband also decided that it should be centered between two french doors, thus making the new fireplace gigantic, errr huge. It came out nice. Our mason does excellent work. It came out so well, we had him cover the other fireplace ( which was smaller thank goodness).

I have a lava rock fireplace, too. What did you end up doing? Do you have any pics?

We have a house with lava rock fireplace. It makes the small living area darker. I am so tempted to paint it a lighter color and would be interested in seeing any pix of what that may look like....

lfherbert Because of your photo I might come to like the fp we have.

lfherbert I like your photos. We're considering purchasing this home and I have not liked the fp at first sight, but MANY things need changing and perhaps the fp will be more likable then.

i sprayed-on a super watered-down white paint to give mine a whitewash look, but I'm still not satisfied. Our rock is super textured. I'm thinking about filling in more of the spaces with grout or plaster.

Anyone tried that?

Keep the Lava rock and work with it! Above, Nina Williams Designs-Solana Beach CA.,

all new Flooring, custom Millwork, Doors & Windows, Cabinetry, Fire-screen, Lighting, Furnishings. The only thing original is the Lava Rock Fireplace

Brought this mid-century classic up to date!

As the owner of a white lava rock fireplace, DONT PAINT IT. IT LOOKS HORRIBLE

What type of paint did you use? Color? Sheen? How did you put it on? Paint sprayer? Brush or roller? How many coats? So many questions. :-)

we have one of these huge monstrosities in our small Livingroom as well! I would like to take a sludge hammer to it but the hubby won't let me!!! UGH!!!!

I actually quite love ours. Trying to decide what to do with it in the remodel. Part of me wants to keep it as Is In a modern Polynesian look.

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How does one tell if it is real rock or fake rock? They all look the same to me. My house is 1959 and I don’t love it but if it is real I feel I should keep it but if fake I would eliminate it.

Post some photos, close up and far away, including any photos of an edge so we can see 2 sides of the stone.

I can post some more if this isn’t enough @partim

I can post some more if this isn’t enough @partim

Man-made.

@partim thank you! We are doing a full renovation and we’re wanting to maintain for character but not it fake!

Our Black Lave Rock wall. 11 x 8 feet with yellow sandstone staggered mantels.......you had to see it. We could not remove it as it was mortared and built into the fireplace/chimney. So we framed a new wall over it and installed a traditional mantel. Love it!

I would leave it has is but you could always lighten your beams and use warmer lighting the lighting on it to little harsh can always lighten your walls if you want but I think it looks good but you could paint that red area I don't know what that red area is painted to match the lava rocks Cause there gonna be instyle I think there pretty

@happyleg the beams are going to be white, the red is brick behind the stone where a speaker used to be. The house is going to be completely gutted and modernized but we were going to keep the rock for character but it bothers me if it’s fake

I ran across this and thought I send it to you the fireplace looks like yours and it's white washed notI ran across this and thought I send it to you the fireplace looks like yours and it's white washed not white paint but white washed The colour of the brick sort of shows through that's the effects

Rock fireplaces look good when they're made from round-ish pieces of rock stacked one on top of the other. The rocks sit on the rocks below them.

Fireplaces don't look good when thin slices of rock are randomly cemented onto a mortar wall around the fire box. There are big pieces cemented above little pieces that could never support them if they were big rocks. It's so obvious that it's a veneer.

No amount of painting or whitewashing will change that. If someone is on a tight budget and painting or whitewashing is the only available remedy, it's definitely an improvement. But for a bigger reno I would remove a lava rock veneer fireplace.

@partim Update - the rock was removed it was cement with little pieces of rock, it is now just a brick fireplace better already. Thanks for informing me of this rock imposter!

Pic please. thanks.

We are probably going to Venetian plaster it and keep it at this thinner side. The fake rock went 3 feet additional per side

Just curious, was it hard to get off? Power hammer I guess?

You have a nice clean slate to work with now.

@partim the contractor did it but I was told it wasn’t too hard to remove

Show us when it's done!

We're in escrow on a 1980's house with massive volcanic rock. We're planning on removing the rock and replacing it with brick, possibly a brick veneer. Not sure what the designer was thinking when placing the mammoth of a fireplace smack dab in the middle of the house, but we really hate it. The walking space between the right side of the fireplace and the front door is very narrow. We're hoping to be able to downsize the massiveness of the fireplace and make it a better size for the space minus the volcanic rock. Our 9 year old daughter says it looks like an assortment of meats lol.

Oh wow, I thought I was the only one with one of these monstrosities 😂

I doubt that raw lava rock fireplaces will ever make a comeback. They were only popular for five minutes back then. You could consider painting it, but it will still retain the current lava rock shapes.
I assume the rocks were set into concrete, so removing them would be difficult and the concrete would have to come out as well. Maybe other Houzzers will post photos of their lava rock fireplace fixes to give you (and many others) some visuals on what they did.

I have a 13’ wide fireplace. I am thinking about framing over it but I’m concerned about properly covering the area around the opening. I have some pieces that jut out so I’m not sure German schmear would like right on this giant lumpy fireplace. Removing the stone is probably more than I can afford. I’m struggling on how to proceed. :(

Fyi the paneling and carpet have been removed. The house is currently being renovated/updated

Start your own post for ideas. You have a REAL stone fireplace that is quite nice surrounded by terrible materials. Not sure you will be able to remove this. It likely not a veneer.

It could be this nice if it were cleaned up

Remove the rock and start over

The rock is fantastic. Anyone can have a wall but not every home can have an interesting fireplace wall. Hard to tell the color of the grout, but if you want to change it, you can stain it with concrete stain.

Agree that biting the bullet (and removing the whole thing) will ultimately make you happier. But if you start your own post, you will get more people responding.

Thank you all. I’ll start my own post. First time user :)

I know.. I'm not on your own thread. Can next owner remove your wood framing and plaster or tiles? If you take photos, can "document" the original fp. Rural area?