DIY Modern Electric Fireplace Tutorial – Sponsored

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Friends, I am so excited to finally share with you how our DIY Electric Fireplace tutorial which we made in partnership with Home Depot! Before we dive into the tutorial let’s take a look at the before of my living room where we added the modern electric fireplace wall. Earlier this month I made my own coffee table to go in our living room, if you missed that check it out here!

And here’s what it looks like now:

I cannot believe we built this beast of a fireplace wall! A huge thank you to Home Depot for helping me bring this project to life and choosing me as one of the Orange Tank Competition winners! Now, let’s jump right into the building process. If you don’t have a set of tools at home I would check out my Beginner’s toolkit essentials guide before getting started.

HOW TO BUILD DIY ELECTRIC FIREPLACE WALL

To make this easier to follow I am breaking down the project into three phases, Framing, Drywall, and Finish. I’ll link all materials and tools needed for each step of the way as well.

phase 1: framing

Materials and Tools needed

• Electric Fireplace Insert
• Framing Studs
• 2.5″ wood screws
• 3″ wood screws
• Kreg Jig Pocket Hole kit
• Multi Tool
• Miter Saw
• Rafter Square
• Impact Driver

1. The dimensions of your fireplace will determine the size and opening of the frame you build. We decided to make our wall approximately 10′ wide and 8′ tall. Mark your studs on the wall and make sure your frame will be screwed onto studs. The next step is the remove the baseboard if you have one, we used our multi tool to make cuts and pry it off.
2. Next we made the two side frames or the side walls of the frame. We used the entire length of the stud (96″) for the height and made our spacers 8″ wide. The frame was constructed on the floor to make it easier and once everything was screwed together using 2.5″ wood screws, we lifted it up and screwed the side walls into the studs on our existing wall.

Pro Tip: Use a rafters square to make perfectly straight lines on your framing studs before cutting

1. Once the side frames were in, it was time to make the front frame with the opening for the fireplace insert. Determine what height you want your fireplace to be, ours is 15″ off the ground and we also have a bench underneath it.
2. Next we made the front face of the frame on the floor with a 16″ gap between each stud. Once that was screwed together we lifted it and screwed it into the existing side frames using 4″ screws
3. If you are not making a bench you can directly move onto drywall installation. To make the bench we used the same framing studs and made it 8′ long to keep it the length of the stud. The bench is 14.5″ deep once complete and the thickness is 4″. I’ll follow up with a more detailed tutorial for the bench soon! we covered the bench frame with 1/4″ plywood screwed it into the frame.
4. Now you’re ready to install the electric fireplace into the opening, follow the instructions for your fireplace and tape everything up to protect it from dust and paint for the next stages.

PHASE 2: Drywall Installation

Materials Needed

• 1/2″ thickness sheetrock
• Coarse thread drywall screws
• Drywall T-square

1. We used 4×8′ sheets of drywall so we measured the frame and marked where our first cut on the drywall would be. Use a Drywall T-Square to mark the cut on the drywall, score the cut with a sharp knife and snap to break off.
2. Installing drywall is very simple, you just need coarse thread drywall screws to screw it onto the frame. Repeat until the entire frame is covered.

phase 3: tAPING AND mUDDING

materials needed:

• Pre Mixed Joint Compound
• Mixing attachment for drill
• 12 inch taping knife
• 4 inch taping knife
• bucket
• drywall tape
• metal corner bead
• sanding block

1. Take out some joint compound in a large mixing bucket and thin it with 1/4 cup of water. I filled my large bucket about 1/3 way. Mix it well using the mixer attachment for the drill.
2. Use a 4″ taping knife to apply the mud (joint compund) onto all the seams where the drywall meets. Do this one seam at a time so the mud doesnt dry.
3. Cut a piece of drywall tape and stick it on top of the seam where you put mud on.Now take your taping knife and smooth it over to remove excess mud and air bubbles. Repeat process for all seams.
4. For the corners of the frame we used metal corner beading and screwed it in with the same drywall screws. Cover the corner beads with a layer of joint compound.
5. Once all seams and corners are covered with one coat of joint compound, apply a second coat but this time make it wider than the initial layer. This makes sure your seams don’t have a visible bump when the wall is done.
6. Leave for 24 hours and then sand gently with a 220 grit sanding block. At this point apply a thin layer of joint compound on the entire wall, ensuring a smooth, even coverage. Sand once more after its dry and you’re ready to prime and paint!

To finish the fireplace wall we did two coats of Romabio Limewash in Avorio White. It is necessary to do two coats of primer after mudding the wall and before applying Limewash or paint. For the bench we did two coats of Henry’s Feather Finish using the 4″ taping knife. To keep it smooth we used a drywall sponge to go over the concrete while it was still wet.

For a project like this, I highly recommend watching the videos of this electric fireplace tutorial on my Instagram Highlights. Sometimes things are easier to understand visually rather than reading about them! Let me know if there are any questions I’d be more than happy to answer them.