Journal

Notes from the field.

Practical, honest guides on fireplaces, chimneys, masonry and outdoor living in Houston — from the crew at Artex Masonry & Fireplace. A new article publishes every Monday.

Floor to Ceiling Fireplace Walls: What Makes the Proportions Work

Fireplaces

Nov 6, 2026 6 min read

Floor to Ceiling Fireplace Walls: What Makes the Proportions Work

A floor-to-ceiling fireplace wall is the strongest move in residential design right now, and the easiest to get wrong. The difference is proportion.

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Mounting a TV Above a Fireplace Without Ruining Either

Fireplaces

Nov 2, 2026 6 min read

Mounting a TV Above a Fireplace Without Ruining Either

The TV above the fireplace is the most requested and most botched combination in the living room. Here is how to do it without cooking the TV or craning your neck.

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Gas, Wood or Electric: What Each One Asks of Your House

Fireplaces

Oct 29, 2026 7 min read

Gas, Wood or Electric: What Each One Asks of Your House

The fireplace you want and the fireplace your house can easily host are sometimes different things. Here is what each fuel actually requires.

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Outdoor Fireplaces and Venting: The Part Contractors Get Wrong

Outdoor Living

Oct 25, 2026 7 min read

Outdoor Fireplaces and Venting: The Part Contractors Get Wrong

An outdoor fireplace that smokes into the seating area was not bad luck. It was a design decision, usually made by someone who does not build fireplaces.

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Building a Fireplace Into New Construction: When to Bring the Mason In

Fireplaces

Oct 21, 2026 7 min read

Building a Fireplace Into New Construction: When to Bring the Mason In

The fireplace decisions that are cheap at framing are expensive at drywall. Here is when the mason belongs in your build schedule.

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Masonry

Oct 17, 2026 7 min read

Stone Veneer Versus Full Masonry: How to Choose for a Houston Home

One is real stone laid by a mason, the other is real stone made to go on a wall. The right choice depends on your house, not the brochure.

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Refacing a Dated Brick Fireplace: What Actually Changes the Room

Fireplaces

Oct 13, 2026 7 min read

Refacing a Dated Brick Fireplace: What Actually Changes the Room

The brick is not wrong, it is just from another decade. Refacing keeps the structure you have and changes everything you see.

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Before the First Cold Night: What to Check on a Fireplace You Have Not Used Since Spring

Fireplaces

Oct 9, 2026 7 min read

Before the First Cold Night: What to Check on a Fireplace You Have Not Used Since Spring

Eight months of Houston heat, storms and humidity work on a fireplace whether you use it or not. Here is what to look at before the first fire of the season.

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Building an Outdoor Kitchen Around a Fireplace

Outdoor Living

Oct 6, 2026 5 min read

Building an Outdoor Kitchen Around a Fireplace

The fireplace anchors one end, the kitchen works the other, and the order you build them in decides whether you tear anything out twice.

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Fireplaces

Oct 1, 2026 5 min read

Cast Stone vs Natural Stone Fireplace Surrounds

One is made, one is found. Both belong over a fire. Which one belongs over yours depends on the room, the house and what you want to look at for twenty years.

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Remodel

Sep 26, 2026 5 min read

Fireplace Remodel Before the Holidays: The Timeline

Everyone wants the fireplace finished by Thanksgiving. The ones who get it are the ones who started while it was still hot outside.

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Gas or Wood Burning Fireplace for a Houston Home

Fireplaces

Sep 22, 2026 5 min read

Gas or Wood Burning Fireplace for a Houston Home

One of them is the fire you imagined. The other is the fire you will actually have. The right answer depends on how your household really behaves.

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Outdoor Fireplace vs. Fire Pit: Which One Fits Your Houston Yard

Outdoor Living

Sep 18, 2026 6 min read

Outdoor Fireplace vs. Fire Pit: Which One Fits Your Houston Yard

Both look good in a photo. Only one usually works in the yard you actually have.

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Chimney

Sep 13, 2026 5 min read

Chimney Inspection Before Your First Fire

A chimney that drafted fine in January can fail by October. The camera goes up the flue before the first fire, not after the first problem.

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Fireplace Installers in Houston: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Hire

Fireplaces

Sep 9, 2026 6 min read

Fireplace Installers in Houston: 7 Questions to Ask Before You Hire

Most of the money in a fireplace job is spent behind the wall, where you cannot see it. These questions get it out in the open before you sign.

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Installing a gas fireplace in Houston: vented vs ventless, permits, cost and timeline

Fireplace Installation

Sep 1, 2026 8 min read

Installing a gas fireplace in Houston: vented vs ventless, permits, cost and timeline

What actually happens when a gas fireplace goes into a Houston home — the vented and ventless decision, gas line and venting work, permitting, and how long the job takes.

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How often a Houston chimney really needs sweeping — and what an inspection covers

Chimney Repair

Aug 3, 2026 7 min read

How often a Houston chimney really needs sweeping — and what an inspection covers

Annual inspection, sweeping by usage, and the three inspection levels explained in plain language.

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The annual chimney inspection checklist every Houston homeowner should run

Chimney Repair

Jul 20, 2026 6 min read

The annual chimney inspection checklist every Houston homeowner should run

Ten minutes with a flashlight and a pair of binoculars can save you a full chimney rebuild.

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Chimney crown vs. chimney cap: the two parts Houston homeowners keep mixing up

Chimney Repair

Jul 6, 2026 6 min read

Chimney crown vs. chimney cap: the two parts Houston homeowners keep mixing up

Two different components, two different failure modes, two very different repair bills.

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Converting an old wood firebox to sealed direct-vent gas, start to finish

Fireplaces

Jun 22, 2026 7 min read

Converting an old wood firebox to sealed direct-vent gas, start to finish

The most common fireplace project we run in Houston — what's involved, what it costs you in downtime, and when to replace instead of adapt.

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Gas, wood or masonry: comparing fireplace types for a Houston home

Fireplaces

Jun 8, 2026 7 min read

Gas, wood or masonry: comparing fireplace types for a Houston home

Venting, gas availability, structural load and how often you'll actually light it decide this, not taste.

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Fireplaces

May 25, 2026 7 min read

A Houston homeowner's buying guide to fireplaces: budget, timeline and what drives cost

What actually moves the number on a fireplace estimate, and how to sequence the decisions in the right order.

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Your chimney crown is probably why your ceiling is stained

Chimney Repair

May 11, 2026 6 min read

Your chimney crown is probably why your ceiling is stained

The crown is the concrete slab at the top of the chimney. When it fails, the water shows up everywhere except the crown.

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What tuckpointing actually is — and when Houston brick needs it

Masonry Repair

Apr 27, 2026 6 min read

What tuckpointing actually is — and when Houston brick needs it

If you can scrape the mortar out of your joints with a screwdriver, the weather has already won.

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Stair-step cracks in Houston brick: cosmetic or structural?

Masonry Repair

Apr 13, 2026 7 min read

Stair-step cracks in Houston brick: cosmetic or structural?

Gulf Coast clay moves several inches a year. Here's how to read what your brick veneer is telling you.

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Stone veneer in Houston: what it costs you and what it returns

Custom Masonry

Mar 30, 2026 6 min read

Stone veneer in Houston: what it costs you and what it returns

A refaced front elevation is the highest-return masonry project we do — when it is installed with a real drainage plane.

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Designing an outdoor kitchen you'll actually use every week in Houston

Outdoor Living

Mar 16, 2026 7 min read

Designing an outdoor kitchen you'll actually use every week in Houston

Wind direction, shade and a tight work triangle separate a showpiece from a habit.

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Ready to get cozy?

Custom fireplace installation, chimney repair, and premier masonry across Houston, Richmond, Katy and Deer Park — free written estimates and three decades of craftsmanship behind every joint.

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