Fireplace faux brick removal?

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 10:14 AM

WE finally closed the deal on our Wilcat 353LS and awaiting delivery of it to the house. One item that we don't or maybe I should say the wife doesn't care for is the faux brick around the fireplace. I understand that FROG needed to keep the weight down as well as the cost of the faux brick, but we are going to remove it and go another route. Our thoughts are to go with tile, wood or Corian.

The faux brick looks and feels to be a molded Styrofoam one piece trim platform. I am assuming that it is glued in place to the face of the wood entertainment cabinet. So it will simply be that it needs to be pried away and the dollop of glue sanded down.

But, if anyone has attempted this and has suggestions to share I sure would appreciate the assistance and heads up.

Thanks in advance,

tomjsas · 12-08-2013, 10:23 AM

Don't have any suggestions but that was one of the reasons we chose our Rockwood. We liked the Wildcat but the faux stone just looked cheesey. Let us know how it goes.

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 10:37 AM

Will do. We looked far and wide before going with the Wilcat 353LS. We wanted at a minimum of three slide outs and preferred an entertainment center in the rear with opposing couch/recliner slide outs. The 353LS has the couch on the back wall and the opposing slides house recliners and the entertainment center across from that. However in the end we just really liked the 353LS floor plan offering the Bath and a half configuration. Not an easy feature to find unless you go to a Toy Hauler or Bunk House plan. As for interior features I figure I can always upgrade various items to meet the preference of the wife.

Iggy · 12-08-2013, 10:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomjsas

Don't have any suggestions but that was one of the reasons we chose our Rockwood. We liked the Wildcat but the faux stone just looked cheesey. Let us know how it goes.

I don't have a Wildcat but here is what my fireplace looks like in my 2012 Georgetown. May give you some ideas how it looks without the fake rocks.

Dave_Monica · 12-08-2013, 10:45 AM

My guess is that it would be easier to replace the entire fireplace surround than trying to clean-up and salvage the existing. Have you got a picture of the fireplace as it is?

Dave

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 10:59 AM

Since the Wildcat hasn't arrived at the house yet the best I can do is a link to the dealers auction listing. It does however show the fireplace pretty well.

2013 Wildcat 353LS Rear Living 2 Bath 3 Slide 1 Left w Disount Discontinued 5W | eBay

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tomjsas

Don't have any suggestions but that was one of the reasons we chose our Rockwood. We liked the Wildcat but the faux stone just looked cheesey. Let us know how it goes.

Personally I think the term you used "Cheesey" was being polite. The new 2014 Wildcat models are going away from the brick/stone look and using wood to trim face out the fireplaces. They look pretty darn good.

But ordering a 2014 wasn't an option as the floor plan we chose was discontinued after a very short production run.

grayfox · 12-08-2013, 11:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave_Monica

My guess is that it would be easier to replace the entire fireplace surround than trying to clean-up and salvage the existing. Have you got a picture of the fireplace as it is?

Dave

X-2....

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 11:08 AM

OH Trust me the Brick Surround will be gone, just trying to choose what to replace it with as well as any ideas as to direction to go with the tear out.

AquaMan · 12-08-2013, 11:22 AM

Doesn't look to be that hard. Not sure of the look you are going for, but there are some self stick backsplash tiles that might look good. I put a metal tile behind our kitchen sink and it looks good. It was a bit pricey though.

Witch Doctor · 12-08-2013, 11:37 AM

Nice unit except for the brick, I think wood might be hard to match, but tile or corian would be nice. Tile I think would be lighter, but they have some new products out daily it seems, I'm sure you can find something to replace that. Not that it counts but I choose Corian. Congratulation on that unit, and what a great deal on top of it.

grayfox · 12-08-2013, 11:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gljurczyk

Nice unit except for the brick, I think wood might be hard to match, but tile or corian would be nice. Tile I think would be lighter, but they have some new products out daily it seems, I'm sure you can find something to replace that. Not that it counts but I choose Corian. Congratulation on that unit, and what a great deal on top of it.

As I recall Corian comes in 1/4 " 1/2" 3/4". 1/4" Would keep the weight down and it would be easier to handle than 1/2" or 3/4".

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 11:51 AM

We drove up to Muskegon from the Dallas area to check it out. I had hopes of pulling it home, but the weather had other plans in mind. So we are having the dealer all a rear receiver hitch and second A/C unit to the WC and deliver it.

FWIW, we did beat the weather home. Guess I should have just waited and stayed up in a Muskegon hotel, because as I write this I am sitting in a Holiday Inn Express due do power and phone outage at the house.

Murphy's Law at it's finest.

AquaMan · 12-08-2013, 01:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonrjen

We drove up to Muskegon from the Dallas area to check it out. I had hopes of pulling it home, but the weather had other plans in mind. So we are having the dealer all a rear receiver hitch and second A/C unit to the WC and deliver it. FWIW, we did beat the weather home. Guess I should have just waited and stayed up in a Muskegon hotel, because as I write this I am sitting in a Holiday Inn Express due do power and phone outage at the house. Murphy's Law at it's finest.

Why the rear receiver? Many problems and a voiding of frame warranty, will come from such if it's not built for it.

jonrjen · 12-08-2013, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AquaMan

Why the rear receiver? Many problems and a voiding of frame warranty, will come from such if it's not built for it.

The receiver hitch is a factory order item that could be installed at the dealership without voiding the warranty....I made sure to check. Interesting thing is that the receiver hitch was a standard item on the 2012 model and listed as a standard item on the early 2013 release. I plan to use it for a platform to mount a generator on for running one a/c while traveling down the road to keep an advantage of cooling down when pulling into a park.

AquaMan · 12-08-2013, 03:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonrjen

The receiver hitch is a factory order item that could be installed at the dealership without voiding the warranty....I made sure to check. Interesting thing is that the receiver hitch was a standard item on the 2012 model and listed as a standard item on the early 2013 release. I plan to use it for a platform to mount a generator on for running one a/c while traveling down the road to keep an advantage of cooling down when pulling into a park.

Very nice. Good to hear you checked it out before hand!

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