Fireplace Screens
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Fire safety begins with fireplace screens. A fireplace screen offers protection for your flooring from flying
sparks and many times a rolling log. Fireplace screens are both decorative and functional. Fireplace
screens are available in many sizes to fit your fireplace. Screens come in many finishes to fit your home
decor. The first thing to remember is that there is no standard size for a fireplace opening. Masonry
fireplaces are all built by hand on site and no too masons build a fireplace alike. Standard fireplace
openings average between 34 to 38 inches wide and 28 to 32 inches high. Your fireplace opening may or
may not fall into the average. Most standard size fireplace screens are designed to fit openings around 38
inches wide and 31 to 32 inches high. This allows you to cover the opening as much as possible.
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Styles of Fireplace Screens
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Fireplace screens come in an assortment of styles designed to fit your lifestyle.
A common fireplace screen is mesh curtains that slide from the center to either side. The wire mesh
screens are woven like a chain link fence and hang from a rod just like your curtains. This rod is mounted
from your lentil bar, the flat steel bar that supports your bricks at the top.
Single panel fireplace screens is a rigid mesh panel framed on all four sides and is designed to lean
against the opening but they can be free standing. The single panel screen is usually supported by feet
on either side to keep the screen from falling forward and supports that project from the back into the
firebox for stability.
Bowed fireplace screen is a free standing single panel screen that has a gentle curve. The screen will sit
on your hearth without the support of front feet or rear stabilizer bars. Three panel folding fireplace
screens feature a center panel that is on average 30 inches wide and two side panels ranging from 8 to
12 inches wide.
The three panel screen is placed on the hearth and the side panels are angled back to either side of the
opening. The screen is stabilized by the two side panels. Make sure you get a screen wide enough so that
it will cover your opening yet stand on it's own. If you have an opening that is 36 inches wide and buy a
screen with a 30 inch center panel and 2 - 8 inch side panels the overall length is 46 inches. Folding the
side panels back to either side of the opening will allow the screen to project around 4 inches onto your
hearth giving it the stability to stand on its own. A 10 inch wide side panel will give you around a 5 inch
projection and so on. Make sure you have the proper depth on your hearth to accommodate the
projection of the screen.
Four fold fireplace screens feature four fixed mesh panels that fold like an accordion. This type of
fireplace screen is easily folded when tending your fire.
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Mesh Screen Single Panel Bowed Screen Three Fold
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