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The chimney is a wide column in the middle of the living room. The finish on this chimney sort of evokes brick, but I don't think it is. It reminds me of stucco, but it isn't that either. The house was built in 1975.

I'm trying to determine what it is so I can answer the following questions:

  1. Can I remove the bumpy finish, make the indoor surfaces of the chimney smooth, and paint it?

  2. What's usually behind this kind of finish on a chimney? Brick? Drywall?

  3. If I wanted to screw a pull-down flatscreen mount above the fireplace, how would I anchor it?

Close-up of the material:


Picture of the room for context:


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I would call it - very hard to duplicate. –  DMoore Aug 5 '13 at 15:19
This is an image on google images for stucco -google.com/…. Yours is obviously more regular and deeper but looks to be basically the same. –  bib Aug 5 '13 at 15:52
is the texture hard, or soft. if it is soft, i would think it is plaster, but if it is hard, depending on how hard, i would guess cement(highly unlikely though) or something similar. –  Ashitakalax Aug 15 '13 at 18:37
you can find a small unnoticeable place on the wall(where a stud would probably be, and drill a tiny hole(careful on bit selection) in it to find out what is behind the top layer. if wood starts coming out it is probably some weird material on the surface, if you only see a concrete like powder, you know it is brick. –  Ashitakalax Aug 15 '13 at 18:47
That's a great-looking room. –  ArgentoSapiens Aug 17 '13 at 0:58
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1 Answer

1) Yes. It would probably be easier and more cost efficient to simply cover it (drywall, paneling) or fill it in with more stucco (requires more skill).

2) Brick or block.

3) Purchase a TV mounting kit suitable for your make/model TV and use masonry anchors (http://www.doityourself.com/stry/h2anchorconcrete) to mount it.

Good luck!

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