Gas inserts, cultured stone and mantels on North Las Vegas tract homes
Almost every fireplace in North Las Vegas is a gas insert, and most of the 1990s and 2000s tract versions are wrapped in cultured stone or a stucco surround with a wood mantel. We start with a heat sweep: the insert burns 20 minutes while an infrared thermometer reads the wall above the mantel. Gas units usually settle between 85 and 100°F up there, which is fine for a panel. Anything hotter and the mount goes higher or the room gets a MantelMount pull-down instead. Anchoring depends on what the surround is made of. Cultured stone is a 1-inch to 2-inch veneer over scratch coat and lath, so we drill a mortar joint with a 1/4-inch masonry bit and run 5-inch lag bolts through the veneer into the wood stud behind it, four points on a 70-inch screen. Stone triggers the +$99 masonry surcharge; a plain drywall chimney chase does not. Cables ride a raceway or the drywall next to the surround, never a chase cut through the veneer. Fireplace jobs take 90 to 120 minutes.