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Bye Bye, Old Ugly Fireplace!

Hah! I'm just taking my time with these projects. We always seem to start something and then there's something that comes up that's a roadblock for whatever reason. The hearth was a roadblock. I.e. can't put the stone on the wall till we have the hearth done! So, I'll get that installed this week and next weekend we should be able to start putting the stone on the wall..

My table is the same way. I've go the table top all layed out, but I'm having some issues jointing such large heavy boards. So I'm thinking through my options for how to get a nice glue line on those puppies. Once that's done, I should be able to whip right through the rest of it...
 
I did a tile class at Home Depot last Saturday. He used a mat that sticks to the wall and the tile sticks to it. Funny looking stuff but boy, did it stick! No thin set on a vertical surface. When right to grouting.

I am redoing my kitchen and plan to tile from the counter top to the bottom of the upper cabinets.

No pictures yet, folks. No point in taking pictures of what the pro's are doing. When I get my hands into the mix, I'll snap some shots.
 
Betcha thought I'd forgotten about this. Nope. Spent the weekend working on this project again...

My wife and I got the Mantle in place and the stone facade put up.

Feel like we are getting close. Just need to do some grouting and some detail work and I'll be done with the fireplace and ready to move on to the entertainment center.

BTW, I made the mantel out of 8/4 maple. 3 layers of maple glued up with with the top piece 6", middle 5", bottom 4". I used some 4/4 poplar to make a french cleat that I screwed and glued to the back of the mantle. Used some lag screws to attach it to the supports I built into the wall behind the fireplace. I really like the way it turned out.

Here's a little timelapse I did of todays effort. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MQGETS_e6M

Even managed to BBQ up a leg of lamp, scalloped potatoes, and green been casserole while we worked on it. Had a couple of good old fashioned Easter movies on during the build and had a great ole time working together.

We were very thankful to have the opportunity to have such a nice day working on a project together.



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And for a little compare and contrast.

What I started with:
(Not safe to use and very energy inefficient)
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How it's looking now:
(Safe and very efficient)
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Way to go Brent. That was a long day. Good thing you had the lamb to go with it Eh!.

The fireplace came out real nice i would say. How do you attach the flagstone to the drywall?:dunno: From the video looks like you just wet it and go for it with the cement. But what keeps the flagstone against the drywall. Are there ties anywhere? How wide is the flagstone you used? I really like the effect. Thats a neat idea to use a french cleat to mount the mantle. Does this allow you to remove it if you want or was it just a way of getting it up against the wall?

Been a cool project i would say.:thumb:
 
Rob Keeble said:
Way to go Brent. That was a long day. Good thing you had the lamb to go with it Eh!.

The fireplace came out real nice i would say. How do you attach the flagstone to the drywall?:dunno: From the video looks like you just wet it and go for it with the cement. But what keeps the flagstone against the drywall. Are there ties anywhere? How wide is the flagstone you used? I really like the effect. Thats a neat idea to use a french cleat to mount the mantle. Does this allow you to remove it if you want or was it just a way of getting it up against the wall?

Been a cool project i would say.:thumb:
Click to expand...

Well, the 'Stone' Is actually a lightweight cultured stone product. Each piece is about 1" - 2" thick.

The flagstone I cut I put on the floor for the hearth.

Basically, to attach it to the drywall, you put an expanded metal lathe on the wall using screws. Then you apply a 'scratch' coat of mortar to the wall. I was amazed at how well just the mortar would hold the stones to the wall. Just butter the back with some mortar, and stick it up, give it a little push and viola! There you go!

The french cleat was about the only way I could figure to actually attach the mantle to the wall without any exposed fasteners. It was amazingly strong. Even though it seemed sturdy enough without any fasteners, I did add a little glue to the cleat just to keep it down in case it got bumped in an upward direction.
 
Did some grouting today. Got grout from floor to ceiling, but I might have to revisit a few areas. At least its good enough to call for the final inspection.

Hopefully the next post I make will be the last in this thread, with a picture of a fire burning in it!
 
Just passed the final inspection!

Same guy as before. Nice guy, took him all of one minute to look at it and sign off on it! :thumb:

We'll be making a fire tonight!
 
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