Here
are a few pictures of My Fireplace Project. Thanks to my Dad for
spending many Fridays driving up to my house to help keep me motivated
and get this done.
When I moved in the
fireplace was kind of boring. It was a blue marble tile glued on the
floor and wall. It matched the entry of the house until I replaced the
entry tile (and most of the house) with ceramic. I wanted to replace the
carpet that was left and if I was going to upgrade the fireplace I
needed to do it before I replaced the carpet.
Now the fun can
begin.
The first thing I
wanted was a hearth. I built up the base using 12" x 12" pavers and
Quickset. The top layer has a 2" overhang to give it depth.
I
was originally going to build a brick surround but my Dad talked me into
using a real slate tile. It has really grown on me. I spent a day
cutting the 12" square tiles down to 5 1/2" x 11 1/2" to get a brick
like look. There is a large difference in colors, patterns and thickness
in each tile.
Installing the slate
wasn't simple task. Using Quickset Mortar on the flat surfaces and a
whip crème like flooring epoxy on the vertical tiles was a chore. We
used 1/4" spacers and did our best to make the slate tiles as level as
possible.
Once the tile was set
I decided to use a dark chocolate grout to keep the contrast down.
Before installing the tile I did use a tile waterproofing agent to keep
as much of the grout from soaking into the tile as possible. I did spend
some time with a dental tool cleaning out the crevices of the slate to
remove the grout.
This is where we are
currently at. The Mantle is made of Red Oak with a lot of detail. Since
everything is not perfectly square there is some filling and sanding to
do. The scrap on top is the color ( Golden Oak ) I intend to stain the
mantle when ready. The wall will be painted a dark red. The carpet might
be Hunter green. We will see after the walls are painted.
I finally took a
picture of the finished fireplace that the color of the wall looks
acceptable. It it still slightly darker than the picture shows but this
is pretty close. I still need to finish the 3 1/2" base molding and
eventually get new carpet.
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