The Fireplace Stone is Finished!

The stone veneer for the fireplace is completely finished. I had just a few more pieces to put up and then I gave the entire stone a treatment of stone enhancer.

As it turned out I ordered exactly the amount of veneer I needed. Not like the stuff cost billions of dollars it was just none of it could be returned. This was a special order product which means they ordered it from their warehouse in Syracuse. The tile store's policy is they do not take returns on special order items. To me a special order item would be one that was custom in some way (ordered from Italy, cut to fit, a color made especially for me). I would have like to return the four I have left over as I have no need for them anywhere in my house.

Today I was able to clean the stones and then apply a stone enhancer. The stone enhancer was called One and Done. I applied it with a stain brush and worked it into the cracks and crevices. I had to make sure the get under the stones that hung proud and on the sides of stones. The directions state the product should sit on stone for a few minutes and then the excess wiped off.

The picture below shows the difference between the enhanced and the natural look. I think the enhancer really brings out the colors in the different stone and pushes back the grey stone colors. I really like all the golds and reds in the stones.

The second picture shows the finished stone project.

In the coming weeks I will be building the mantel. We are still deciding whether to go with a white painted mantel or natural cherry. Either way the plan is to build the mantel so it wraps around becoming the top to bookshelves I will build. I'm hoping to make the bookshelves removable so I can get access to behind the fireplace, just in case I need to for some reason.

Stone Veneer For the Fireplace

This week I will be working on the stone veneer for our fireplace. To begin this project my wife and I had to settle on the type of product we wanted to use. We wanted a product that had a stones with various colors (greys, reds, oranges, browns). Many of the products at Home Depot or Lowes had tan shades. We were interested in a product from Lowes, from the name brand Stone Craft. This type of stone is traditionally used the exterior as siding. It rages in width from one inch to two and one quarter inches. It must be installed, stone by stone. We found a pattern we liked but I decided to check a few tile stores to see what they had to offer. The second tile store had a stone veneer with all the colors above. The veneer is a stone product that ranges in widths from one and a quarter to half an inch. The stones are epoxied together to make a ledgerstone. It cuts like tile and installs like tile. See the pictures below.

To attach it to the wall I put up a board to represent the mantel. That will give it support has the mortar dries. The mortar is a polymer blend recommended by the manufacturer. I mixed it to a peanut butter consistency or until it wouldn't fall off my trowel easily.

The manufacturer suggests using a 1/2 inch notched trowel on the wonderboard. They also suggest back buttering each piece. I started by installing one entire row, the row that would be just above the mantel. The corners are created with a special type of the rock product. The corner stones have rough edges. I cut the corner tiles in half and over lap them on the corners.

Installation of the product was a lot like regular heavy tile. Professional would have started from the top and worked their way down. This is done to avoid dropping mastic on the finished part. I wasn't confident in how the bottom would turn out if I started at the top. As it happened, the top was uniform and straight. I left a gap at the top that will allow me a space to add drywall for the ceiling (ceiling should have been down first but we are still living in this room so..).

Fireplace Framing Ready For Stone Veneer

Yesterday I installed Wonderboard over the framing that will be covered with a stone veneer. I could have just installed plywood but then I would have had to cover that with a wire mesh. One extra step that would have saved me only a little money. Wonderboard product was ten dollars per sheet and I used four sheets. I think plywood and the mesh might have cost me thirty-five dollars.

Wonderboard is easy to cut and provide a solid backing for tile or the stone veneer I want to use. My wife and I are still picking out the stone product. I would like to install it rock by rock. This will give me the most control over the look. There is a tile product that installs, well like tile, but has that stone layered look. It is really expensive but easier to install.

I have left the side open on both sides. Just because I never want to tear this thing apart once it is built, I'm trying my best to create this so we can fix it should it break. On either side I will be building shelves. The mantel will not only be in front but also wrap around and go on top of the shelves. I'm installing a nailer on the back wall that will support the entire top. The shelves will be fit in place so I can remove a few screws and take the shelves out completely. Still working on how that will be done but that is my plan.

Fireplace surround framing

This weekend I started and finished the fireplace surround framing. Strange, not many pictures or plans floating around on the internet about the framing. The few I found didn't really give good instructions (and this blog won't have any either). I suspect the reason for this is there are fireplace manufacturers recommendations for framing around the fireplace that is specific to the fireplace purchased. Also, depending on your design, the framing is also very specific.

With those two things in mind, I followed the manufacture's recommendations first. Now the design of our fireplace has changed quite a bit mostly because of the vent pipe above the firebox. I was told it would have a top exhaust, rather than a back exhaust, however I wasn't told the vent pipe would be almost three feet above the firebox. If you look at the picture, the vent is above the height of the windows. If I put the mantel above that, our mantel would be around 65' off the ground. This is too high for what we want. My wife would like to put things on the mantel and those windows are around the height she would like the mantel.

The framing was also influenced by the mantel and the material we would like to put on the face of the surround. We are going to use a faux stone product. Tonight I will be installing the cement board that will back this faux stone. Using mortar, I will adhere the stone to the wall. We wanted around five inches of stone on the sides of the firebox front. Above the firebox opening, there will be around seven inches. The minimum amount for this space had to be 13'. We wanted a little more so when we hang our stockings, they aren't in a place where they could catch fire! Our mantel will be either painted white (I will use poplar which paints very nicely) or made of cherry and stained. My wife is still trying to decide. I think either would look nice but I would like to do the cherry (what ever my wife wants). The mantel will not only be on top of the firebox but it will wrap around the sides and then become the top of two book cases I will build on the sides.

Lastly, I installed a new t.v. above the fireplace. We have really enjoyed having a t.v. in this old living room. Usually, my sons are playing Madden football on the other t.v., nice to another to watch from time to time. The original design had this t.v. installed on the main wall behind the firebox. Because of that vent pipe, I have to bump the wall out 16' inches. If you look at the framing, the wall goes straight up to the ceiling. The t.v. will be mounted on the front of this wall over the stone.

Hitting area in the basement

Yesterday I put my ideas together for an area of the basement that I wanted to create for my kiddos. This project is actually the one that launched our basement remodel. My younger son and I were in the basement scoping out a place to put a baseball tee. All three of my kids play baseball or softball. It is so important for them to practice hitting off a tee. The more cuts at the baseball they can take, with proper form, the better they can get.

On our basement scouting trip I asked my younger son to hit the basement wall, on our south side, with a hammer. He hit it down low and what I discovered made me rip out the entire wall. I smelled mold and dirt. What I discovered was drywall touching the ground in the basement actually wicked up moisture. Moisture, not from water entering the basement, but just enough moisture from improperly installed insulation. The cold outside covered with insulation made water form. I should say improperly installed. I put foam insulation on the wall to give a barrier between the insulation and the wall. That product didn't exist. Also, I used a water barrier paint on the wall, that too wasn't in existence when the basement was finished years ago. Picking the drywall up off the floor an inch would have done a lot to keep the mold at bay.

I ripped out the entire wall. In the picture below, I installed metal 2 x 4s. My original thinking was to use this product as a way to put up something 'water proof'. On the other ways I used a pressure treated 2 x 4 on the ground and then wood studs. That turned out to be easier, faster and cheaper. The metal studs were easy to cut and put up but they were fairly costly.

In the picture you can see my idea for a hitting area. A ball suspended from a rope. The rope can be adjusted to different heights for my different height children. Against the wall, suspended from the ceiling, is an anti-fatigue mat. When one of them hits the ball, the force of the ball hitting that mat stops the ball. The ball falls back with a lot less power. By suspending the ball from the ceiling, it eliminates the need my kiddos to replace the ball on the tee. They can just take their cuts. We are still working over the design of the entire thing but as is, it works fine. Now we can just improve on it, looks and function. What I like a lot is, I can remove the entire thing in a few minutes. When I add a finished ceiling there, I can get a few extra ceiling tiles to put up when we store this hitting device. Probably over the winter, the kids will use it. During the spring and summer, I'll remove it from the basement. I'll pop out the ceiling tiles with the holes and install the whole ones.

The overall design of this hitting tool was actually created by my grandfather thirty plus years ago. He too thought it was a good idea to get his grandson swinging every day. My grandfather installed mesh between two trees and suspended a ball from the same tree. I sat with him while he made this thing, thinking it would be ready in minutes. After an hour of sitting with him and watching him, I got bored and ran off. When I got home, he was just finishing it. I tried it, over and over. When he left that night, he left watching me hit. I stayed out there until it got dark and then used that hitting thing every day. At eight, you really don't realize anything about time. My grandpa worked on that for around six hours that day. I would do anything to get those five hours near him now.

Drywall in our old living room

Yesterday I began, what for me, is the long process of drywalling the living room. I hate drywall. Not the hanging part so much but the mudding and sanding. I've done it all over my house and experimented with various ways of blocking the dust from leaving the area where I'm working. Nothing has worked very well.

I will tape and mud the joints today. Our goal is to do either a ceiling tile treatment (either tin or fake tin panels) or we might drywall over the existing plaster ceiling. What will not happen? We will not be taking the plaster ceiling down!

Our new fireplace should arrive next Monday which will put the install of the fireplace some time end of next week. After that we can begin building the new fireplace surround. We are still deciding how we want it to look.

Finding Out My House is Swiss Cheese

Yet again I've discovered another hole in the house! This one was big. The entire ceiling over the bay window opened up to the roof over the porch. There was no insulation, no covering at all separating the inside of the roof and our old living room. Standing inside the space under this ceiling you could feel massive amounts of cold air rush into our house.

I attacked this problem two ways. I needed to insulate the upper part of the wall because this wall is the lower part of the walls inside my boys' rooms. Large triangular spots on their walls were never insulated, even with that blown in junk that I filled the walls with a few summers ago.

To insulate the walls in that spot I first installed 2x4s vertically, toenailing them into the porch supports already there. Next I stapled insulation between those new studs. This got really challenging as the angle of the roof behind me pitched. I got poked by the nails of the roof above me. This is my own fault. I had access to this portion of the wall when I put the roof on the porch. At the time, I was so focused on doing the roof that I didn't inspect this area very well. Truthfully, I couldn't see the whole into my living room because of the plaster ceiling. This would have been so easy to do with the roof open!

The next order of business was closing up the opening. To do this I installed 2x6s across the entire span. I created pockets to hold the 2x6 insulation used in attics and on ceilings. This would give a R-19 to that portion rather than the R-13 for a 2x4 wall. The second I covered that with insulation, the draft was gone. Lastly, I covered the entire area with 6 mil plastic. Even though the paper on the insulation is a vapor barrier, there were spots where I filled in the insulation without the paper. Also, I want this buttoned up. I don't ever want to feel the cold sitting in my living room again.

Check out the pictures of the before and after. As crazy as this sounds, the Weekend Woodworker wasn't able to finish this project until Monday night. After working all day, I came home to work on this for the next four hours.