A LESSON in CHOPPING WOOD

In anticipation of the installation of our new wood burning fireplace, the Mister and I (um, mainly the Mister) have been busily chopping wood. Since a big oak tree fell down in the back of the field last Spring it has become the fortunate first fodder for our new fireplace. So when I say "we" have been chopping wood, really, I mean "he" has been chopping wood. But I enjoyed an embarrassing lesson in the art of wood splitting - something this suburban-born girl has never had to do before.

Here's how it went...

 

As you can see, I did make contact with my log, but I didn't quite make it through the wood. In fact, my axe got stuck in the top of it. This, by the way, was one of my more successful cracks at it. There is an embarrassing video somewhere that depicts a time when I under-swung and my axe made a mean dent in the dirt. Take that, Dirt!  I am sure with more practice, though, I will be splitting wood like a champ. Or maybe I will just stick to my Zumba and Kettle Bell classes and let the Mister Wood-Chopper chop the wood. 

Ta-da!

We do have a chainsaw, by the way, but that hubby of mine is kind of a survivalist. He likes to do things the old-fashioned way.

FIREPLACE UPDATE

Remember the old brick fireplace?

Well look at it now!

I've actually been post-poning this BITTER/SWEET fireplace update for a few weeks... read about why below.

The BITTER BITS: 

For the first time on this DIY house, we decided to hire a contractor to complete a project for us. Unfortunately, in addition to spending a lot of money unnecessarily (turns out we could have done it ourselves), the end product was so questionable that there was a possibility that the whole project would have to ripped out and redone.

Why did we hire a contractor in the first place? When we did the demolition, you may remember the big crack that fissured through our over-sized hearth.

Since it is an active wood burning fireplace, we were concerned about structural and safety issues. We assumed that a "professional" would have more knowledge of fireplace code regulations and how to support and level the hearth so it wouldn't crack again.

 

There were many issues with communication and workmanship along the way and we should have listened to our guts and pulled the plug, but we had all the materials ready to go and were so excited to be able to check this project off the list.

After the contractors left we found a chip in our wood floors, grout stains on the carpet, and dried concrete that had dripped down the wall and floor into our basement.  Since the project was left incomplete, we had to do the final coats of grout and tile sealant and we'll also do the wood trim work around the hearth tile.

But the most critical problem was that in the end, the hearth was not properly LEVELED. You can see just how far off level it is on the far right side of the photo, where the metal fireplace face meets the tile - 5/8 inch off, to be exact.

However, we are currently working with fireplace technicians, who have advised that they will be able to make up for the off-level hearth when they install our custom fireplace insert, which means we won't have to rip out and redo the current tile job. Whew!

Lesson learned: If you want it done right; do it yourself.  If you can't do it yourself; do your homework - meet with more than one contractor; get everything in writing regarding the scope of work; don't hire based on a single recommendation or because they are likable; withhold final payment until you are satisfied.

Zillow actually has a good article on Hiring a Contractor. 

Now on to the HAPPY, SWEET BITS:

We are thrilled with the Shanxi Black Flamed Granite tile that we selected for the hearth.  We had it laid on a diagonal to draw the eye to the fireplace. 

This special granite has a non-traditional finish, in that, it is not shiny, instead, it is torched with fire until the shiny-bits burn off. What is left behind is a textured, matte, stone finish, with a hint of metallic shimmer. This flamed granite works perfectly with our rustic contemporary design aesthetic.

Aside from looking a million times better, the ultimate purpose of our fireplace reno is to be able use it more - without losing heat from the rest of the house, that is. We currently heat with oil, so it can get expensive to reheat this two story house after burning a fire in the winter. We love having fires and would love to be able to actually add to our home's heat efficiency while burning one. 

Over the past year, we have been looking into wood burning fireplace "Heatilator" units that insert into your fireplace and have an electric blower to circulate the warm air produced by the fire around your home. Anybody have one of these? The fireplace doors, made from ceramic glass, are insulated and left closed as the fire burns. The fire is concentrated in a smaller interior firebox. On the outside of the unit, there is an intake fan and at least two blowers to distribute the hot air around the house (I can just see the kitties curled up right in front of the blowers in the winter).

Albus says, "Who me?"

ON-GOING PROJECTS:

1) Finish designing our custom Heatilator unit (yep, our fireplace is way oversized, so it is all custom, baby), order it and pay for it (gulp).  Custom = expensive. 

2)While the Heatilator is being built, I am hoping the hubby will have some time to start constructing our built-in bookshelves that will line the entire wall to the left of the fireplace, and run from floor to ceiling.

3)After the built-ins are complete, we will decide what to do for our fireplace mantel-piece. We are leaning toward a rustic slab of wood - perhaps milled from one of the trees that fell on our property last year.  Like THIS or THIS.  Other ideas include a Stone Slab or a simple Mantel Painted White to match the ultimate color of the built-ins and crown molding that we will install.

Which do you like best?

Fireplace Makeover

This has been a multi-phase project for us and it is still on-going, but I am excited to report our progress so far.

This is the fireplace prior to renovation. It is a brick, wood-burning fireplace with a terra-cotta mosaic hearth. I think this style was very popular in the 1970s in our area. The knotty-pine wood-paneling definitely channels the 1970s.  Definitely not our style. Okay, not "my" style (my husband kind of likes the wood and brick combo - but after 7 years of persistence, I finally convinced him it was time for it to go).

 

 Step 1: 

Paint the brick with a high-quality primer. I used a tinted primer from Benjamin Moore.

The brick is highly textured and very porous, so after using a brush to do a test patch, I switched to a very thick nap roller and slathered on the primer. I used almost an entire gallon of paint on the 10 foot area.

 

Since we were planning to paint the brick grey, I choose a grey tinted primer. Little did I know, however, how many shades of grey exist. There are blue greys, yellow greys, green greys, and even brown greys. The primer, it turned out, was in the blue grey family. Because it was a cool color, it ended up making the wood paneling scream orange next to it. Ick. The hubby almost kicked me out of the house when he came home and saw this. 

  

For weeks I listened to him exclaim, "I can't believe you painted our fireplace blue!"  Color lesson learned. Onward with the renovation. 

Step 2:

Dismantle the Mantle. 

Enough said.

  

We also removed the small built-in bookcase next to the fireplace in preparation for the next 2 steps: electrical upgrades and drywall. Besides, we will eventually construct a kick-*ss built-in bookcase that spans the entire wall from floor to ceiling.

  

Step 3:

After updating the electrical wiring on the entire wall (thank you father-in-law), it was time to put up the drywall. Putting up the drywall was the easy part. Taping, sanding, and finishing it was a pain in the you-know-what. We are not drywall finishers, so it took us 5 rounds of layering and sanding down the joint compound before we were satisfied. 

By the way, I do not recommend living in a space while you sand and finish drywall. The process took us at least a couple of weeks because of dry time in between layers and well... we kept procrastinating the unsavory task. After each round of sanding there was a fine layer of drywall dust that blanketed the downstairs. Although we used respirator masks and a shop-vac to protect our lungs, it was still a massive mess, and hard to properly ventilate since is was 10 degrees outside.  Next time we decide to drywall a large room that we are simultaneously trying to live in, we will hire someone else and live in a hotel until the job is finished.

  

Step 4:

With the drywall finished and primed, it was time to get rid of that blue brick.  Because we usually prefer warm colors, we decided to go with a tan grey for the fireplace brick. Again, because of it's superior coverage over a porous surface, I went with paint from Benjamin Moore. The color is Rockport Grey. 

For a smoother finish, I filled any holes and gaps between bricks with caulk, prior to rolling on the Rockport Grey topcoat.

  

Step 5:

After painting the brick and surrounding walls (more on that later), we decided that we didn't want to keep the brick seats that were built-in on both sides of the fireplace. They closed off the fireplace and did not function well as seating. We also felt that the sharp corners were a definite safety hazard should we ever have little ones running around the house.

After manually chiseling out the first 20 bricks (it took us over an hour with chisels and hammers, but was great way to sweat out some frustration), we decided it was time to bring in the BIG guns. So we rented what was essentially a small jack-hammer.

I let the hubs handle that one. He likes his power tools. Meanwhile, I proceeded to ferry the bricks and bits of rubble by the bucket load outside to the trash pile. I did salvage a few of the nicer bricks, just in case I come up with a creative way to re-purpose them down the road. Ideas anyone?

Within an hour, the remainder of the steps and hearth were demolished.

We cleaned everything up with the amazing shop vac. And this is where we are today.

  

Still-To-Do:

*I will prime and paint the now-exposed brick at the base to match the rest.  

*As you can see there is a huge crack in the foundation at the hearth. We need to address the structural issues and level everything off before we can re-tile the fireplace. 

*We are also planning to upgrade our fireplace insert with a heatilator unit so that we can add to the energy efficiency of our house when we burn fires, as opposed to loosing heat from the rest of the house every time we open the flue.

*And lastly, we need a new mantle. Our dream is to mill one of the fallen trees on our property and have a rustic-looking, solid-wood mantlepiece.