Next stage and a lingering question

The drywall is done--in fact, has been done for a little while now and I am knee deep into tape and mud. More on that later.

The lingering question still has to do with the fireplace-to-wall transition. We decided to go ahead and have the wall set as far back as we could get it, but that leaves us with about an inch of the edge of the fireplace showing. So now we have to figure out how to finish that off--some type of stone finish? Quarter round? What to do, what to do? The top edge also presents a learning lesson--just grout?

Of course mudding will give us lots of time to think about that--suggestions appreciated. (We are also figuring that Uncle A might have a little time to cipher on this while he recuperates--get well brother!)

Below are a few boring photos of drywall for history's sake and a few close ups of the fireplace edge so you get the picture.

Lest You Think There Is No Progress Being Made

Not true. We may be slow, but we continue to move forward--just that we haven't needed a lot of input at this point, so we haven't been posting. But just so folks can see a little progress we give you this little piece of evidence:


The fireplace is just about done--buffalo stone for the facing and the black granite for the hearth and mantle. You can also see we have the insulation in the walls done although we still have the ceiling to do as we had to have the electricians in to move some lighting around so we could get even light on the fireplace as you can see here (and the pre-wiring for the Bose 5.1 needed done.)

So as soon as we are back this week we will do the ceiling and start on the drywall--oh happy days!

More on the Fireplace

Bad news is that we decided to take the whole fireplace out creating one more project. Good news we have more options now. First things first though is making sure the firebox and basics of what we are going to build the new fireplace around are sound. So I need to figure out if there is more demo needed here--and probably just need to get a mason out here to look at it. Here is a video to give you a sense of what it looks like now.

Once we figure out that, we will need some advise on framing, although we haven't totally decided on fireplace style. Here are a couple more stills of the fireplace for your perusal and also one possibility for the fireplace--buffalo stone all the way up to the ceiling with a mantel attached (marble? granite? wood?).




One way or another, I am antsy to start construction--so we need to figure some stuff out this week.

The Fireplace

Okay--lots going on and lots of feedback would be useful here. We have done a lot of demo and (here is a shock) expanded what we are going to do. But let's go at this project by project. And first up is the fireplace which we were intending to redo--tile over or something of that nature.

However, in ripping out the paneling that was on the fireplace wall (which like everything else was simply attached to 3/4 inch board nailed to cinder block--but that is another post), I discovered that the paneling and the 3/4 inch is actually behind the fireplace. It is not clear how far, but at least a foot in from each side and the 3/4 runs down behind the whole fire place at that depth. In ripping out the paneling, the fireplace literally came away from the wall--cuz it is attached to the 3/4 and not directly attached to the cinder block. Here are some photos--questions to follow.



So the big question is can the fireplace be saved as is and tiled over? I don't think so--it is already away from the wall and came away so easily that I think the basic construction is so shoddy there is no saving it at this point. I am ready to pull it out while we have a dumpster here in the driveway, but wait for the tile esperts input from up north.

We will also be checking out some fireplace stores here this week, so we might get some input that way. And then we can move on to talking about the fact that I am going to have to reframe the room for insulation and that is going to raise quesitons about the window and that ever challenging stair wall!