Fireplace Make Over for Bradley

Jun 5, 2016 Sun0
My oldest son recently purchased his first home. The house was in good condition but needed some TLC. He started out wanting to replace the laminated flooring in the kitchen with tile flooring but I hate doing tile. So I convinced him to skip the tile and just replace the laminate flooring in the kitchen and living room with new flooring. So we did.

We wanted Bradley to have a house warming party on Memorial Day 2016 to set a deadline for renovations. Laurie and I have things to do around our own home as well as prepare for a summer trip out west in Vickie the Toy Hauler camper with Ruby the Gold Wing motorcycle. But Laurie also enjoys watching the home makeover shows on Netflix. She stated that the fireplace in Bradley's new home was too wimpy for a 22 year old man and had to get a makeover.

We went through at least 20 iterations of how we wanted the finished fireplace to look. We got feed back from Bradley but wanted it to be a little bit of a surprise. Read the captions on the photos below for most of the details. The wood came from Capitol Lumber Supply in Raleigh and was stained with Min Wax Dark Walnut. You can't get 4x8 beams at Lowes or Home Depot. The stone is Air Stone and came from Lowes. The wood above the fireplace is simple fencing slats at about $2.00 each. We sanded and stained them with Min Wax Weathered Oak. All the wood has one coat of Satin Polyurethane to bring out the colors.

The hearth is a story in itself. We tossed around the idea of using slate for the hearth, but that stone is thin and we could not find one piece of stone. To use slate would have required some kind of masonry foundation and multiple pieces of slate. We stumbled upon Scott Stone in north Raleigh and found a single piece of Tennessee sandstone that was perfect for the hearth. The stone had some mold and splashed grout. The starting price was $185 but Laurie got it for $135. The folks at Scott Stone were very friendly and helpful.

The hearth looks like it is floating above the floor. It is resting on concrete blocks from Lowes that are 2 inches high by 8x16. The blocks are recessed about 8 inches from the edges of the hearth and are painted black on the face so they are hard to see. The hearth and Air Stone rock are treated with a sealer/enhancer to resist spills and bring out the colors.

We did not have time to install them before these photos were taken but Bradley's "Papaw" made some gun hangers out of old worn out horse shoes. We will install them later and Bradley will display one of his guns over the mantle.

Laurie is the creative talent on our team. She came up with the broad idea and then told me to figure out the details and make it happen. Laurie and I are very happy with the fireplace makeover and Bradley seems happy with it also. Again, read the photo captions below for more details on the makeover. To see all the photo from Bradley's house warming, click here. For photos of the day he purchased his first home, click here.

May 1, 2016 Sun 4:35:21 PM EDT Altitude: 334 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Contemporary fireplace has to go in Bradley's new home.
May 6, 2016 Fri 12:01:30 PM EDT Altitude: 461 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Capital lumber in Raleigh has some nice wood.
May 6, 2016 Fri 12:14:26 PM EDT Altitude: 455 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
We looked at slate for the hearth in Bradley's new home but it never really gelled.
May 7, 2016 Sat 8:01:07 AM EDT Altitude: 292 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Bradley's fireplace and old floor before any work was done. Actually he had painted some walls at this point.
May 7, 2016 Sat 5:05:05 PM EDT Altitude: 347 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
The new floor installed.
May 10, 2016 Tue 8:25:41 AM EDT
Preliminary plans for the fireplace make over.
May 10, 2016 Tue 8:39:35 AM EDT Altitude: 386 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Preliminary plans for the fireplace make over.
May 10, 2016 Tue 8:07:08 PM EDT
Preliminary plans for the fireplace make over.
May 12, 2016 Thu 1:13:14 PM EDT Altitude: 218 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
We were driving in north Raleigh to Tucker Stone when Laurie saw Scott Stone and asked to stop and take a look. We loved this stone for the hearth. The price was $185 but she worked them down to $135 by the time we made a deal.
May 12, 2016 Thu 5:58:11 PM EDT Altitude: 389 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
We were driving in north Raleigh to Tucker Stone when Laurie saw Scott Stone and asked to stop and take a look. We loved this stone for the hearth. The price was $185 but she worked them down to $135 by the time we made a deal. The stone looked great when it was wet.
May 13, 2016 Fri 1:40:27 PM EDT Altitude: 384 ft Camera: iPhone 5s
Laurie's fish pond is looking great but we are spending all our free time working on Bradley's new home.
May 15, 2016 Sun 1:19:13 PM EDT
New flooring installed and the wimpy mantle removed. Still have to remove the marble..
May 26, 2016 Thu 9:16:49 PM EDT
Hearth and mantle installed.
May 27, 2016 Fri 7:23:39 PM EDT Altitude: 330 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Hearth and mantle and wood back wall installed. That wood is pine fence slats sanded and stained with Minwax Weathered Oak
May 27, 2016 Fri 8:52:05 PM EDT Altitude: 311 ft Camera: iPhone 6s
Bradley and Laurie laid out the Air Stone rock on the floor before installation.
May 28, 2016 Sat 11:11:24 AM EDT
Air Stone rock installed and a support in place before installing the rock above the fire box. Everything is looking great.
May 28, 2016 Sat 12:53:00 PM EDT
Almost finished.
May 30, 2016 Mon 5:10:20 PM EDT
Bradley's house warming party.
Construction of our Garden Pond




TagsConfederate Statues  (32),Motorcycle  (97),National Parks  (9),Odd  (1),Route 66  (33),Unemployment  (6),Zombies  (1)