Fireplace Make Over for Bradley
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.
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.