Hey guys,
I just wanted to share a little project I’ve been working on at home - one of the items on my “honey-do” list is about to be checked off.
Here is what my living room fireplace looked like:
Pretty awful if you asked me. Anyway, my wife asked me to come up with something to make this look better and add a mantel. So after a little thinking, and a trip to the Lowe’s, I got going.
First I ripped off the old paneling and fireplace moulding.
The middle “studs” were turned sideways! Wtf?! Anyway, fixed that.
Found this stone veneer and bought 30 sqft of it.
Mixed up the mortar and started installing:
Found a guy locally who had a bunch of free pallets behind his warehouse - got 7 to use for a “rustic look.” Also mounted up a surge protector behind where the TV is going as a temporary solution until I hard wire a permanent outlet back there. I still have to clean up the edges around the fireplace opening too.
I found a guy who sells live edge lumber for bar tops, mantels, countertops, etc. So I drove the Bronco about 39 miles north to his shop and picked up a large beam of aspen with dimensions 4” thick, 10-12” deep, and 6’ long. I’ll sand it, clean up the live edge a bit of all the splinters and bark, and polyurethane it. Going to stick with the natural color.
That's pretty awesome 👍 we have 2 fireplaces in our house (that was built in 1850). One's just a narrow coal burning fireplace with etched black onyx surround and filegre cast iron grate on the front in my office . Had always wanted to do some stone like what u did around this
and the other is in the dining room. Black marble surround, but they tore down the chimney before we bought the place 🙁 but it holds a 10 gallon aquarium perfectly 😀
Finished out the trim around the opening and got the mantel mounted. The mantel is not finished yet though. I need to sand and polyurethane it, but it’s Turkey Day and I ain’t got time fo dat right now. Going out later to get a new 65” 4K UHD tv later on super sale.
Thanks! Yes, it’s rough cut, so I’m going to sand and polyurethane it. Got the new 65” 4K UHD TV mounted today - Black Friday special. The wires are ugly for now, but when I find (or build) a nice pair of shelves for each side, I’ll pull a plank or two off and run the wires behind the wood and out the side onto a shelf. Having the receiver and modem on the mantel is NOT the long term plan!
Hm... I dunno that poly will have long term gains over a fireplace. From the constant heat it could cloud or get crazing lines as it ages and dries out. Imo an oil sealer would be better especially if u plan on keeping the natural edge.
Thinking about the tv hardware, u could build a little box under the mantle to hide everything in there...
Thanks for the idea - I’ll look into it. I’ll do whatever is generally recommended for mantelpieces - I’m not too familiar with finishes and their best purposes.
Did it have carpet in the kitchen and bathroom when you got it?
I helped one of my brothers tile a house for one of his friends years ago and it was built in the 60's and hadn't been updated. That was one of the things that blew my mind, like nothing liquid in either of those rooms would ever hit the floor.
Welllllll - haven’t wrapped it up yet. Lol. Just need to finish the mantel. Still looking for the right shelves to put on each side. When I get those, I can finish the mantel.
Did it have carpet in the kitchen and bathroom when you got it?
I helped one of my brothers tile a house for one of his friends years ago and it was built in the 60's and hadn't been updated. That was one of the things that blew my mind, like nothing liquid in either of those rooms would ever hit the floor.
Not sure about the carpet - wouldn’t be surprised. The hardwood was once carpeted since you can still see the nail marks from the tack strips near the walls. There have been SOME updates, just not enough for my liking.
Don't feel bad... My kitchen still has glue down industrial orange ish carpet over 9 inch schoolhouse tiles glued to anybody's guess... Looking at it from the basement it looks like the original wood floors we have in the rest of the downstairs...a friend of mine gave me a barely 2yo snap together floating laminate wood floor they took up, been sitting in my basement 2 years... From my previous career as a carpet and tile installer I know what this job entails and I'm really not looking forward to it...
As far as shelves @MS88Bronc i think slim floating shelves would complement the thin faces of the stone u picked nicely.
Then maybe something wider to hide ur tv hardware...
The "Pittbull attack" thread I started got a couple of dog pix postings. Led me to the idea, we should start a "Post your DOG pics now!" thread!
Knowing that the dog is man's best friend, and the Ford is man's best ride, seamed like it would be well suited here!
Of course you know the German...
So, I had a site bookmarked for these but apparently they don't have them anymore 🙁... Does anyone know where I can find these? Are they ever in the junk yards?
Driving around Sunday this asshat in a Lexus SUV flies by me with a friggin Christmas tree halfass strapped to his roof. He ended up turning at the same light and I was right behind him. He had a nice brand new tarp under the tree so the tree wouldn't mark up his $70,000 import. I watched the...
A recent thread made me think of this.
Post a random pic.
Anything you want.
Just keep it work and kid safe.
Here is mine.
My Chevrolete, 72 C-10
The Bronco bleeding tranny fluid everwhere
Now, post yours.
Anything you want.
It's that time of year again..... not like the old days with Johnski and ImlikeOJnow to trash talk too... but I'm sure we have a few college football fans in the house ( I didn't forget you Webber …. GO DUCKS).
Big time Florida Gator fan since the 1980's. It is going to be one hell of year...
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