We’ve never much cared for our fireplace… the white painted brick wasn’t horrible (and we realize it could have been so much worse), but it’s certainly not what we would have chosen. Even more to the point, though, we discovered a few years ago (during a three day power-outage) that the fireplace didn’t actually project heat into the room. So, after 12+ years of thinking we really should do something to replace the fireplace, a few weeks ago we finally put money down on a fireplace insert… and since they were going to be coming to install the insert in a few weeks, the clock started ticking.
So, here it is before we started… like I said, not hideous or anything, but not really what we wanted:
First step: Build a tent! We figured it would be easier to seal the area around the fireplace in plastic than to try covering everything else.
Mitch getting prepared to begin the destruction! If it weren’t for the fact he was about to get very dirty, it would have been fun to have him wearing his Captain Hammer t-shirt.
From time to time, I poked my head into the tent to snap some photos of the progress… got this one right after the first few bricks were removed!
Mitch got to a certain point in the destruction where the brick facade suddenly just gave way. The process ended up being MUCH easier than we’d been expecting! But he did end up with a nasty bruise on his arm from catching the line of brick as it collapsed. :-(
After brick was gone… we’d propped one of the slate tiles up on the hearth to get an idea how it would look:
Next up was cutting away the old sheetrock… in this shot, Mitch had already started fitting in the cement board on the right side:
Before long, the cement board was installed:
And here it is, all mudded:
Here’s Mitch finishing up laying the tile on the hearth — we just laid it over the old brick hearth… worked really well!
Putting the final coat of sealant on the hearth:
Then Monday morning, the guys showed up to deliver and install our fireplace insert!
And here it is, all installed!
Which meant Mitch was able to get started on the new surround! At this point, he’d already adhered the lower eight tiles to the wall (four on each side of the insert) and was dry fitting the two new top ones on the left.
And a shot with all the tiles in place!
Next up: Sealing the tile, then sealing it again, then grouting the tile, then sealing it two more times. After that, the only thing left will be getting a mantle and installing it… but after the grouting and sealing is done, we’ll be able to start using the new insert, if we want!