Well the fireplace is almost complete. In fact it's pretty much done. There are a few touch up things that have to be done paint wise, we need to fill in the nail holes with putty, and the rest of the trim in the room has to be done. Other than that we are good to go. In fact, we are sitting in front of our very first fire as I write this. Luckily it is quite a cool evening. So, I'm going to make this short and sweet so I can go sit in front of the fire with my hubby.



I really like how it turned out. Dad and Jack did a wonderful job. Behind the cut you'll find a couple of pics of our first fire. :)

Ooooh... Ahh.....: (Temporary cut removed)



The Great Lighting!



This picture was actually taken in the dark which is why the fire looks like a glowing inferno.

Jack and Dad worked on the fireplace again today, and wow it's really starting to come together. I think I've said that before but it really is. Now it looks like a real fireplace, and you can really tell what it's going to look like with the mantle up. Its so pretty! They really did a good job!



Next, weekend mom and I are going to do some painting while the guys start work on the mantle. We have also decided to replace all the baseboards in the house with stained wood baseboards. I hate the white baseboards we have now. They are all beat up, and the stained wood will be so pretty. We're going to have to do it kind of piece meal working on a room at a time so we're going to go ahead and start in the long room since we've already got the baseboards up for the fireplace construction. No sense putting them back down if we're only change them later on.

Fireplace phase 4
Posted by: zetarose.

Fireplace phase 4b
Posted by: zetarose.

Thankfully, it was not rainy today so dad and Jack could install the chimney. They got that done and the rest of the drywall up. The fireplace is officially operational, although I think we will wait till everything else is finished before we use it. Now we just have to decide what we want the mantle to look like!

The fireplace is moving right along. Next week if the weather is nice they will cut the hole for the chimney, then it's time to drywall and paint, and then finally build the hearth and the mantle. Just 2 or 3 more weekends or so and it will be finished. Yay!

Dad and Jack started on the fireplace today. You can really tell what it's going to look like now. It's much bigger than I had imagined. I think it's going to be great though. I can't believe they got so much done today. Next weekend they will be installing all the electrical stuff and prepare for installing the chimney pipe. More pictures to come later.

Fireplace: Phase 2
Posted by: zetarose.

Jack and I have so many ideas for our little house that it was hard to decide where to begin. We really wanted to have a fireplace but did not think there was anyway we could possibly afford such a huge project. We were talking this over with my parents and came to the realization that it really wouldn't be that bad if Jack and dad did all the work themselves. My dad built a fireplace in our when I was a kid and it was beautiful. So we decided to go for it. Last weekend we went to Menards and Lowes with my parents to pick up a lot of the materials we need and now we just have to install it. Jack and dad are going to start working on it tomorrow if the weather is good. It should only take them three to four weekends if all goes well. I'm going to take some pictures through out the process. When finished it will be in the corner of our long room and for now this is what it looks like. A before picture if you will...

Fireplace: Stage 1
Posted by: zetarose.

I'm excited I think it's going turn out really nice, and it's going to up the value of our house too. The cats are going to love curling up in front of the fireplace. Well I better get myself together. Jack and I are going to the Chocolate Festival. Mmmm Mmm.. I can't wait, as much chocolate as we can possibly eat. It should be a good time.