We're in Love

Since moving in last September, we've had hopes of fixing up our fireplace. It was originally a wood burning stove and had since been converted into a gas log fireplace, though the open chimney and broken dampener let in A LOT of cold air during the winter. Last winter we went with the classy option of sealing the fireplace with plastic sheeting intended to insulate single-pane windows. This year, as the frost started to set in, we decided it was time to look into a more permanent solution.

We had a repair man come out to see if we could make the fireplace functional, and after talking with him we realized even a functional gas log fireplace would still be drafty and would not be sealed off in a way to make the area safer for an increasingly mobile Thayne. We talked about different options and decided a gas fireplace insert would be best for us. We called a few different fireplace companies and had a couple of them come to our home for estimates. One guy told us we would need to chop off the lower half of our mantle to make room for their insert. We didn't like the idea of having a huge project like fixing a mantle left over after paying for an insert. The next guy had a much less invasive and complete plan with a custom fit insert that would work well with the existing mantle. We much preferred the second guy. They were booked a month out, so we gave a down payment to reserve an appointment the following month for an installation. 

Then I talked to my brother Spencer. 

It just so happened that he had a gas fireplace insert with a mantle in his garage from a demolition job he had recently finished that he was now trying to sell rather than taking it to the dump. He came over to measure our fireplace opening to ensure it would fit, and then the demolition began.

The mantle popped right off and revealed an original brick fireplace and chimney. Spence knocked of the surrounding brick and pulled out the existing gas logs. The gas insert needed just a little more clearance in the back, so he took out some of the bricks in the back of the fireplace as well. The tile hearth was cracked and broken, so we decided to pull it up too while we were at it and replace the tile before putting in the new fireplace. When Spence pulled up the tile, he found that it had been resting on some weird cement-like slab. The slab was completely uneven and was most likely the cause of the previous broken tile. So Spence broke it apart and got the cement-like slab out of there. Under the slab was the original slat flooring. And under that was the crawl space. He knocked out a few slats in order to manipulate the gas line without crawling under the house.  

The slat flooring was a little uneven, so Spence shimmed it up and put down a new and even floor

Then down went the backer board, thin-set, and tile

(you can kind of see the new gas line coming up behind the far right tile. It was previously in the center of the fireplace)

And we let that set over night

We wanted the insert recessed into the existing fireplace, so Spence sliced the mantle in half to line up with the  insert

This is the pre-sliced mantle with the insert to the left of it

I scraped, textured, and painted down to the line of the new mantle. The old mantle was just slightly taller and wider

Then Spence placed the mantle, hooked up the gas, and slid the insert in

TAH DAH!

We absolutely love the fireplace. It keeps our house so toasty warm. And we love that it worked out so well to have Spencer put it in for us. He did so much better than what we had planned to have another professional do. They wouldn't have done anything with the tile in front, and would have left the other mantle as-was. 

I'm planning on painting the mantle white once the weather gets warmer  and we can adequately air out the room. The black and gold isn't as bad at we thought it would be, but I think a white would look better in the room

That night, we couldn't help but bask in it's warmth. Thayne was really happy to be able to play on the floor in warmth. The former cold and drafty fireplace made play time difficult.

(The video simply shows the state of relaxation and warmth created by the new fireplace. Nothing too exciting)