Fire!! On the wall!

Well if you hadn't already guessed it, Cass and I were busy installing a fireplace in the family room this past weekend. We had her Dad come out and spend the night at our place on Friday night so we could get started on it first thing Saturday morning. I woke up at 6:30am, he and I had a quick breakfast, and we dove right into the project around 7:30ish! We didn't start making noise with the power tools until 8am, though.

Dad B. started prepping to cut the hole in the side of the house so he could then start framing for the fireplace. Before we could really get started on anything, he needed me to go to the hardware store to get some nails, screws, etc. A list of like 3 things. So I go down to the local Ace Hardware in Ypsilanti. Dad B. calls me while I'm at the hardware store with a list of lumber that I needed to get since I hadn't bought quite enough before the weekend. So that added another 5 or 6 things to the list for which I needed to go to Lowes to get. So I went there, got the stuff, and loaded up the truck only to find that I left my phone in the truck while I was in there. Cass and Dad B. had been trying to call me because there were more things I needed to grab. D'OH! (Cass took several pictures of her Dad on the phone talkin' with me since that seemed to be the trend that morning.)

So I go back into Lowes, buy THAT stuff, load up the truck AGAIN, and guess what....NOPE! Lol. Dad B. didn't call again, I forgot to grab the little red tags you tack to the back of lumber when you have it loaded in the truck. So I had to go back into Lowes. Oy vey!

By the time I finally left Lowes, it was about 10am. Dad B. had the hole in the wall knocked out by 9:45, so unfortunately I missed that exciting part, but when I got back there was a 4 by 5 foot hole in my house! That was pretty wild! I think it would have been fun to be on the outside of the house watching as Dad kicked the wall out after cutting it out, but I was too busy running in and out of Lowes! Lol. Oh well.

So the rest of the day basically consisted of Dad B. doing the installation with me helping from time to time if he needed an extra hand. The rest of Cass's family came over around lunchtime and Chad and I hung drywall. Here's a few more pictures of the process...









Dad B. got the chase for the fireplace finished and the gas line installed just before sundown! Good timing, eh? After actually positioning the fireplace, hooking up the power, switches, and gas line we gave it a whirl and WHAMMO, we had fire! Pretty groovy! I think it looks really nice too!

I spent the next day painting the exterior of the chase so that I'd actually have daylight to do it in as opposed to trying to paint it after work with the sun already down. I also installed some of the cement board for the tile that we're going to surround the fireplace with until my utility knife broke! Oh well, I only have a 6.5" by 3' piece of cement board left to install so as soon as I can get a new knife I'll be golden. Next weekend, my Dad and I are going to put up the tile and hopefully we'll have most of the room done by Thanksgiving. We'll see!