The fireplace got a new do!

One of the things I love most about the cabin, other than everything, is the wood stove. I love forcing Jose to make a fire for me so I can sit by it and drink wine or read a book. That said, the area surrounding the fireplace was quite fugly.


hashtag not cute

So I did what any reasonable adult would do and drove up to the cabin one friday night with no groceries and my brown dog/bestie to tear it out. Jose was working in Utah this weekend so I was left to my own demolition devices. 

I assumed this would be a real piece of cake. It wasn't. I got a little frustrated with how difficult it was to remove the faux brick so decided to take a break for dinner. I didn't have any food so I ate a slice of cheese and had a few Monkey beers. They are 9% if you've never had one. Once I was re-fueled the project went more smoothly. And I was able to knock out most of the brick. The little bit remaining, I left for Jose and his brother the next weekend and turned it into a contest to see who was more manly and could knock the brick out faster. In hindsight I would have done the entire demo that way...


hammer time

Once the brick was gone we installed hardy backer to make things a little safer and to apply the tile to. 



training to be a plumber



I surprised myself with how quickly I landed on tile. I waver to a detrimental degree on most design decisions but when we went to the tile store I immediately picked a natural slate subway tile. After the area was prepped we got to tiling. We had received some pro tips from friends which came in very handy because this was a huge area to tile. We went with a tile adhesive for one, and a pre mixed grout for two. The glue worked great, but due to the texture of the tile was really difficult to get off. We scrubbed glue off this tile for what feels like months and went through like 6 sponges. After the tile was in place and had set up, we applied a tile sealer before we did the grout. It helped immensely and the grout wiped right off. I was nervous we were in for another few years of scrubbing and was pleasantly surprised. 



The project took far longer than we anticipated but I really love it. These photos do not do it justice but I will have Jose take some better ones for you guys soon.

Project notes-

Duration: This one took us about three full weekends. We were not expecting that. 
Cost: $500ish
Lessons Learned: Tile work is hard work. Plan for more time than you think and be super careful with the glue.
Beverages: I didn't drink much during install because the tile sealer and acetone I was huffing had me feeling all crazy, the demo part I got hammered drunk however on Monkey Sours.

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