Today Lee cut out of work an hour early so we could drive up to Willamette Graystone before they closed. We are trying to figure out what we want for under the stove. I hate most everything and a lot of the pictures you see are with built-in fireplaces. So that makes it harder for ideas. The guy at Willamette Graystone said that the cultured stone is the easiest for people who are doing it themselves. Then we told him that we had a 1930′s farmhouse and wanted something that fit in with the style. He then said that we should probably go with regular bricks. He also told us that it is hard for average people to do all the mortar right so we may need to have someone do it for us. Which isn’t what we wanted to hear as we really want to do most everything that we can ourselves.
Next stop involved going to Jerry’s where I found three books with fireplace examples. Needles to say every book had about three pictures of wood burning stoves while the rest were built-ins. I did find a picture that used tile (which I usually HATE!!!!) that wasn’t to bad. The tile was green and was in the Arts and Craft type style. If we did do it in tile then it would be really easy for Lee to do it himself. And we could leave the special wood working around it for later. I feel a mental breakdown coming on!
Anyways…we got to the house rather late but decided to start working for a little bit before heading home again. Today’s small project was gutting out the back bedroom on the ground floor. YEAH! Oh, and take notice of the window install job that someone did. It really doesn’t go with the rest of the house. I don’t know what they were thinking.
I worked for a little while upstairs pulling nails out of the ceiling. It makes your arms start burning after a while. I really hate nails.
I went downstairs to help Lee. We were very curious about the inside wall. We wanted to know what we would find. And guess what? It was lath again. But this time minus plaster. WOOHOO! So our guess is that they got lazy and figured out that they didn’t need to break it all out in the upstairs room and just glued paneling on top of it. After Lee ripped the paneling off I got busy and started taking the lath down. I must say that throwing things out the downstairs window does not have nearly the thrill as the upstairs does.
The room still isn’t all the way gutted but at least we made progress.
I came across your website through a Google Alert I have set up which searches for “Willamette Graystone.” I am very impressed with your lofty project!
I was reading the section you posted about your fireplace dilemma. I concur with the advice with the rep gave you, but I’d like to offer a few more suggestions.
For an old farm house, I think you could absolutely use a Cultured Stone to fit the period. Cultured Stone makes a huge variety of shapes and styles. I think something like a field stone or river rock style would match up quite well. It all depends on what you like.
As far as brick goes, it is a little more difficult to install yourself. That being said, it’s not rocket science either! From the looks of your pictures, you two seem quite handy. Our rep. was absolutely right when he said it is difficult to get the mortar joints “just right.” One thing I have noticed about older brick jobs though, is the mortar joints were not perfect! If you go and look up close at some of the older buildings in town, you’ll notice quite a bit of irregularities.
If you do go with brick, I would recommend going with a “used” brick style as they are going to fit the period a little better.
If you like the look of brick, but still think it’s going to be to big of a project for you to tackle, I have one last suggestion for you. We carry two lines of thin brick veneer. Basically they are almost like tiles, and install very similarly to tile. Both Cultured Stone and Robinson Brick make these thin veneers. We usually do not stock many of these, but can order them in. We should have samples and brochures on them at all of our locations.
Anyways, I just thought I would offer a few more suggestions. I’m not sure where exactly you are located, but some of our locations have desgin kiosks that can help you with your selection. Here in Eugene, we have 2 Cultured Stone programs, one that has some pre-set fire place drawings, and the other allows you to bring in a digial picture and we can paste in Cultured Stone (or Cultured Brick Veneer).
Good Luck with your project, and please let us know if we can be of any more assistance.
Casey.
Cassey, thanks for the reply and further suggestions. It’s nice to know that the older buildings didn’t have perfect mortar joints. That makes me feel better. We are still mulling around what we are going to do. I didn’t think that I was so picky (in most things I could care less) but in fireplaces I become crazy opinionated. My poor husband is going to loose all his hair over this.
My first pick is probably the used brick style. I like how the brick gives substance to the fire area. It is only just recently that I have conceded that the hearth doesn’t have to go all the way up the wall (if it’s done right). And still even more recently okayed one picture with tile in it. I hate most tile looks for wood burning stoves as it looks too chintzy.
-Robin