Craftsman Fireplace Surround Project... and forgetting the corkscrew...

Happy Snowy Day to you!

Anyone else ready for Spring?

 

As I mentioned last night in my "Hardwood Faux pas" post, on Saturday night my husband and I decided to forgo the traditional anniversary date night of lookin' swanky and smellin' nice, in order to get caught up on some Farmhouse related projects.

 

The project of choice?  

 

Our Craftsman Style Fireplace Surround!

 

We had decided early on that we were going for a lovely, Craftsman Style fireplace surround to match the rest of the Craftsman feel throughout the house. We were also pretty sure that we were going to build our own, mainly to save a ton of cash, and also, because of the pride that comes along with building your own stuff...and bragging rights to all your friends.

 So after hours of looking through picture after picture on www.Houzz.com, I stumbled upon the PERFECT fireplace, and I knew that this was the one we were going to try to match.

 

 

We loved the clean craftsman style trim and the dark slab mantel., so we got to work!

 

First and foremost, it was still our anniversary after all, so we started out by setting the mood...

 

 

A little pizza and wine makes any construction project a little more classy.

 

**Not Pictured: The 10 buffalo wings we utterly annihilated in the car on the way out to the Farmhouse...I was a saucy mess, and I didn't care***

 

The first and only snag of the night? We forgot the corkscrew. Luckily we know the "bottle in shoe against the wall" method. 

 

Wine Survivalist right here.

 

 

It wasn't just us out at the house that night. We had some dinner guests...

 

 

Look how cute I am. Feed me your pizza. All of it. I'm starving. I love you. Feed me.

 

 

So we stuffed our gobbs, wiped our faces and hands so we didn't leave greasy fingerprints all over our woodwork, and we got crackin'.

 

Step 1:

Measure thrice, cut once...

 

 

(a view from our family room out the front doors. Best Craigslist find ever!)

 

Step 2:

Build the boxes

 

Because of some light switches between the fireplace and the door going out to the porch, we only had about a 16 inch width to work with. Per codes, the non-combustible material surrounding the firebox opening (ie, tile, stone etc) has to be at least 8 inchs wide, so that left us with another 8 inches to work with for the wood trim surround.  We built 8 inch wide and 6 inch deep boxes up the sides and then a box to fit along the top that was slightly taller to accommodate a little extra trim that would go along the top, but directly under the mantel top, once we get that... like this...

 

 

Pretty exciting, I know.

 

 

Side Note: I love when people find cool stuff inside the walls of their 100 year old homes, so I figured I'd add a little secret something of our own...

 

I hope whoever discovers this one day isn't disappointed that I didn't leave them a bundle of cash...

 

So how did we attach this frame to the wall? Well I'll tell you.

 

Step 3:

Attach anchor boards to the wall

 

In order to attach this boxed frame to the wall, we attached two 2x6's to the wall for the edges and one 2x8 for the top, taller box to attach to... like this...

 

I know, I know.. it looked simply stunning just like this, but we figured we better keep going.

 

It was a very tight fit getting the frame to slide over the boards that we attached to the wall, and for a second I was worried that it just wasn't going to give, but finally, with a little persuading and a few harsh words, the frame slipped on over the boards. We threw in no less that 700 nails to secure it...

 

...and we were on to the next step.

 

Step 4:

Attach the trim!

 

We bought 1x2's to attach to the edges and across the top for that lovely craftsman detail like the inspiration picture above. We went up the outer and inner edges first, then across the bottom and top of the top box, then we cut the little pieces to fit between for that little extra added detail...

 

My new favorite tool...although pulling that little trigger a few hundred times apparently utilizes a special forearm muscle that I am not accustomed to using, and I now, 3 days later, feel as if I have a severe case of Arthritis tunnel.   

 

Yes, it's a thing.

 

Almost done!

 

The damn dirty thieves helpers at this point were exhausted from all the pizza they stole and were officially down for the count...

 

 

 

And here's it is with the last of the little trim pieces...

 

 

Success! Aside from the mantel top which we still have to cut, all the woodwork is complete, and all in 3 hours!

 

I still haven't decided on the tile inside the trim, but I do know the mantel will be a 3 inch thick, rough sawn, dark stained oak, and the wood trim will be Dover White by Sherwin Williams to match the rest of the house trim.

 

We are very happy with our handy work and are now completely confident in our abilities to add wainscoting to the entryway and dining room walls, but that's a post for a later date.

 

I'm now off to lather my arm in Icy Hot and then soak it in a warm salt bath, much like Tyson after a big fight....

 

...yes, my arm is just as valuable and impressive as Mike Tysons....

 

Shush.

 

:) Ashley