December 2009

After much encouragement from his wife, Austin decided to remodel his fireplace with the goal of having it completed before Christmas.  He recruited his father to help.

The fireplace mantle was purchased from Jerry's Mountain Furniture in Blue Ridge, GA.  It is solid Maple and offers 7 feet of natural beauty.

1. First we removed the existing sheetrock and inserted braces between studs for the mantle.  We attached the mantle using (4) 8 inch lag bolts.  We then replaced the sheetrock with Durock.

2. With stones laying throughout the living room floor, we mixed the mortar and began laying the stone.

3. Stone by stone we carefully placed each on the wall much like putting together a puzzle.  It is amazing how well the stones adhere to the Durock with the proper mortar mixture.  We place solid flagstone on the hearth.

4. We grouted between the stones with mortar.  With some nice Christmas decorating by Janet, the project complete and looks great.