CHERRY MANTEL

We were home from work today... We worked on the hardwood floor in the master bedroom in the morning... then we went out to Home Depot around 1:30 and my cold got the best of me. When we got back I was quarantined and Tommy worked on the cherry mantel. He took it outside and ruffed up the ends, rounded the edges and cleaned off the bark stuff from the front. The top and bottom are smooth like glass. All it needs a little more sanding to finish it up but it is looking great!

VETERANS DAY

We had the day off for Veteran's Day and we made some good use of it.

Tommy worked on some more of the trim on the front porch and also helped his dad with the stair railing.

Tom's mom was picking rocks from the backyard from where the propane trench was dug.

I gut and glued with construction adhesive some stone veneer for the short edges of the fireplace. I didn't think I was going to put them, but it didn't look good without them so we decided to add them. I also painted caulked and painted the crown molding on the side porch...

STAIR RAILING, FIREPLACE GROUT & CROWN MOLDING

Yesterday, Tom and his dad were able to use the quick drying concrete to put the stainless tubes in place. I didn't get a picture until this morning.

I started first thing in the morning on cleaning out the mortar from between the stones on the fireplace. Most of it was clean already but some of the corners needed some work.

Hooper enjoyed the newly sealed side porch. The sealer worked great to brighten up the colors of the slate.



LaMar came by today to give us a hand. Tommy and him worked on the crown molding on the side porch. We have had this material for a long time but never put it up. They finally did today. We did base molding on both the ceiling and the side wall area and then they put the crown on top.



I grouted the fireplace today. It took a bit longer than I expected, but I also didn't think the grout would dry as fast as it did. As soon as I had everything grouted it was ready for me to go back and tool it.


Tom's dad was out on the front porch working on the railing. He got some pressure treated 4x4's and wedged them in the plastic sleeves. They are pretty darn stiff.



The finished side porch crown molding!



The finished fireplace! I left off the grout on the bottom though because we will need to do it after the hardwood floor goes in.



It won't be as dark as it looks in the picture. It dries much much lighter.

FIREPLACE STONE

Tonight we worked on finishing up the fireplace stone. We were able to get a majority of it done but we still have a few more pieces to finish tomorrow.

Porch Railing

Today Tom's dad put the worked on the railing on the side porch. We did not pick out the "easiest" railing for him to install. It is a pvc railing, so typically they have those little cups for the top and bottom rail to fit into... not this one you have to cut the railing to the EXACT length or it will look terrible. Have to say the old man did a good job! Love the railing and the posts!!!

When we got home we mixed up a batch of mortar and worked on the fireplace stone a little more since it was raining outside... we are almost done, but it is a lot harder to do then it was outside.

FIREPLACE STONE

We worked some more on the fireplace stone veneer tonight. It is a little more difficult than the outside because we will be seeing it everynight when we watch tv... So we are taking our time to make sure we do a good job. No updated pictures of that though...sorry