We had been told the fireplace didn’t work when we bought the house, rendering one of the chimneys useless anyway. The other fireplace vented the heating system through one of the most convoluted vents anyone had ever seen. The new furnace vents out the side of the house – chimney not needed.
Having said all of this, one of my criteria for a new house was a fireplace. I really enjoy sitting around a fire, especially in the winter. Thus, we planned to put a gas fireplace in next year.
But as we went further and further along in this project, it began to become clear that we may have construction fatigue next year. Were we really going to want to have brand new walls ripped apart to install a fireplace?
A few quick calls later and we were on our way to a fireplace in the living room. This meant that we would have to cut into one of the only walls that had remained intact throughout the whole process. And while we were at it, we decided that it really probably made the most sense to go ahead and have the fireplace open onto the dining room as well. There went another surviving wall.
And then the fun really began. The fireplace installers will put the fireplace in. But the homeowner is responsible for building the frame. Rather than pay a contractor to do this on our behalf, LeeMichael and I decided this was a project we could tackle on our own. In fact, I professed that it would be easy – piece of cake – and that we wouldn’t need that much time.
As such, we didn’t start working on the frame until the day before the fireplace was to be installed at 3PM.
Long story short – we left at 12:30 the next morning.
And remember – the house has no lighting! All of the work was done with the aid of a single painting light.
Moral of the story – it always ALWAYS takes longer than you think. Start early and keep afternoon plans flexible.
But even as the night wears own and muscles start to hurt – try to have fun.
At least we will end up with a very cool fireplace.
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