New Projects Finally!

So, it has been forever since we have actually worked on anything for the house. Surprisingly enough, my last post was about a year ago. Well, we are starting two projects we have been wanting to do for a while now; skylights in the kitchen since it is so dark in there and a floor to ceiling stone fireplace. Lets see, this project started back on September 11th.

First, I am going to throw in some older pics, just so that we know what the lighting situation fireplace used to look like.

Yep, four nasty fluorescent lights and a tiny window. We had to turn on the lights in the middle of the day in the middle of summer.

Outdated tile...

So we hired a contractor to install the skylights and got to work on the demo. Unfortunately, wires and the gas line were in the way. So I had to put in some junction boxes in the attic and splice in some more wire. We were able to avoid the gas line by choosing 2x3 foot skylights instead of 2x4.

We even had a huge hail storm during this process. Freak storm for sure. Lots of insulation from the attic that will be used later.

The nice thing about moving the electrical myself instead of the contractor, is that I got to decide how to do the new lights. Recessed was the only way to go.

The cool thing is that I put each "row" of lights on a different switch. I was also able to use a three in one switch so that I didn't have to cut in a larger switch box into the wall.

TA DA! The great part is that everything worked the first time. No one was electrocuted and all of the wires were put together in order. Everything even came back on when the fuses were turned on again.

Now onto the fireplace. While I have this torn open, there was access to the outdoor lights. I think I'll add another one so I can actually see the back portion of the yard and have light when I use the grill.

Oh, this is very important, setting out the rocks in the pattern you want so they fit. But the whole layout changed a bit as we went along anyway.

So there is plywood with construction paper on top it as the structural support. Next, lath is put on and a scratch coat of cement is put on.

Now onto the foot print of the new fireplace area. Since we are doing it ourselves, we are making it a little bit bigger.

The contractors are now here and are cutting in the skylights.

Soooooo much light, I don't know what to do with it all.

Placing the rocks was a bit challenging. They would fall off if the cement wasn't mixed right or if the rock was heavy enough... So I got to learn how to use wall ties too.

Sweet, it's finally done. Now we need to just add the finishing touches to it and out mantle. Which will mount to the 2x4 that I mounted as the mounting board.

More pictures to come as we get these projects finished. Might be a while before the next project as we are getting down to a couple more big ones (the floor, doors, trim...)