fireplace transformation
My house is ready for winter!
I live in a townhouse that had a wood-burning fireplace in the corner of the living room, a fireplace that I never used. A couple of winters ago I stuffed a big garbage bag with crumpled newspaper and air-filled plastic and placed it in the fireplace to block the cold air from the chimney. That helped, but not enough. I briefly considered ripping it out, reclaiming the corner as living space and removing a big source of cold air. That didn't feel like the right answer; a couple of months ago I made the decision to switch from a wood to a gas fireplace.
Last week brought my fireplace transformation. The old unit was pulled out, as was the pipe that formed the flue. The tiles surrounding the fireplace were pulled down, the ledge that protruded to form a sort of a bench was removed. The new gas fireplace was placed, gas lines run (outside), and construction proceeded. I had the hardwood directly in front of the fireplace and the sliding door replaced by tile. The same tile was used to replace the old tile in the entryway by the front door as well.
I managed some photos by phone to capture the daily changes.
drywall in place, tile started
waiting for paint and finish work
It was a week-long adventure, progress greeting me when I walked into the house at the end of each work day. When I left on Friday afternoon for a weekend away the work was almost complete. I returned on Sunday to view the completed transformation.
I'm not ready for winter but I'm glad that my house is!
