I apparently don’t have as many tiles as I thought. This is as close as I can get to a mostly green hearth. I might see if I can find a grey colored unglazed tile that is the same width of the iron opening and comes out far enough to give me enough green to get to the brown border.
F20499D5-FC0A-430A-B87C-DBB194141FD0.jpeg (1.46 MiB) Viewed 778 times
The project continues on while this gets figured out. The radiator has been scraped and a first coat of paint
421FA9F9-31E1-4748-B1EF-532C2E1107E3.jpeg (1004.39 KiB) Viewed 778 times
And the 1980s, cigarette tar stained, textured ceiling has been scraped back to drywall. Hopefully will start skim coating it tomorrow.
D4961221-0AAA-4CE7-B3C6-8B513C58C65F.jpeg (1.38 MiB) Viewed 778 times
We have been in the house 20 years. The upstairs is finished and we are now working on the last 3 rooms downstairs.
"How will we know it’s us without our past?" -John Steinbeck
Sorry that is has been a minute but we have been working on the room and have finally finished the hearth. It seemed that there was never enough of either color tile to do exactly what we were thinking. I’m happy with what we ended up with though. The slate tile should take the brunt of anything being moved in and out of the firebox. Moving the mantle was ten times worse than any headboard or cupboard we have had to move. Awkward and top heavy!
4D0BF97E-9422-4DD0-81BD-58D680D3CAF9.jpeg (1001.08 KiB) Viewed 723 times
We also gave the next people who pull the mantle from the wall something to talk about.
0DA50648-F237-4D9E-A4E3-A8FE1A936DC7.jpeg (579.08 KiB) Viewed 723 times
Next we have to strip wallpaper and finish the wall where we had the mantle leaning. After that just the floor to finish and painting and stenciling walls. The end is in sight.
"How will we know it’s us without our past?" -John Steinbeck
Oh, that looks really, really beautiful! I love the slate in the middle. You take what you have and you do the best with it that you can, and you did well!
Shrimpdip, that’s a great looking hearth, nice to see your work around for limited tiles. Also nice to see an autograph or five as evidence of your input into your home.
I love the colors. Fantastic work. I too love the signatures. Unfortunately the ones we keep finding were all carved into woodwork by previous occupants' kids.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club --Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.
I have almost exactly the same issue. Mine was covered with 70's tile and I took them all off to realize they had also built out the firplace. I assume to change it from coal to wood. so the brick is cement brick and before they had stuck tile to it they had painted the bricks and grout brick color. if you drum sand you'll have to watch out for the tile but you can always hand scrape what's close. I did find the original hearth tile , it looks like brown non glazed stuff about 3x3. I have some green stone chunks about 1/4" thick so Im thinking of using that for the surround. My mantle is missing. I found another but it's basically just a plank with a little edging on the bottom edge.
a lot of people trend towards more fancy mantles. I think there is something to be said for keeping it similar to what I suspect mine looked like which was pretty basic. at one time I bought a pricey art deco surround but as it were, its too short and not deep enough so I have it sitting in limbo. Its also fumed oak so I wondered if I should use it or not. I could add on and stain any new parts similar to what was done with the plate rack on the oak sideboard recently. My house should really be craftsman not deco but it's a nice piece..
I'm leaning towards just a plank on top and no vertical wood parts as that's probably more original. My house was never super fancy. still it's tempting to design in a bit more "bling"
I wondered how the beige and green would fit but now I think they do look pretty nice together. Its an unusual combination. are your wood parts original? they look very nice!
The floors were scraped and then sanded with a 4” orbital sander. One more pass with fine sandpaper and they are ready for finish. I don’t trust myself with a drum sander. The flooring is thin t&g oak and my luck I would sand off the top of the groove side.
Yes, the wood parts are original. The mantle will be left with its original finish. For some reason the shellac wasn’t as dirty, balled up and sticky as the rest of the woodwork in the house.
"How will we know it’s us without our past?" -John Steinbeck
a quick way to check is stick a business card into the crack down to the tongue then fold it over. do that in a few spots will tell you how much is left. Oak is a lot harder than fir which should help it wear well. I know it's a trade off with the amount of wood you choose to remove. I just went for it and I had some work for myself to match the putty and set any exposed nails. I did every room as a separate project so I got lots of practice with that. It worked and I have beautiful flat smooth floors without a lot of cracks and voids. but it was a lot of work, especially the putty. I like how your floor is laid in a picture frame pattern. its unusual and interesting!
If you ever do rent a drum sander and feel scared, Just try using finer paper to start with. get into the swing,of it and then when you go to like 36 grit or something you'll do a better job with that bit of practice.
a bit of a warning. Its very easy to see your sanding patterns once you get a finish on top if you arent' thorough. I usually do a few coats of danish oil first to pop the grain and fill the microscopic voids. what I do is put lots on then put it on and wipe off then I start putting the danish oil on with 320 wet or dry sandpaper and do circular patterns with that and wipe down as I go to get it to absorb as much as possible , it drives the fines into the voids making it smoother. If I see sanding marks then I can fix it before applying whatever coating you decide on. If sanding marks and stuff do jump out it gives me a chance to still sand to my liking. If you go straight to a clear coat you can lock in issues particularly if it is poly. If you go with shellac or something soft you can always wash it off or just sand it off to continue. sanding off poly can be done and it can be scuff sanded and re coated pretty easily if it gets scratched up. Its tough stuff.
I rent three machines, drum then edger for the edges, then I do all my filling and finally rent a square pad sander that vibrates and you can move that in all directions and that machine is heavy to move but very easy to run. I often use a card scraper to work out any imperfections once I'm at the putty stage.
in my first room I made swirly patters they were from just the weight of the steel bearings that the edger rolls on. It just sort of left bruises. You could not see them at all before I applied oil , then they jumped out. It wasnt' a huge issue but it was something I learned about as I went through it. on later floors I used a thin piece of aluminum and let the bearings run on that to prevent bruising patterns and also I wrap the steel rollers with a few wraps of electrical tape to make them just a little softer. that helps. even just walking across a sanded floor before finishing can leave shoe prints that you won't see until the grain pops later so I keep using the same shoes and I don't walk outside with them..
I try to use danish oil. I mix in about 50% turpentine. If it's sticky use more turps. dry it down never let it dwell except on the first coat. and if I want to I can use a teeny bit of stain in it to darken some areas. once i'm really happy with my putty and the color and no sanding marks. as long as I only put oil I find I can keep working on it until i'm really happy so If I need to sand marks out then I do and just put more oil and it blends in fine.. Once i'm really and truly happy I've done my best then then I do at least three coats of poly to lock it in with a hard shell. You may have other preferences. My way is definitely a ton of work but I just love doing it. the theory behind it is the oil finish is in the wood , that looks best as you dontl have a clear coat blocking your view of the wood that looks nice and the oil spoaks in so it hardens the wood near the surface which helps the floor be more durable. Yours is oak so it's pretty hard already. harder than fir. you can leave it just oil or use poly to protect it or you can use shellac. some here have tried a finish that you buff in and leave and they liked it. another nice finish is just oil , many coats of it. It wont' offer a hard shell so You'll have to re-coat as maintenance but still , it it lasts pretty well and re-coating is easy.
you might do a test patch with oil see if you like it or if you see a lot of patterns from the ROS. every machine can leave some signs so it's important to go through the grits on each machine to hide it's tracks. I tried using my 6" ROS in place of the edger but it left patterns and didn't remove much so fast. I tried really coarse paper but it just wasn't working for me. I gave up and rented the edger.
you can always just stop and put an oil finish on and see and later it won't prevent you from doing more if you decide to. That's a good way out if you just want o finish up without going into a lot of work floor finishing. I get what you mean with the floor thickness. its a trade off if you want it perfect you have to loose the wood to really get it flat and perfect. If you go through the whole process you might loose 2 mm Some floors can look nice with a more rustic type of finish too. Its a personal decision. I love the mantle, its a thing of beauty. Looking nice!
