Major Progress
Posted by admin on June 9, 2008Ok, so originally when I put up my list of items that I need to get through this year #1 was to get the garage under control. Finally this was a project that had to get some traction. I was thoroughly disgusted by how my garage looked, and I needed to get my truck off the street.
Over the winter I had major problems with mice. I let them live in the garage failing to understand just how filthy they are. Once I did, however, I managed to get rid of them reasonably quickly, however they still left an insane mess. I had to clean everything in the garage, and throw a ton of stuff out.
Well, I managed to actually get the garage done. It took a monumental effort over several weeks, and I still have other work to do, organizing tools, getting a grip on my inventory of parts and stuff, but to be honest the heavy lifting is done. The rest- moving stuff around and making things more utilitarian is something I will do on a project-by-project basis.
For example- Another project I had to do, as part of the “trim” project, was to create something that would fill in a huge gap at the top of my gas fireplace downstairs. I worked on that (and in fact finished it) yesterday, and in the process organized a fair number of tools and parts in the garage. As I need particular items for a project I reorganize and get a grip on those particular items. Things take a little longer, but the “little chunks” method seems to be working quite well.
The fireplace “frame” was a huge issue for me- it has been on my mind for years, but I knew I would really have one shot to get it right. I knew I needed to avoid using wood, which meant all of the supplies I used had to be cement and/or metal.
What I ended up with was a piece of aluminium corner framing, about three inches on a side, bolted to the underside of the top of the brick fireplace. Bolted to the facing of that is a piece of cement board, cut to fit. Then I have three pieces of the same slate tile (gauged) that have been attached to the cement board using thinset. These three pieces of slate tile are above the original black frame of my fireplace. The finished result looks great. I’ll post a photo as soon as I get the area cleaned up.
The only thing I did that I didn’t like was use pop-rivets to attach the aluminium bracket to the underside of the top of the fireplace. The underside is actually sitting on a 1/4 inch piece of iron plate, and drilling through that was a total drag. If I had done this before the mantle had been built (I had it done custom) then I would have used screws, and set them through the iron plate. But I didn’t, so I had to find another way of attaching the bracket. The pop rivets are fine, but if I ever have to get the bracket off it’s going to be a total pain in the ass. Well, to be honest, this is nothing that a crowbar won’t fix.