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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The Fireplace – Part 2

Hi All,

Do not let me mislead you in any way.  The second part of the fireplace redo sucked.

First off, it was a bright and sunny day, pushing 90 degrees.  I should have been in the boat.  Instead, we were inside grouting the fireplace.

Secondly, I have discovered that my arm-strength needs a bit of work.

Lastly, the dramatic impact is not what it was in part one.  And as Hubby says,” I do like drama.”

But, on a happy note, we banged this part out without a smack down and are still married.Cottage Fireplace 026

This is where I left off.  To see how we arrived at this point click here.

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We always have good intentions of keeping our area clean, so we lay plastic to catch the falling grout.

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Mix the bag of grout with water and load our pastry bags.

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Largest pastry bag ever!

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Then we filled the space between the stones with grout.  Can you say suck?

It was hard to squeeze the grout through the opening, so we really gave the hands and forearms a workout.

Hubby had it down.  He would squeeze from the back and then squeeze from the front.  Like milking a cow.

So, I drew upon my experience of milking a cow… 

Needless to say, I was hating every moment of this.  And, for the record, I have never milked a cow.

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Done with part 2.  The bottom is pretty dry, the top is not.

Can you see a difference?  Note: the acceptable answer is yes.

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Remember what we started with.

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In fairness to this grueling process, the grout should secure things.  And, in person it does look good – filling in and finishing the look.

Just so you know – the flat part of the fireplace will be done in good time.  We needed to place the ladder on the flat surface, so we opted to wait.  Or, perhaps it will remain in this state.  This gal is taking a break from grout and mortar!

No way around this part. 

Just be prepared for a few days of soreness.

Until next time-

XO-

Shannon

3 comments:

michelle@decorandthedog said...

I can totally tell the difference. ;) No, it actually does look cleaner.

I hate those projects that are horrible and there is not a good "before and after" from doing them.

Tania said...

looking good!

Anonymous said...

Love it! You can really see the difference from the before and after. How are your forearms feeling? Tennis anyone?
xo Ra

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