Fireplace Remodel

 We bought a foreclosure over 2 years ago and we have now remodeled almost everyone room in the house.   We are working on the master bathroom right now.  It has been an interesting journey.  I love to remodel and my husband is not to keen on it but he likes the end result, so he keeps on helping me improve the house. We don't have extra money to hire it done, so we figure out how to do it ourselves.  My husband is not a contractor, he is an engineer.  I was raised with a father who was a contractor.  Engineers and contractors look at things totally different.  I want to get the job done fast, and my husband takes his time measuring, and measuring and thinking and thinking.... You got the idea.  Anyways, it takes us a lot longer to finish a project in our home, but eventually it gets done.

As you can see from the before to the after we did a lot of changes.  The first thing we did was tear down the brick wall.  (I reused the brick in my garden.) Then we changed the drywall behind the brick. (Only the top part that was not going to be covered with the new fireplace mantel.)  My father and I built a wood structure with 2x4's and plywood for the hearth.  I tiled the hearth and around the fireplace.  I have never tiled before, and I thought it turned out really good...thanks to you-tube videos. :)

 1. Make the sides: We glued 1x2's to a 1x10 board.  We used a brad nail gun and put in brad nails about every 2 inches.  Maybe too excessive but it was sturdy. My husband glued the board to the wall and put lag bolts into the studs. Again I think a little excessive but my husband is an engineer and wants this fireplace to never move EVER!

2. Put up both sides and the top.  All made the same way.
3. Cap the sides and top with a 1x12 board that was ripped down to fit.
4. Put the mantel board on the top and nail it down.

5. Because we have little children, my husband thought we needed to reinforce the top if the little ones hung on it, so he put a piece of wood right under the mantel that eventually will be covered but the crown modeling. 

6. Using a miter saw cut your crown modeling.  (We had to watch a you-tube videos a few times to understand how to cut crown modeling.)

7. We placed another decorative trim  where the sides and top meet to cover the seam. For all of this we used a brad nail gun. We also put base board trim on the bottom of the sides.  

8. Use wood putty to fill any gaps and nail holes.
9. Paint
10. Decorate. (I got all my decorations from Hobby Lobby,Ross (picture), & Kmart (candles))
Every fireplace mantel will be different because of the size of the fireplace, but here is what we did.  I hope this will help someone that is ready for a change.