bgreenb Posted May 24, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 48 minutes ago, Eric. said: fireplace envy even though I never use mine (stinky and PITA). We have a gas fireplace at our house but it was retrofit into an existing wood burning fireplace by the previous owners. Every so often I think about taking it out and going back to wood burning...then we'll go on vacation somewhere with a fireplace, I'll build a fire, all our clothes will stink, and I'll be happy I can just flip a switch at home 24 minutes ago, shaneymack said: Brian, this is amazing man. Really fantastic work. Did you take the year off work to do this? Thanks Shane! Nope, I did it all in off hours. Took a few days off work here and there but mainly worked after I put the kids to bed (7:30 or so) and then long weekend days. For the last few months a typical weekend day was 12-16 hours work and then every weeknight from about 8-11. If I were to actually pay myself for my hours then I lost a bundle on the project 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted May 24, 2017 Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 15 minutes ago, bgreenb said: We have a gas fireplace at our house but it was retrofit into an existing wood burning fireplace by the previous owners. Every so often I think about taking it out and going back to wood burning...then we'll go on vacation somewhere with a fireplace, I'll build a fire, all our clothes will stink, and I'll be happy I can just flip a switch at home Yeah a retrofit to a gas fireplace is on the long-long-term project list for the house. The wife loves fires - and so do I - but it's just not worth the hassle and the stink. Plus I'm super paranoid about burning my house down, as unlikely as it is. Everything I've ever done that was worth doing is in this house and garage...if I lost it I would probably blow my brains out. I'm truly not sure if I could start all over again from the beginning. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted May 24, 2017 Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 Picture this. If the new owners have small children, how long will it take them to find the beehive oven & crawl in there to play? I love a real wood fire, but just not worth the mess & hassle. Took a long time to find a gas fireplace that had an acceptable look though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 24, 2017 Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 i am surprised at all the hate for wood burning fireplaces. I use mine weekly in the winter and really enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drzaius Posted May 24, 2017 Report Share Posted May 24, 2017 Just now, Mike. said: i am surprised at all the hate for wood burning fireplaces. I use mine weekly in the winter and really enjoy it. No, not hate at all. I came across a being too negative there. We use the fireplace almost every evening in the winter so the amount of work for a real wood fire really piles up. And the fireplace we got has very nice, almost wood looking, flames. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CandorLush Posted May 25, 2017 Report Share Posted May 25, 2017 I thought this was suppost to be about Brain's house? Wife and I put in a Vermont Castings Merrimack wood burning insert to get rid of the open front waste of heat crappy original one and it was the best money we ever spent on the house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vyrolan Posted May 29, 2017 Report Share Posted May 29, 2017 Reading this thread has been the best use ever of a lazy day at work. Amazing work @bgreenb! I'll join the large crowd in eager anticipation of the conclusion. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bgreenb Posted May 31, 2017 Author Popular Post Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Sorry everyone I had to disappear for a few days to deal with some punch list stuff Signed the P&S the other day so I spent the weekend tying up a bunch of little loose ends around the house. It's like how every furniture project I do slows to a crawl right at the very end because it's a mile long list of annoying little ticky tack things that aren't fun and are super time consuming. Anyway, here we are at the finish. Probably pretty anticlimactic but I figured I'd post some of the listing photos here so you can see the real finished product (although even in these photos there are still plenty of things that needed to be tied up). This project was a lot of fun and a lot of frustration, but an unbelievable learning experience and "test of mettle" for me. At times I felt very alone there late at night plugging away at what seemed like an insurmountable list of tasks, but every small success was a great feeling. My daughter (4yo) might be the proudest one involved in the whole project. For the last year we've been calling it "the stinky house" because when we first bought it she walked through it with me and said "dad it's really stinky in here." A couple of weeks ago we drove by and she said "Dad the stinky house is so beautiful now. I want to live there." And her teachers told me at our parent conference in April that she talks in class all the time about how "my daddy works so hard on the stinky house and its so pretty and clean now." She's definitely glad to have me back on nights and weekends now though. It'll also be good to get back into building some fine furniture after a full year of more DIY/finish carpentry type stuff. Even the kitchen cabinets I scarcely call "fine" or "furniture." Within the next week or two I'll be starting on a fairly small project to get back in the swing of things in my shop. I plan on journaling it, so hopefully you'll enjoy following along. I may return to this thread from time to time to post some thoughts/retrospectives as they occur to me. Anyway thanks to everyone for your kind words and for indulging me this rather long winded journal. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mat60 Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 WOW. Your place looks great. You should feel good about all you have done on your home. Enjoy man. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric. Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 It's a beautiful house, B, and what a journey. Thanks for taking us along. Truly compelling stuff. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodenskye Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Brian, turned out absolutely fantastic! Your daughter is right, it is beautiful. Hopefully everything goes smoothly with the closing and a family gets to enjoy your hard work for years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan G Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Absolutely stunning house. What a transformation. Thanks for taking the time to journal it in such detail. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janello Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Really cool journal. I got tired just thinking about what kind of effort you put forth here. You killed it man. You might consider a career in interior design. That is one cozy lookin crib! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Wow...just wow...hats off man that is gorgeous work right there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhighlander Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Brian, that was a tremendous amount of work, and you nailed it! The house is beautiful! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 The neighbors must be tickled pink! And your daughter, I'm sure you're as proud of her as she is of you! Great job man! Thanks for the trip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brendon_t Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Awesome results from well earned hard work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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