The Evolution of DIY Fireplace

It's been almost one year since our Family Room was revealed on the DIY network. One of the best features of our remodel was adding a gas fireplace.

BEFORE:

You can see in the before photo the black gas line pipe that stretched across the ceiling. 
That's what gave me the first idea of a fireplace that I shared with Renovation Realities.


Although it was not my style, I found this fireplace on Craigslist and ended up getting it for just a few hundred bucks. I knew with a little creativity I could make it our own.


The first step was figuring out where to put it. This was my way of "getting the vision."
Super professional.

We had no idea when we moved it into the house the journey we were in for!


First we had to decide how to position and square up the fireplace, so we could properly place the gas line and venting. As you can see we were TOTALLY agreeing on that process.


It sat like this for longer than we ever thought it would. 
The key to squaring it up turned out to be mark chalk lines on the floor and using a plumb line from the ceiling to establish square lines.


The next challenge for Cowboy was to get the fireplace to light.
And of course for me the challenge was what to do with the 1990's oak.


So he split the gas line off of our hook up in the kitchen which fortunately was just above the fireplace. He also moved the gas line above the ceiling. In addition to hooking up the gas lines you have to hook up to an electric switch for turning the fireplace on.


The lesson learned was you DO NOT hook that switch up to electricity. There are only 12v needs to trigger what they call the "thermopile." After 12 hours of troubleshooting with the owners manual and You Tube we figured out we had ruined ours by hooking up to electricity.


$50 later and a new thermopile -- we had FLAMES!!


We had it framed up and flaming, but still no decision on design.


Finally an idea.
A compromise.


I wanted white and modern. Cowboy voted for wood and classic.


We decided to go with open hearth rather than the raised box.
At this point I saw the vision, but if I was giving into oak I wasn't sure about the granite.


The faux reclaimed wood was the easiest part of the project and I started to see the simplicity that could be involved in the design.




It turned out to be a great compromise. The oak compliments the wood plank ceilings and the granite adds a touch of class to the simplicity of it all.


We learned the steps of installing a gas fireplace, but we probably learned more about ourselves.

From R7 to you --
Be a blessing.


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