March 11, 2010 (Before)
Last year about this time, we were ripping up the Hearth that extended into the room 8'-0". It was awkward. Kevin & Erik went ballistic on the brick work- tearing even into the inside of the fireplace. When we brought the wood flooring over the concrete slab- we had to lay thin sleepers over it, in order to maintain an even height over the slab. Well, the same was true when Erik went to lay the bricks back into the fireplace & hearth. Still wanting to maintain the elevation of the Heart Wood floor- we wanted the hearth to be flush to it. This meant that each brick had to be cut to realize the floor height. It was a chore- since the slab was poured rather uneven- each brick was a different height. Some turned out to be a 1/2" thick after being cut down. Not only was this a feat of skill, it was a race against time, with the rental of the brick saw only giving us a small window for all the cutting to take place, 5:30pm on Friday night until 5pm on Saturday. Not quite 24 hours.
The Hearth with the bricks laid out in a pattern- precutting. A bit of history- the bricks were originally salvaged from a building that was torn down at Portland Head Light. The story goes that the Capano kids (previous owners) cleaned the mortar off each brick. Let's see if they confirm that story.
Head to Toe covered in brick dust.
The finished result, Bartlett is enjoying the new flush hearth. She has turned into a dog that loves to sleep in front of the fireplace. Who knew?
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