# Transformation (finally) complete! Well..almost...



## 73blazer (Dec 30, 2009)

Finally completed the aesthetics of our North Star fireplace which replaced our WMC42 wood pig. 

Last October I tore out our WMC42 and installed the new North Star. I never finished the new cultured stone or new hearth extension until this week.

We got a 1.5" thick piece of cleft slate and some slightly darked colored cultured stone for the bottom portion, and replaced the cheapy prefab mantel with an old barn beam.

From this:







To This:





The cultured stone grout is still wet, I believe it will lighten somewhat. 
This has been one heck of a project. I did everything myself except for the cultured stone installation because I'm not good with making looking aesthetically pleasing or messy things like mortar. I tore out the old one, fully insulated and lined the chase with type X drywall (it wasn't before...no wonder I had smoke in the room for the first 5 minutes of starting a fire in the WMC42), installed the new (old) 10x12 barn beam mantel (300lb's,installed with  pipe flanges on the back of the chase wall with 1.5" pipe coming thru to support it), built the raised hearth extension from metal studs and micore, placed the slate, and had a husband/wife mason team over this afternoon to install the new cultured stone thats been sitting in my garage for several months. 
I've got more hours into this darn fireplace replacement than I can really count, but I think it was worth it. 

We're really happy with the way it turned out and I think it was a decent investment in the home both aesthetically (the old setup never really did justice to the 28' ceilings and bigness of the room), and from a $$ perspective as our properties supply plenty of free wood, well free being a relative term with the work involved, and the North Star surprisingly heat this 2500sqft home without much intervention from the main propane furnace, really only when it gets below 10 or so outside and sometimes in the morning to bring the house back to temp. 


I still need to seal the slate and get a new indoor wood storage and some new fireplace tools. But, basically, done.


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## PapaDave (Dec 30, 2009)

73Blazer,
That looks great! The new insert is a better look and the new mantle really fits the rest of the room better than the old one.
Job well done, no matter how long it took. 
Brother and I worked on a house a couple years ago with a very similar looking room. The insert was on the opposite wall from yours, and where yours sits, they had a wall o' windows. Too bad the guy went bankrupt. 
You're right, the grout should lighten up some. I kind of like the contrast to the stonework above.


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## PapaDave (Dec 30, 2009)

73, just went to the link of your tearout from last year. I remember that thread. What a change from last year, huh?
Good on ya' for the follow thru. It can be tough sometimes.


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## thewoodlands (Dec 30, 2009)

Great looking setup, do you have a ceiling fan?

zap


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## 73blazer (Dec 30, 2009)

PapaDave said:
			
		

> 73, just went to the link of your tearout from last year. I remember that thread. What a change from last year, huh?
> Good on ya' for the follow thru. It can be tough sometimes.



Time and money my friend, time and money, like everything else in the world!

Yeah, it is a huge change, we were just thinking earlier this evening how we can't much remember how it used to look anymore, we had to pull up the pictures. That's a good thing!


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## SlyFerret (Dec 30, 2009)

Awesome!  Nice work!

-SF


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## 73blazer (Dec 30, 2009)

zapny said:
			
		

> Great looking setup, do you have a ceiling fan?
> 
> zap



Yes, there is a ceiling fan, it's a cheapy one and looks like the previous owners left it running all the time and never cleaned it because the the blades are permanently stained. I could paint the blades, but it's really small for the room size so the wife wants to just replace it because she doesn't like the style anyway. I just need the 22' of scaffolding to get up there to do it!


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## mdphilps (Dec 30, 2009)

I love that there is a beer bottle in your metal studs picture  Was that the most important tool that you had to use?


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## cycloxer (Dec 30, 2009)

Great look - love it.


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## 73blazer (Dec 30, 2009)

mdphilps said:
			
		

> I love that there is a beer bottle in your metal studs picture  Was that the most important tool that you had to use?



If you follow my '73 K5 Blazer build up you'll see that tool in a large number of pictures. Always the most important tool. 
I've got to go to my rental home today where my tenants say the dryer drum stopped turning and the toilet isn't flushing right. It's just too bad I can't use that tool until I get back.


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## Bobbin (Dec 30, 2009)

Looks super; another grin at the obligatory beer.


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## Backwoods Savage (Dec 30, 2009)

Good job well done! Looks nice.


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## begreen (Dec 30, 2009)

Moving this to the perfect picture for future installer's inspiration. That is a beautiful setup 73b. It should be a really nice improvement. Now all we need to see is some FIRE in that new baby.


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## glassmanjpf (Dec 31, 2009)

Looks great...I especially like the toys in the toy box.  Nice touch.


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## woodracerx (Dec 31, 2009)

73blazer. Great job looks nice I know what you mean about the money and all the work.Hoping to get my northstar finished up soon.I still cant believe the heat you get out of the northstar with only a few splits going.


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## hareball (Dec 31, 2009)

Beautiful stone work!! And love the blazer too. You do some very nice work.


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## drewboy (Dec 31, 2009)

'73 - Looks awesome! I thought the slate looked good before, but you hit a homerun with the curve that you cut on the new? piece. Really nice space.
Rob


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## 73blazer (Dec 31, 2009)

Thanks for all the kind words everyone. We love it. There's a nice fire in it now, keeping the home at 72 as I type.

The old hearth extension was a 18"x85" piece of marble. My wife hates speckled things (which includes granite), and the 18" didn't cut it for the new spec on the new fireplace (or the old one, mine you), and besides, whoever put the marble down covered the entire bottom with glue, and there was no way to get it up without busting it to pieces. We ordered the new 24"x89" extension in cleft slate. I drew it up on CAD and gave it to the stone place, they were able to use my CAD file as a direct input to their NC stone cutter.


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## hilly (Dec 31, 2009)

The curve in the new hearth extension really draws your eye to the stove.


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## Lorilooo (Dec 31, 2009)

That's beautiful 73...awesome job!  What a difference!


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## gibson (Jan 2, 2010)

That looks pretty sweet!  Well done.


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## wldm09 (Jan 9, 2010)

Very nicely done.  That is a huge room!  We did something similar but I don't have the satisfaction that you did.  I paid to have it done.  We were also pleasantly surprised as to how well it heats our home.  I thought it would be better... but not this good!


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