Back in business on the Ground Floor

I thought things were going to slow down as we planned to purchase a new minivan this summer. We awaited the late summer clearance sales to get a better deal. But 'Cash For Clunkers' messed our plans up, and now the new minivan is on hold again awaiting a better buyers market this fall.

So, let's shift gears back to the Ground Floor project.

There are so many next steps. Probably best to start with the doors, window jamb extensions, window and door casing, bathroom and kitchen cabinets, etc. But for extra credit, we've all along planned for a nice stone fireplace, and that mostly trumps the trim work.

Today I ordered some Eldorado Stone brand stone veener. I could not bring all 9 boxes home as that would weigh about 1/2 ton. Too bad the minivan did not materialize in time. But we did bring home one box to get an idea how it will look with this floor's lighting conditions. I also bought home a single hearth stone that I can use to plan and build out the 'step' that will go in front of the fireplace.

Here's the general design/look that I am going for. Our fireplace design will generally match this, although in our case soffit will lead away out in front of the top of the fireplace. I really like the mantle. We are using a different style of stone veneer.

Click to expand



A box of stone veneer (and a hearth stone)


Looks like stone


But it's actually just cast and detailed concrete (here's the back of a stone where you 'butter' the mortar on and attach to the wall).


Most real stone veneer is much too heavy for a standard frame wall. The concrete veneer stone is much lighter and more workable. The following are the steps:

1. Frame out the fireplace 'step' (I held off on building this until after the fireplace was installed and I could then, with a sample hearthstone, judge exactly how high to build the step)
2. Apply a vapor-barrier to the fireplace chase
3. Apply lathe
4. Apply a mortar scratch-coat to the fireplace
5. Apply the stone, starting at the top (oddly) and working way down. This prevents mortar from dripping onto any stone veneer below and messing it all up,

But before I do any of this, I need to find a 10' x 9" or so wood shelf for the halfwall, and some sort of wood fireplace mantel. These need to be installed first as the stone veneer is much too three-dimensional. The stone veneer must be installed AROUND the wood.

I've also ironed out the details on the doors, and will order soon. The biggest struggle I have at the moment is choosing which wood species to use. Our house is a new, but very general, home. It's got the typical new-house interior, with white-painted doors and trim, and pastel paint colors. Basically your everyday home.

The basement is our chance to mix it up a bit, without going too crazy and making it appear as if we live in two different houses. For the basement, we're aiming for a MILD version of Arts & Crafts/Craftsman/Mission-style look. This is the western frontier after all. That means stained woodwork and doors, and I've yet to determine if I want to stick with the tried-and-true clear PINE (easy to work with, but soft and can take stain in blotches) or maybe maple or something else. I do not like OAK (I think it has been way overused in the past 20 years) and it does not work well with our overall theming.

Here's the French Door design we are considering. This would be in the entranceway to the kids room / temporary bedroom / Dad's future game room. The idea is that since this room will always be a total mess, we can just close off the doors to hide the view (but still let sunlight in).



Lots to still do, but now the general style of the Ground Floor will start to come together.