Slate stacker stone... What painful stuff to work with... especially if you have to cut it!
The plumes of dust are amazing!
I don't reccommend anyone breathing in the dust! And if you have allergies - don't even go there! Yes it looks really good when it is up and sealed. But the process of getting it there is way too much!
Here is Gav just about to start cutting... I took a couple of photos and got out of there!
His hair turned grey everytime he cut a piece, he had thick slate dust all over him!
He was the priveleged one of the three of us... he had a breathing mask on!
Finally, my floor is no longer covered in pieces of slate! The noise and dust are soon to be over...
Instead the house will be filled with the horrible stentch of slate sealer!
But for now... once this lot is finished, the top little bit will need to be grounded off so the mantle piece will sit in and be level! Then the fiddly job of grouting can begin!
The end has almost come!!
Here is my father helping get the wood for the walls up!
I went out shopping with Onjahlika and my step mum and while we were out, dad and Gav got the mantle piece in and some of the wood up!
The wood took two days in all... if it had just been me and Gav doing it - the wood would have taken a lot longer...
Gav was out the front cutting the wood to the right length and sanding it, while mum and I were helping dad get it in place.
When he was up the ladder we would pass the drill and nails and whatever else he needed up to him!
Here it is... the wood part is finished!! And the room feels so much warmer!
The wood has been coated with a clear sealant! My father kept asking my if I wanted it stained to make the wood even darker... while that would have been nice to darken up some of the lighter pieces - I kept declining! As it is, the dark with the light looks rather good!
The slate sealer was ferral in smell... we had the window open all night! Just to try and get rid of the smell...
And the fire box looks good in it's place!
Ignore the fact that I forgot to remove the news paper off the handle!
The next thing to do is to get a guy in to install the flue!! We discovered that we need a licenced guy to put it in! So we are still waiting to have a fire!
Oh how I would love to report that it is all finished...
A photo posted of it with fire going is going to happen if not this week than next week!