OTB's Fireplace Adventure Update 1/29-30/11
This weekend we left for Moab early Saturday morning because Joe flew in Friday night after a week-long business trip with Universal Florida. When we arrived at OTB we were excited to see the progress that the contractor had made on the fireplace. Manuel had removed enough brick which allowed the gas fireplace to slide in place. 
We made good use of the short time. Considering the fact that we had a limited amount of time to work, we were able to get a lot accomplished.
In order to camouflage any of the white paint that was left behind in the tiny cracks and pores of the Douglas fir, I used an artist’s detail paint brush to paint brown interior paint over any stubborn spots. I was certain every time I turned my back, the remaining white paint in the cracks would multiply and there would be more white paint to touch up. There was a spot where the wood was severely burned on the stained glass window sill.
I used the brown paint to camouflage the burned wood. To cry “UNCLE!” and use brown paint on the windows seems contradictory after spending so many hours stripping paint. I’m sure the “purist” renovator types would say that I cheated by using brown paint to rid the windows of the remaining white paint.
I finished the windows using Minwax WipeOn Polyurethane. This brand of polyurethane is so forgiving and the finish looks makes the work of an amateur such as myself look professional. This was my favorite part of the entire job because the wood grain pops with every coat of poly, and you see that all your hard labor really pays off in the end.
Joe completed the initial set of CAD architectural drawings using the dilapidated chimney, a sawed off piece of 2x4, a tape measure, a laptop, and a lot of high powered brain ciphering and printed them for Manuel and Clark. There were several details bugging Joe which would have to be figured out before the bookshelves could be fabricated and stone hung. After Joe met with Clark, I was left to interpret, “These shelves are going to look like crap.”
During my initial meeting with Dorina, she said finding an exact match would be impossible because glass companies do not make the same art glass for 95 years. In the design world, colors and trends come and go. That’s a good thing or we’d still be wearing groovy hip huggers and bell bottoms or polyester pantsuits! I can’t say that I much miss mullet haircuts. Being the stubborn person I am (it has taken me years to admit that) I knew that I would be able to find the exact glass and be able to disprove Dorina. Earlier this week I went to Kelley’s Glass in search of the exact art glass and came up empty after combing each and every bin. I searched the World Wide Web for several hours and had no luck finding a match. At this point, I had to come to terms with the fact that I would be hunting until doomsday to find an exact match. Dorina was right and I was wrong (that’s hard for me to admit, too :). I had no other choice but to get on with the business of finding art glass that would be a close match to the original and call it good. I went to Kelley’s a second time with a totally different attitude. I found the art glass in less than 10 minutes! It’s funny how attitude works.
That’s probably why Big Dogs has made a fortune selling apparel which features slogans about attitude.
The orange art glass by Spectrum is pretty much a perfect match. 
The Kokomo blue-green streaky art glass is not near as close of a match as the orange. Dorina will use the areas of the art glass that most closely resemble the turquoise art glass in the original window. 
Despite the fact that progress feels like it is happening at a snail’s pace, OTB’s fireplace project is moving forward.
This week there will be a lot of action at OTB. The plumbers will run the gas line to the fireplace and hook everything up, Manuel will hang expanded metal and stucco the fireplace brick, Clark will build the wall, and Dorina will start cutting art glass. The kink in the hose could be Al, the cabinet maker, who has a lot of business right now. We might have to resort to plan B (not sure what that is, yet) to have the mantel and shelves made.
We made good use of the short time. Considering the fact that we had a limited amount of time to work, we were able to get a lot accomplished.
In order to camouflage any of the white paint that was left behind in the tiny cracks and pores of the Douglas fir, I used an artist’s detail paint brush to paint brown interior paint over any stubborn spots. I was certain every time I turned my back, the remaining white paint in the cracks would multiply and there would be more white paint to touch up. There was a spot where the wood was severely burned on the stained glass window sill.
I used the brown paint to camouflage the burned wood. To cry “UNCLE!” and use brown paint on the windows seems contradictory after spending so many hours stripping paint. I’m sure the “purist” renovator types would say that I cheated by using brown paint to rid the windows of the remaining white paint.
I finished the windows using Minwax WipeOn Polyurethane. This brand of polyurethane is so forgiving and the finish looks makes the work of an amateur such as myself look professional. This was my favorite part of the entire job because the wood grain pops with every coat of poly, and you see that all your hard labor really pays off in the end.
Joe completed the initial set of CAD architectural drawings using the dilapidated chimney, a sawed off piece of 2x4, a tape measure, a laptop, and a lot of high powered brain ciphering and printed them for Manuel and Clark. There were several details bugging Joe which would have to be figured out before the bookshelves could be fabricated and stone hung. After Joe met with Clark, I was left to interpret, “These shelves are going to look like crap.”
During my initial meeting with Dorina, she said finding an exact match would be impossible because glass companies do not make the same art glass for 95 years. In the design world, colors and trends come and go. That’s a good thing or we’d still be wearing groovy hip huggers and bell bottoms or polyester pantsuits! I can’t say that I much miss mullet haircuts. Being the stubborn person I am (it has taken me years to admit that) I knew that I would be able to find the exact glass and be able to disprove Dorina. Earlier this week I went to Kelley’s Glass in search of the exact art glass and came up empty after combing each and every bin. I searched the World Wide Web for several hours and had no luck finding a match. At this point, I had to come to terms with the fact that I would be hunting until doomsday to find an exact match. Dorina was right and I was wrong (that’s hard for me to admit, too :). I had no other choice but to get on with the business of finding art glass that would be a close match to the original and call it good. I went to Kelley’s a second time with a totally different attitude. I found the art glass in less than 10 minutes! It’s funny how attitude works.
That’s probably why Big Dogs has made a fortune selling apparel which features slogans about attitude.
The orange art glass by Spectrum is pretty much a perfect match. 
The Kokomo blue-green streaky art glass is not near as close of a match as the orange. Dorina will use the areas of the art glass that most closely resemble the turquoise art glass in the original window. 
Despite the fact that progress feels like it is happening at a snail’s pace, OTB’s fireplace project is moving forward.
This week there will be a lot of action at OTB. The plumbers will run the gas line to the fireplace and hook everything up, Manuel will hang expanded metal and stucco the fireplace brick, Clark will build the wall, and Dorina will start cutting art glass. The kink in the hose could be Al, the cabinet maker, who has a lot of business right now. We might have to resort to plan B (not sure what that is, yet) to have the mantel and shelves made.
Comments