Hard to connect this to the garage, really -- except that I learned to set tile by putting it into my garage a few years back.
My wife's sister lives near us, and recently got a new place with her boyfriend. It's literally down the street from us. The good thing they did was to not ask me to help them haul boxes. That made me less ornery about a few changes they needed made -- shortening some cabinets so their fridge would fit, things like that.
The apartment is very nice. But there was one thing in it that bugged me. There had clearly been a fireplace -- or something -- at the head of the living room. But it had been taken out and the wall was plastered over and finished. The annoying part, though, was that the wood floor hadn't been repaired. There was still trim running around an apron that no longer had a function.
I saw it and it got me thinking. I did a quick search on ebay. What do you know, there's a weird fireplace mantel sort of thing less than a mile away. I can get it for $99. So I check with the wife and we decide it's going to be a housewarming gift.
Into the garage I go to weld together some mounts for the thing. Then I go to see what the local tile place has on clearance. These are some little unglazed black pieces that I figure would give the look -- vaguely -- of a fireplace that's been closed up and tiled over. The nice thing about giving something as a gift is that the recipients don't chime in too much with your design choices.
Here's the tile set and my always-handy HF hydraulic table holding the mantel while I get ready to grout. The steel for the brackets came from left-over picket pieces from the wrought iron fence I made and some 1/8" thick plate from the cabinet I cut up to make a counter and cabinets for my sink.
And here it is after the grout went in. I've still got to go back and get the rest of the haze and do some light touch-ups and fixes where I'm not happy with the coverage. But it's most of the way done.
They're still moving in, but I told them they should consider getting some candles and putting them in terra cotta type bowls or something so they can use the thing for light, since it's not suited for actual fire.
And odd job, but it was fun to do.
My wife's sister lives near us, and recently got a new place with her boyfriend. It's literally down the street from us. The good thing they did was to not ask me to help them haul boxes. That made me less ornery about a few changes they needed made -- shortening some cabinets so their fridge would fit, things like that.
The apartment is very nice. But there was one thing in it that bugged me. There had clearly been a fireplace -- or something -- at the head of the living room. But it had been taken out and the wall was plastered over and finished. The annoying part, though, was that the wood floor hadn't been repaired. There was still trim running around an apron that no longer had a function.
I saw it and it got me thinking. I did a quick search on ebay. What do you know, there's a weird fireplace mantel sort of thing less than a mile away. I can get it for $99. So I check with the wife and we decide it's going to be a housewarming gift.
Into the garage I go to weld together some mounts for the thing. Then I go to see what the local tile place has on clearance. These are some little unglazed black pieces that I figure would give the look -- vaguely -- of a fireplace that's been closed up and tiled over. The nice thing about giving something as a gift is that the recipients don't chime in too much with your design choices.
Here's the tile set and my always-handy HF hydraulic table holding the mantel while I get ready to grout. The steel for the brackets came from left-over picket pieces from the wrought iron fence I made and some 1/8" thick plate from the cabinet I cut up to make a counter and cabinets for my sink.
And here it is after the grout went in. I've still got to go back and get the rest of the haze and do some light touch-ups and fixes where I'm not happy with the coverage. But it's most of the way done.
They're still moving in, but I told them they should consider getting some candles and putting them in terra cotta type bowls or something so they can use the thing for light, since it's not suited for actual fire.
And odd job, but it was fun to do.
Last edited:
