DIY Fireplace Make Over

DIY Fireplace Make Over

This project has been a long time coming!  And this is the first DIY project that I had some serious  “difficulties”, but it all worked out!  As I told my husband, nobody is perfect!  But I am thrilled with how this DIY Fireplace Make Over evolved!  I will tell you step by step how I did it and even my “DIY gone a rye” incident! And as I normally use DIY projects as a form of self care, this one did not work out as I had anticipated!

Pulling off the old tile

We have been in our house for about 16 years.  Last year we finally started updating the inside.  Our outside has always been well maintained, but we are not huge indoor home improvement people.  But some things just needed to get done! So 2020 and 2021 are the years of new furniture, painting of the house and a re-do of the fireplace!  I ordered a new couch and chairs for the family room and decided to take a stab at putting a new rock face on the fireplace with Air Stone Rock.

Air Stone is made of an ultra-light material that has texture, durability and looks like real rock.  And supposedly, it was easy to install!

But first I had to get the old tile off.  And that proved to be more difficult than I had anticipated!  But that’s ok, sometimes things don’t always go as planned and we learn a lesson from it.

As I started taking the tile off, some of the tiles were coming off with chunks of drywall on the back of it. I had not planned on doing sheet rock work, and it is definitely not my forte!

I finally decided to hire a local company to finish taking off the tile and correct the drywall.  Once we had the drywall repaired, I was able to start on my DIY Fireplace Make Over project! And this was only the beginning of my DIY gone a rye!

Supplies

I used a product called Air Stone Rock.  It was very easy to work with and I loved the Autumn Mountain color!

• 1 box of Autumn Mountain corner/finished end stones and 4 boxes of flat wall stone
• 2 Tubs of the Air Stone Indoor Adhesive
• 1 putty knife
• 1 drop cloth
• Hack saw (with masonry blade) or tile cutter
• Small level

When using Air Stones it is important to remember to start from the bottom and work your way up.  And make sure your rocks are level as you progress up the wall.  Having crooked rocks is not a good look!

Getting Started

Make sure the surface you are covering with your wall rock is clean and there is no “waves” or buckles in the wall or surface.  My walls are textured and the rock adhered to them well.

I placed a disposable tarp in front of my fireplace so if I made a mess, I would not get anything on the carpet!

As I progressed up the wall, I regularly checked to make sure my rocks were level at all times.  **Note that the adhesive does not dry “immediately”.  So you need to make sure it doesn’t “slide” down the way and become uneven.  I know this from experience!  So be sure to watch, it was not something that anyone said in prior DIY’s about Air Stone Rock so I did not realize this was an issue.

Cutting the Air Stone

This is where I went a little “a rye”!  According to the instructions your can use a hack saw with a special blade.  My husband and I did not find this was the case.  At least we couldn’t get it to cut properly.  The stones kept breaking or were uneven.  So after much frustration I decided to hire someone to finish this project for me.  And Ryan from Beyond Home Improvements did a fabulous job!  He used a mini tile saw with a  4″ blade to cut the tiles perfectly!  He did such a wonderful job I have hired him to do several other small projects around our house!  Including repairing the sheetrock in the garage, swapping out faucets and more!  Ryan was an absolute lifesaver!

The Completed Project!

Thank goodness I found someone competent to finish this project for me!  Because I was in way over my head!  But I absolutely LOVE how it turned out! I could not have completed this on my own and I am grateful for his assistance!  If you live in the Denver metro area, be sure to check out Ryan’s FB page and work!

Conclusion

Don’t do what I did, by thinking that I could do any DIY project I wanted!  This DIY Fireplace Make Over was way over my head, but luckily I found someone to educate me and help me get it finished!  You can purchase Air Stone Rock at Lowe’s!

Take a look at my Patio Make Over DIY!  Getting ready for warmer weather was never so much fun!

Gratitude

More importantly, thank you for spending your time here at Colorado Kelly!  I love having you here and appreciate everyone that comes to visit and look forward to having you come back soon!