building the hearth for my Napoleon NZ3000.....what a quest!

Just imagine, BBar, how many thousands of hours over the past several centuries have gone into maintenance and upkeep of that beautiful colonial home of yours.....boggles the mind when you think of it!

Wow that's going to be one awesome looking room! Did you put anything between the metal lathe and durock? I've heard of people using black felt under the lathe. Keep the pictures coming they are inspiring me on all levels to rip up my fireplace.

No, that wall has to be kept non-combustible per code up to 84" above the base of the unit. Felt paper would make it an illegal install. The key to keeping the mortar tight to the DUROCK is to dampen the cement board with a sprayer and water. Enter make it soaking wet, just moist. That allows the mortar to cure slowly.

I have owned my home for 18 years now and am still not done with renovations. A lot has been accomplished. We just keep coming up with new ideas for projects. It is mostly done. But the basement remodel is going to be major. And won't be for a while, thankfully. We have some saving to do for that one. Nice work Scotty.

Very nice stone work.

Love that stone on your chase. Absolutely beautiful. I also admire your ingenuity on your hearth work.

Looking great Scotty! Curious if you are going to tight stack the stone or put in grout/joints?

Blue, I'll be grouting the joints with a graphite tinted mortar. I'll use a thumb press method of smoothing the joints to give it the old world look.......no tools used for smoothing. I will probably wear out the thumbs and fingers on my glove but I really like that look so its worth it.

Thanks for the compliments fellas!

That's what I figured. I usually like TOH but here they just seem dead wrong. http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/m/video/0,,20319431,00.html

Also could one run the metal lathe up an existing brick fireplace or would you recommend putting durock up first?

If the brick is tight and sound, you'd be fine with just the lath. I've used lath over OSB and plywood (with a barrier of tyvek or felt paper in those applications), and that works fine too. No need for Durock on top of that brick. You MUST put a scratchcoat of mortar on the lath. I ALWAYS put a scratchcoat on when I use lath.

It already feels like I have put in several centuries of maintenance and upkeep on this house just from myself.

Yes, but you've also added to the legacy of that home forever.....

Hey now. Save that for the other forum.

Okay, I am ignorant and have to ask...

...why set the stone from top down? Is it to keep mortar off of finished work (below) or some other reason?

Looking GREAT to me!

Cheers!

BINGO! That's the best way to do the stone, IMO. Some guys like to go from the bottom to the top, but some guys are not as sloppy with their mortar as I am either! Actually, I'm pretty good with keeping the mortar off the stones, but from time to time you have a mishap. Also, doing it from the top down, if you have a stone slip, it doesn't take out five other ones below it.....

Tramontana beat me to the question. I've never heard of a top down install, my curiosity is piqued. I have so many questions!
Because you are going to code for a stove, you must be using only some sort of a portland mix instead of adhesive like PL. How do you get it to stick without dropping? I can see the advantage to that method though, making cuts and finishing off would be easier on the bottom than top. Are you using a plastisizer in your mix for workability and vertical hold? Never heard of the 'thumb press' tooling method. Can I coax you to get the missus to take a shot while you are thumbing? Are you using a tuckpointing bag to pipe in the mortar for the joints?
I'll hold off on the rest of my Q's til later. And I can't forget to mention Scotty, it look fab! Very clean, nice spacing. The rule of thumb with random stone is balance (regarding stone size, colour and texture) without uniformity. You have achieved both, keep up the great work.

thank you, sir! I love the top-down method. As for the mix, I use type "S" mixed with masonry sand, in a 3 to 1 mix. You can add lime to that mix if it isn't sticky enough but I don't have a problem with it sticking. One thing I noticed with hanging stone is that the fake stone, while lighter and much more porous, likes a wetter mix. Real stone likes a dryer mix, the natural stone is much denser than the man-made stuff. Cement isn't really what keeps the stone up, its vacuum. As the cement sets up, that's when the actual bonding takes place. I also have several spray bottles with water to use as I'm hanging the stone, I spritz water onto the substrate AND the stone to keep either from sucking the moisture out of the mortar too quickly. The thumb press works well for an old world look. Makes the mortar flow a little better throughout the work. That's how I did the rest of the stonework on my house (and there's a LOT of it). I use a grouting bag (or tuckpointing bag) to put the mortar in the joints. I'll see if Da Boss will take some pics of me grouting it tonight or tomorrow. I may grout the top half this evening if not tomorrow morning.....

Got the stone installed down to the mantel standoffs, tomorrow I'll cut and install the keystone and ledger stones across the top of the fireplace, along with the stone registers........starting to look like a fireplace!!

I love installing the stone....

He sure does

You're right, I find that after buttering the stone with mud, a small divot removed from the middle will create a vacuum 'pocket' if you will. It helps a bit. I also find using the fly-ash plastisizer helps with keeping it hung and it also helps to keep the mess down as it sticks to itself better.

Re: latest pics.
Wow.

With the accent lighting, that hearth is looking downright KILLER! Another question. Is your floor slab on grade or post/beam/joist? If the latter, did you have to beef things up underneath to bear the load?

Thanks Dave. I'm almost there, bud!!

Its on the foundation, Blue. The whole chase has a new footer/foundation, and the facing wall that I'm stoning now is on the original foundation. There is a LOT of weight on that wall......

made more progress this week, albeit slow (lots of stuff going on, busy busy BUSY!!) Anway some pics.....

got a small fire going to help keep the room warm....



Cut my keystone and ledger stones, and faced all of them. Yeah, it's work, but worth it in the end of the project. They really set the fireplace off!



Filling in around the top and sides of the fireplace...



Hoping to have all the stone (including the hearthstones which are all around 100 - 130 lbs each), grouting to come Monday evening.....

Awesome, reminds me of some of the ski lodges tucked into the mountains at Vail, Colorado.
In 80 years Great Grandson Overkill will be boasting about his sweet fireplace...