Long, long ago in a granite field far, far away, we spent so much time wandering around chunks of beautiful stone that Cherie was late to her college reunion. And when we finally showed up, it was in a low-riding truck filled to the brim with granite. Do we know how to be the hit of the party or what?
But never mind! We got a great deal on a lot of granite to serve as the woodstove surround. And that granite has spent the last year here:
Holding down the porch.
Perfect! Just like we planned!
If you remember from way back when, that there big slab of granite is actually a countertop remnant. It was roughly the size we needed, but it obviously needed to be cut to fit. It took us all winter to catch up with a friendly mason willing to take on such a small job, but Michael finally arranged to borrow an hour of his time on a weekend morning. So Michael made a template:
And they started cutting.
Sadly, we have no photos of the cutting process because Cherie was gone and Michael had to help the mason. The whole process only took about half an hour, which is amusing considering it took us a year to get him there. But you'll just have to trust us that there was a mason. Actually, you won't have to trust us because we have proof:
Next came the cement board:
(We stuffed some insulation behind it to help keep the hot water pipes, well, hot.)
You'll clearly see our plan for the back of the surround here. The small pieces of granite will follow the stairs and then be mirrored on the other side.
We set some of the back pieces of granite around to give us a sense for how it will look.
And, well…
Cherie thinks it looks…funny somehow. Something about the rough-cut pieces of the back set against the smooth, sharp-edged floor piece isn't working for her.
Unsurprisingly, Michael thinks Cherie is off her rocker.
So, we ask. What do you think?
Yay or nay?
If this doesn't work out we'll just…um…well…we don't really have a back-up plan. So there's no pressure or anything. Just because we are asking you to save our house, and our marriage, and our sanity.
No, really. What do you think?
12 comments
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June 21, 2008 at 8:51 pm
Sandy
I think the mason (and Michael) did a wonderful job on the cutting. Beautiful piece of granite! Could it be that the pieces you have put up would look better if they were smaller pieces? You don’t really want a smooth stone like you have for the floor on the walls. It seems like it would just be too much. But I could be wrong here… and you know if Cherie isn’t happy, you’re not going to be happy… she’ll see to that! LOL
June 21, 2008 at 9:06 pm
pablo
If I answer the wrong way, will that mean you won’t post here as often?
What you could do is take a sledge hammer to that smooth granite slab and break it up then mortar it back together. It wouldn’t look so different from the wall that way.
Just sayin.
June 22, 2008 at 10:46 am
THadani
Maybe a tile background would tie in the smoothness. I don’t like the smooth with rough either. Then again what would get the job done faster.
June 22, 2008 at 3:30 pm
Ernie
I agree with the others, it looks off with the smooth floor. In one of the pics (#6 from top) it looks like the left side of the Durock is bowed or twisted a little. Is that an optical illusion…(sometimes even 1/2″ cement board is a little flimsy along the edge)? Looks good so far, when can I move in?
June 22, 2008 at 3:58 pm
David Parsons
I wonder if, when the woodstove is in, if the smoothness of the floor plate would even be noticeable? And if it is, it would be easier to sweep ashes and other woodstove gunk off a smooth chunk of stone than off rough-surfaced stone, wouldn’t it?
June 23, 2008 at 11:58 am
Ed Abbey
I agree with the last commentor and Michael. It is a lot easier to clean and I doubt it will be noticable when the woodstove is in place. I am also male and I’m guessing that makes a difference.
June 23, 2008 at 4:29 pm
steph
hi.
i agree with the previous comments that michael and the mason did a lovely job with the piece of granite on the floor, but that it doesn’t look quite right with the wall pieces. you probably do want it to be flat & smooth for maintenance; however, does it need to be polished? i think it might be the sheen that makes it look incongruous against the granite for the wall. is it possible to turn over the floor slab and look at the unpolished (but still flat) side against the stones? not having the smooth part be polished might make all the difference…and if you both like that look, it shouldn’t be too hard to rough up the polished side a bit.
June 23, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Andrew
We have a woodstove that sits on a very rough textured brick hearth with matching brick surround in our basement. We also have a soapstone fireplace upstairs with similar brick surround. Because woodstoves and fireplaces generate a heck of a lot of dust, I would suggest a less irregular surface for the surround. These rough surfaces are virtually impossible to keep cleaned of dust. Perhaps some Craftsman-inspired tile and a mantel shelf tied in somehow with the stair tread design would compliment the smooth hearth and be easier to keep up? Tile was very popular used as a fireplace surround by the Craftsmen.
June 24, 2008 at 7:25 pm
DAD & MOM
WE THINK THE ROUGH LOOKS THE BEST BUT I THINK CLEANING WOULD BE EASIER IF SMOOTH.BUT MICHAEL DON’T FORGET THE MAGIC WORDS THAT I HAVE LEARNED AFTER MANY YEARS
YES DEAR ! HA HA HA
June 26, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Sandy
LOVE the comment from Mom & Dad! Absolutely perfect! LOL
June 27, 2008 at 1:03 am
HPH
Seriously. There are perfect straight-edge cut lines on the excellently cut granite base. There are perfect straight-edge lines that are stairs. Mirroring the straight-edge stairs are straight-edge lines on the other side. I’m with Cherie, rough cut just doesn’t cut it with all those straight-edge guys.
August 23, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Clinton
I think you should leave the cement board. After all, it is a Curry House.