2008 September | Handy Household Hints

Archive for September, 2008

How To Apply Stone To Your Fireplace

You don’t have to have a lot of experience have a beautiful stone fireplace. You can purchase handcrafted stones at most home centers, or you can have some fun a collect your own natural stones. If you have areas close to your home to look for stones, choose the flattest ones that you can find.

Stone can easily be applied to any bare fireplace surface without any preparation. However, if the surface of your fireplace has been painted, you’ll need to install metal lath. Metal lath is basically a wire grid that will give the mortar something to cling to and give it more support.

Use a drill to make pilot holes about one inch deep approximately one foot apart over the entire surface. The metal lath can just be nailed into place with masonry nails. The nails should be at least 1 1/4″ long. And, you’ll have to use washers on each nail, make sure the washers are large enough to cover one of the square grids in the lath so it won’t just fall off!

If the surface of your fireplace is metal or has any metal on it, use some self tapping screws to hold the lath in place. If you’re covering the chimney on the outside of your home with stone, apply some #30 building felt or either unperforated house wrapping over any exposed wood areas. Then attach the metal lath to the surface.

To prepare a drywall or plywood surface for stone, just secure the metal lath into the wall studs with drywall screws and washers. Although it might not look like it, metal lath does have a right side. You can distinguish the correct side by tiny cups that point up, always apply the lath right side up.

Using pre-packaged mortar isn’t a good idea, you should always mix your own for a project like this. You can use either type “S” or type “N” mortar, mix two parts of the mortar with one part of sand. Add just enough water to the mixture to get a consistency that you can work with.

Apply the mortar to the wall with a large trowel and spread it until it’s approximately 1/2″ to 3/4″ of an inch thick. If your stones are slightly thick, you might want to go with the thicker layer of mortar to help hold them in place better.

It’s best if you can lay the stones out on the floor and arrange them before you start attaching them to the fireplace. By doing this you can get an idea of how it’s going to look. But, you can also see if you need to tap some of the edges off the stones or even how you want the different colored stones laid out.

The corner stones should be installed first. The rest of the stones can be installed by either starting from the bottom and working your way up or from the top and working your way down. You need to get the stones as uniform and close together as you can.

As you add each stone, use the trowel to apply about a 1/2″ thick layer to the back of the stone. As you press the stone into place, gently wiggle it around to get the proper bond. The mortar that you applied to the back of the stone should squeeze out and surround all sides of the stone.

After you’ve gotten all of your stones in place, you can use a metal or wood striking tool to remove any excess mortar from around the stones. You will need to make sure that all of the joints are sealed with mortar, you can use a small putty knife to push the excess mortar over into the joints.

The next step is to clean the mortar off all of your stones. You can use a wire brush to remove any of the loose mortar that has gotten on the surface of the stones. Just make sure you do this step before the mortar dries, once it’s dried you’re not going to be able to get it off of the stones and it will ruin the look of your fireplace.

After you’ve gotten all of the mortar off of the stones, brush the joints with a small whisk broom or other brush. This is to remove even more of the excess mortar, but you can also use the brush to sweep the mortar in the joints to smooth it out. Applying a masonry sealer to the stones is optional. But, it will make the surface much easier to clean.

If you’d like to apply stone to your exterior chimney, just follow the same steps as you would for a fireplace. These same steps can be used to apply stone around the bottom of a porch to give it a special look!

Convert Pieces of Furniture Into Beautiful Kitchen Islands

A kitchen island is a great way to add both counter space and extra storage to your kitchen. They’re very convenient and while many styles are available commercially, you can save a lot of money by making your own kitchen island. If you want to add a kitchen island to the design of your kitchen, consider converting pieces of furniture!

If you don’t have a lot of carpentry skills, you can easily create a unique kitchen island out of existing pieces of furniture! Some items that look really good when converted to island’s are dressers, pie safes, hutches and even desks.

Even with very little experience doing carpentry, you can easily make some small adjustments to furniture pieces to make beautiful islands. If the piece you’re using is too tall and has legs, just measure and cut the legs off to make it the right height.

The best pieces of furniture to use are ones that already have built in storage such as drawers or shelves. But, even if you choose to use a desk that is open at the bottom, shelving kits can be used to create storage underneath the island.

Buffet’s are also great to convert to an island. However, since a buffet is made to sit against the wall, they don’t have very finished backings. Bead boarding is good to use to create a finished back, it’s also fairly inexpensive.

Many lumber supply companies will even custom cut pieces for you. If you’re not confident in cutting a piece for the back of your item, you can ask if your local lumber store offers the option. But, if you’re using an old piece of furniture for your island, it’s probably not perfect anyway. Small imperfections can just add to an antique style and if you don’t cut it exactly square it will just make it look better!

As far as the work top goes, you can either choose to leave it as is or cover it with another material as well. If the wood looks really good and you want to use the existing surface, apply several coats of polyurethane sealant to the top to help protect it from water, stains and scratches.

If you want your entire kitchen to match, you can even attach a piece of counter top that matches the counters already in your kitchen. If you want to add a new top, cut a piece of plywood that is about 3″ larger than the surface on all sides. Attach it to the piece then apply the material on top of the plywood.

It will look more professional is you first remove the existing top. But, some pieces of furniture are made so well that trying to take the top of might damage the sides. If you try to remove the top and it doesn’t come loose easily, you might want to just leave it alone. You can compensate for too much height on the top by adding a decorative flat wood molding to the edges.

The tops of furniture can be finished in the exact same way that you would finish any regular countertop. If you’d like to cover the surface in tile, spread an even layer of adhesive over the surface and just place the tiles where you want them. Tap them down into the adhesive and seal all of the seams with a clear silicone to prevent water leaking onto the wood surface.

Once you’ve gotten your kitchen island finished you can add accessories to make it even more convenient. For quick access to a kitchen towel, hang a nice towel rack on one end of the island. Small hooks can even be attached to hold utensils or pot holders.

One great way to blend the piece in with the rest of your kitchen is to change the knobs. Either use identical knobs, or purchase some that resemble or fit your kitchens style. There are many types of knobs available from rustic and country to modern and contemporary.

There’s a wide variety of items that can easily be converted into beautiful kitchen islands. You can even use matching book shelves side by side with a decorative top for a fast and simple island. And, many pieces of furniture make great islands without any changes at all!