Fireplace progress...

Fireplace progress...  I spent much of the day working with the two masons as they got started on our new fireplace.  The first thing they did was to clean out all the poorly-done elements of the old fireplace, and there were several of them.  Then we had to re-mount the mantle because the mounting plate I used was the thickness of “normal” thin veneer rock, and the rock I actually bought was much thinner.  We finished up that stuff by about 2 pm, then the masons mounted their tarpaper underlayment and armature wire to the wall. 

At that point they were ready to actually put up some rock, and they did – as you can see in the photos, the bottom two rows of rock are up.  It was fascinating to watch the masons work – the things they do range from the violent and coarse (like removing old blocks and mortar) to the delicate and fine (like the final step of brushing the mortar between the stones).  Some of what they do requires great skill and artistry, such as choosing rocks of the right shape and orientation to artfully fit with what's already up, and the fine work of “striking” – getting the mortar between the stones to look attractive.  They use a narrow, long trowel to do most of the striking, but finish it up with bare fingers and a light brushing at the end.  Like so many other things, masonry work requires more skill and experience than you might think...