Finishing the Fireplace Column

At long last, I was ready to finish the fireplace column...

It was somewhat challenging, figuring out how to clad this.  Luckily, the bricks fit perfectly on the front face without any shortening.  The sides were a different story...

The brick corners tend to "twist" slightly when you glue them on...

Here's the chimney column at the halfway point.

Everything's drying...

Here it is!

Everything fits!

Not too shabby.

It's important to seal the bricks, whatever brand you end up using.  Richard Stacey recommends using a 50/50 ratio of water and PVC on theirs, but I tend to prefer a slightly higher concentration of PVC.  I also usually apply two coats (leaving some drying time in between).

I left it alone to dry overnight.

Then I grouted it.

I touched up the "stone" areas that'd gotten a beating throughout this process.  They're lighter, here, because they're drying.  I'm quite pleased with how everything came out!  This is my first "stone" fireplace.

Then, I used some slightly thickened "stone" mixture to touch up the gaps on all the "stone" sections, the fireplace as well as the ovens, etc.  I'm showing you the ovens, here.  They're still drying.

...And more drying.

No more gaps!  I removed excess "stone" goo with a detail brush dipped in water.  This is the same technique I used on the stucco.

And there's more to come...