Fireplace surround construction

I finally got around to buying a TV for the basement.  The blue tape about the mantle was used to get a feel for the TV size.    Since it’s going to be installed over the fireplace, I felt motivated (finally) to finish the fireplace surround.  Lots of sanding, stain, then poly.

Fireplace surround before finishing

Fireplace viewed from the right

Construction detail of base of leg on fireplace surround

Construction detail of leg of fireplace surround

I wanted to show a bit of the underlying construction before it gets permanently attached.  It’s built from red oak.  The legs on either side are three pieces of oak joined with pocket screws and glue.    At the top I added a band of flat trim with cove underneath it.  The base is made from three mitered pieces topped with cove.

I routed the cove trim from the same material so it would all match.  I used brads to attach the trim, but if I was to do it over, I’d do it all with glue.  The oak is really hard and I had some splits in the trim from using the nail gun.

The legs will be attached to the pine blocks screwed to the wall.    The hardware will be hidden at the bottom by the base and at the top I’ll attach it from the side facing the mantel.

More on constructing the corbels and mantel later.

Permit your renovation or not?

When we started renovation of the basement we struggled over whether or not to get a building permit from our county.  Why spend the money?  Would it be a signal for the county to increase our property taxes?  What would happen if we didn’t get the permit and we wanted to sell the house?  Are there implications with homeowners insurance?

We got all sorts of conflicting advice.  Some neighbor’s got the permit, others did not.  In the end, we decided to get a permit.  This was our reasoning:

- the additional cost of the permit was small relative to the overall project cost, about 2%.  In our county, the permit is based on the square footage and we have a relatively large basement (about 2000 square feet).

- the permit and the county inspections would make it a legal renovation.  There would be no implications when we went to sell the property and there would be no implications with the homeowners insurance.   You should check with your insurance agent to determine what is or is not covered in a basement renovation.  My understanding is that some below grade finishing can be excluded from things like water damage.  Your agent will also be able to adjust your insurance limits if needed.

- there is some leverage with contractors.  We made it clear that we were permitting the project and that inspections would be required.  Full payment would only be made after inspection passed.  We only used a few sub-contractors, but this turned out to be a great tool for vetting them.  There were a handful of subs who tried to talk us out of the permit.  I could only assume they were not going to do the work to code or they had something else to hide.  I passed on all of them.

- technically in our county if an unpermitted project is discovered, they can make you remove the project or enough of it to prove it has been done to code.  There would be no cost saving if I had to rip out drywall to prove electrical and plumbing were done correctly.

I was very intimidated by the inspection process at first, but it turned out not to be a big deal.  The inspectors were all very helpful and we got some great advice for free.  We found that our inspectors were very receptive about answering questions about how to do things correctly.

All of our inspections passed with no re-inspections.  We didn’t think too much of this until we went to get the certificate of occupancy and the clerk told us it was pretty unusual, so it turned out to be something we were proud of!

Don’t use graphite to lube door hinges

Whoever was in charge of silencing squeaky hinges when our house was built must have had a ready supply of dry graphite.  Every door in the place was lubed with it.  If you love the look of fine black dust on your doors, hinges, moldings and floors then graphite is your product.  Otherwise, I would try to avoid it.

Once the graphite is on the hinges, it’s tough to get rid of.  My neighbor went so far as to replace all the hinges on all his doors.    Here’s my solution.   This takes a while, but be patient.  If you don’t get the graphite out, you’ll end up doing it again.  I’ve found that attacking one room at a time works pretty well and I usually try to do it before I paint the room.

Arm yourself with some rags, rubbing alcohol, q-tips and vinyl gloves.  A hammer and a nail set works well for removing the hinge pins.  I found it easiest to pour the rubbing alcohol into a disposable container to avoid contaminating the whole bottle.

Warning – if you rub latex paint repeatedly with a rag soaked with rubbing alcohol, it will remove some of the paint, so be prepared to do touch up.

Place a drop cloth or a newspaper below the hinges to catch any graphite dust.    Put on a pair of vinyl gloves and wet a rag with rubbing alcohol.    Wipe down the hinges with the rag and remove the hinge pins using the hammer and nail set.  Remove the door and clean the hinges and hinge pins with rubbing alcohol.   The q-tips work well for getting inside the hinges.

Once the hinges and pins are thoroughly clean, lubricate them.  I have found Liquid Wrench Lubricant to work well.  I wipe a small amount on all the metal parts that will touch and then put some on the pins before reinstalling.

Once everything is back together, use a dry cloth to remove any excess lubricant from the hinges.  Any graphite  remaining on the door or moldings can be removed with a rag and rubbing alcohol.