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Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Fifty Shades of Gray....

 That's probably what I have on the bricks now.

I started on the left side and worked around...I tend to work like I read.  Left to right.

Here is one and a half panels done and the rest is like it was.  I found out that the bricks were painted with some kind of water soluble paint, so I had to be very careful.  There wasn't any kind of sealer on the bricks at all.
 I didn't do a lot of changing.  I just darkened the grout a bit.  Now it looks a lot more like the half timbers that we saw in England. 
As for the chimney, I think that it blends in with the rest of the house better now. 

I am still wondering why it was built so that it hangs about a quarter of an inch above the bottom of the building...

I got a pretty good match on the bricks on the chimney. Not perfect, but close enough.  Maybe a few touch ups after everything is put back together.


Some of you are wanting to know about the wiring....I wouldn't advise you to follow the route that I am taking for wiring this.  I am having to cobble together some of it because of the single wire that they had in the original.  I am going to have to do some splicing here and there to get five different things lit.  It was only wired for one ceiling fixture.

There will be two wall sconces, one candlestick and a fire in each fireplace.

The little blobs that you see on the floor are English coal fire fixtures.  I am not sure if they will be workable.

The three other fixtures blew out when I tried them in the Bloomie's box.  I have cut the candles out of them and am in the process of rewiring them...I am not sure that the English wiring is compatible with the US transformers.

Hang in there until I wire something else and you will see how I normally do it.

I have to go see if I can, once again, do wiring without electrocuting myself...

See you tomorrow.

8 comments:

Marijke said...

Beautiful brick and woodwork!
groetjes van Marijke

elizabeth s said...

Hi Casey! Everything is really coming together and the brick facade is looking good and the painted bricks on the chimney are just what it needed! Well done! I am always curious to see how others conquer their wiring challenges. It appears that this is one area where it is the great leveler! Especially when even after all the preliminaries are working fine and when it SHOULD WORK, it Won't! It happens time and again to me and also to most others so I will wait to see how you solve yours and how you will switch it from OFF to ON! :))

elizabeth

Phyllisa said...

Hi Casey. Isn't Nellie's bed in the Crooked Cottage the bed with the
canopy?
Phyllisa

Deni said...

WOW what a transformation! looks fabulous!

Caseymini said...

The bed that you are talking about went to the room that Lettice lives in. It was decided that that one took up too much room in the crooked house. Nellie got a whole. New bed, that was built just for her. She did the embroidery on the coverlet.

Véronique said...

I love how all the stages of the project come together. The brickwork is beautiful and the chimney totally fits in now. As for wiring... I have been a bit cowardly by opting for battery operated lights in my first house. Already built, glued to withstand a hurricane, with places unable to reach, this seemed easier. But I will have to dive in some day... dreading it :-)
Véronique

Marisa said...

I love the brick work what do you seal it with?

Caseymini said...

Since I have no idea what kind of paint he used for the brick, I am going to use Patricia Nimock's matte spray sealer. It is meant for art work and light duty as sealers go, but I would rather be safe than have paint running down the side of the house from sealer that wasn't compatible with the paint.