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Installing Fireplace Surround Trim

By Picardy Project on Apr 04, 2012

We need to complete 2 things before we can call the fireplace in the front room DONE: buff out the scratches that are on the surface of the tile, and install and stain a transition. You see, the tile is just a tad higher than the hardwoods

So we've been on the hunt for a while for a transition that would work for the space properly. There was about a 3/8" difference between the level of the hardwoods and the top of the tile and we spent time at a few hardware and big box stores looking at their selection of transitions but either the finish wasn't correct (could you carry unfinished oak PUH-LEASE?!) or the height difference allowed between the two surfaces wasn't correct. Grrr. So we hit the internet.

We finally found a transition on Amazon that seemed to work the best so we bit the bullet and purchased two lengths (one for the front, and the other would be cut into two and used for the sides). It took a little bit for it to arrive at our house and when it did it sat propped up against the wall waiting to be used for just a little too long.

So we finally got to it.

Chris measured it out

And took it outside to cut it down to size and also cut the appropriate size rabbet out of the bottom

Once things were all cut down to the proper length all three pieces were brought inside and laid out

When it was time to nail them down (with finish nails and a counter sink) we brought in the drill to pre-drill where we be nailing things in. And we were super professional and used a post-it for equal spacing between all the nail holes


We repeated the process on the other side and the front

And once everything was installed and tape was laid down to protect the tile Chris brought out the wood filler (like we did with the floors) and troweled it on

After it was dry Chris sanded it down

And once things were sanded down and looking lovely, it was time to stain

After the first round was dry it got sanded down and stained a second time

Lastly, it was time to seal it with the Fabulon. I sanded it lightly, wiped it with a tack cloth and it was ready to go

You can see right below the transition there are some small areas that got sanded down as well. There were some bubbles and little pieces of fuzz that got set in when we sealed the floor, so we figured this was a good time to clean those spots up by sanding them down...

...and resealing

Again, it was the waiting game to let things dry, then it was another light sanding and another coat of poly. Once it was done I peeled off the tape from the tile (to protect it from the stain and poly) and voila!


There's a little bit of stain that seeped in below the tape that we'll have to clean up...

...but otherwise it's lookin' good! Now we just have to buff out those scratches of mine, grrrrr.

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