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Hearth

Monica Zinda of Moonshine Mosaics came back to do my hearth. So far she has has done all my glass block and tile work and I've gotten no better at all! I am a qualified sponge boy now, but that's all.

Hearth is classic slate-gray slate, which was surprisingly hard to find. Slate comes in many colors, most of which I thought were hideous. The fancy tile/stone stores did not carry "slate gray" slate, I had to get it at a big-box store (Lowes). I bought quite a few extras since there is a lot of variation, and you will cull. Dimensions varied by about 3/16" so we had to use about 1/4" grout lines to give room to adjust, without the variation being too noticable.

Hi Monica! Dry Fit Layout Cuts Match Stove Radius
Hi Monica! Dry Fit Layout Cuts Match Stove Radius
Wet Sawing Finishing with Stone Taping Joint Combing First Section
Wet Sawing Finishing with Stone Taping Joint Combing First Section
Other Corner Set w/Rubber Mallet South Side Mortar South Side Laid
Other Corner Set w/Rubber Mallet South Side Mortar South Side Laid
Trap Door Surround North Side Trap Door Last Final Thumping
Trap Door Surround North Side Trap Door Last Final Thumping
Finished View Ditto in Daylight
Finished View Ditto in Daylight

The next day I cleaned off the excess mortar, then let it firm up until the day after that. Then, GROUT TIME!. I borrowed Monica's rubber float to work in the black grout around the masked-off stove. Then sponged clean, but there was still a lot of grout on the tiles, so carefully cleaned it all again a bit later. I'll wash it one more time later tonight.
Masked Off Grouted Mess Cleaned Once Cleaned Twice
Masked Off Grouted Mess Cleaned Once Cleaned Twice
Grout Line
Grout Line