The original 1958 designed house was very high end for its time, but the kitchen was very small with old wood-grain cabinets, hard to pull drawers, and Formica counter tops.  There was a dividing wall between the kitchen and the breakfast room, which was seldom used, even though it had a full length sliding door that yielded a marvelous view of the city.

The first portion of the project was the discovery that the dividing wall was load-bearing, so we fabricated a 6 inch thick (3 each 2" x 12" x 12'' boards glued and screwed together) which ran the length of the kitchen to support the ceiling rafters. Then the dividing wall was dismantled and the view was breathtaking.

Next, all the old on-site built cabinets and drawers were removed.  The old linoleum floor was removed and replaced by glazed ceramic tile that looks identical to wood.  Then, new state-of-the art cabinets and drawers (all self-closing) were installed, as well as a countertop of Brazilian granite.

The coup de grace was then the installation of the Old Carolina® genuine handmade thin brick, Seabrook color. These were in their "Oversize" = 8.5" x 2.75" and were only ¾" thick.  They were glued directly onto scraped and wire brushed painted dry wall using Thin Set adhesive and plastic 1/2" joint spacers, which were removed when the adhesive set.  Then a mortar bag and nozzle (similar to a cake decorating bag) was used to install the mortar, which was later tooled to produce a beautiful traditional "grapevine" joint.

All in all, it is an exquisite job, we're extremely proud of it, and of course we do a lot of entertaining there.

Scott & Debbie Frame

Anniston, AL

March 2016