My parents have decided to completely redo their basement. It had stucco all over the walls and ceiling and a huge fireplace that no longer made sense. The fireplace was originally wood-burning and had two bays for storing firewood, that were equal in size to the fireplace. Years ago they got a natural gas insert, which rendered the wood bays completely useless. The mantle and hearth were over 12 feet long and took up a lot of unnecessary space, so they decided to lose the wood bays, and reface the whole thing in cultured stone.

I offered to help out with the demolition and anything else I could do. My dad hired a guy someone recommended with over 30 years experience. He was nice, and we got along really well. We got to talking and it turned out he used to live on Texada Island (which is near Gabriola for those who don’t know) in the 70′s. We talked more, and eventually got on to the topic of me wanting to learn stone masonry. I asked a ton of questions (as I always do) and before the end of the first day, he asked me if I’d be interested in working for him once in a while. I told him I’d love to, and the next two days I helped him finish the fireplace.

I made all the cuts for every stone, with no direction whatsoever. It was awesome. Lugging the stones around is tough (especially the hearth which was over estimated at around 400lbs, and could only be carried by two people) but it was fun to work all day and feel like I did something.

I gave the guy my number, and he said he’d call if there was a job I could help him on. So far I haven’t heard anything, but I’m hoping soon he’ll need me again. I’d love to learn more, and it would be really nice to make some money for a change. I’m about ready to give up on the book and go find a job, even if it’s at Harvey’s, just so I can stop feeling like a useless sponge.