The stone guy has more or less finished the slate work fireplace, foyer, and front porch/stoop. There's just a few details to finish: he's going to paint the edges of the backerboard (which are now white) with black high-heat paint, fill the crack in the actual firebox, and try to eliminate that white spot in the middle (a.k.a. the "all-seeing eye"). But it's 99% there, and I'm ever so relieved not to have to look at studs, backerboard, or a big gaping hole in my wall anymore!
This is a detail where you can see the inside of the recessed area. We used honed black slate on the recessed area, and he trimmed it out with the regular peacock slate for the details.
And this is the entry stoop/foyer. Gorgeous! I'm very happy with the material choices we made, and the quality of workmanship was about 3x what I paid for it. Thanks, recession!
