MY DIY Fireplace Insert

I haven't posted in a couple days because I purposely have taken the week off from big projects. That flooring was a kicker and I didn't even do anything! So the other day my dad called me and told me that they have these electric fireplace inserts that look like real fireplaces at the ReStore. So my husband and I drove down there and after some contemplating, and lots of reassuring on my husband's part that it would indeed fit in our brick hole and look like it belonged in there, we bought it for $200. Once inside, my husband got to work removing most of the metal sheeting and smoke stack. Remember what it looked like? You can read all about it here. I took one look at the insert sitting on the floor and I knew it wouldn't fit. It was too deep. I was assured that it would fit, but nope, I could tell it was going to stick out. Again, I was assured that it would be fine.The first obstacle was that it is electric so in order to not have wires strung from the fireplace to the outside wall outlet, we'd have to wire the fireplace into the wall. My dad came over to help. To me, it seemed simple, drill a hole into the fireplace to the wall and wire it up. My dad and my husband, neither of who are electricians, decided that wouldn't work. My dad wanted to run the wiring outside of the fireplace and just cover it with a plastic wire cover. Uh, no. So they figured out how run the wires to the outside of the house, so that we can't see them. Crisis diverted.Eventually, it was time to fit the fireplace into the gaping hole. The two men heaved it up onto the hearth, squeezed it into the hole and nope, didn't fit. So they used this incredibly loud saw to cut some of the metal out to make more room. Once again, the insert was lifted, still didn't fit. This went on for an hour and a half, at least. I still don't know if it will fit.The second obstacle is that they were having trouble fishing the wire through the hole. My dad kept wanting to just keep cutting holes to feed the wire through. I'm not sure what the real problem was, I was trying to stay away, far far away!So after awhile my dad decided he was hungry and needed to call it a day so he could go home for dinner. He will be back tomorrow morning bright and early to finish (hopefully!) Until then, we have a gaping hole in our fireplace, an open electrical outlet, and a huge, heavy electric insert sitting on my hearth.My husband told me earlier, "this is a little harder than I thought."
OH!! Our new carriage style garage door is installed tomorrow!
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