did I make a mistake? or is this fixable?

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nhorzepa

Member
Jan 1, 2012
31
North Jersey
So my planning skills are not up to par lately (blaming it on the pregnancy)...and I might have goofed.
I know there is a solution for everything, but I'm in need of a cheap solution!

We recently bought a used Hearthstone Mansfield (top exhaust) off of craigslist and am planning to connect it to the existing fireplace .

We had a stove guy (friend of a friend) come look at it and give us a quote on installation (even though we'd rather save $ and do it ourselves). Lets just say, by the end of conversation there wasn't much trust in what he was saying.He didn't mention that there would be any installation issues, but he didn't think we were going to get a permit for the install either.

So I started planning out what we would need to buy to install the stove ourselves. And that's when it hit me...there might not be enough clearance between the pipe and the steel/concrete/stucco wall. If there is room at all. *sigh*

Do you think I can safely put a 90 degree bend at the top of the stove and go horizontally into the fireplace? I can't find any clearance info in the manual regarding this situation. It does talk about an alcove (which I'm hoping our odd setup is not). The previous house owner covered the fireplace top with a bump out (not entirely sure what it is made of, we can see steel and stucco and maybe concrete) to make his new built in cabinets look better. But he never did anything with the fireplace opening, so it looks odd. The fireplace is recessed ~1ft.

And then I was reading on here that you really don't want to do a 90 degree bend right off the bat. If we can squeeze the pipe in, how much trouble would this bend really give us?

Another option would be to drill a hole higher up through the 1 ft deep stucco (and??) and fireplace wall.

Or demo the bump out (scared about rebuilding).

I wouldn't mind terribly selling the stove but I don't really have funds to buy a new stove (like the woodstock progress). Money has become super tight lately. And there doesn't seem to be many low back exhausting stoves on craigslist.

What do you think my best option might be?

Snapshot_20120711.jpg
 
Hmmm.

Is there enough room to put the stove into the FP, and remove the white woody stuff? What's behind the white stuff?

Random first thoughts.

Welcome to the forums, BTW. Always nice to see another Sistah here, preggers or not :)
 
The white shelf looks like wood:eek: I would make sure there are no combustibles in it, at all. What's above the white thing? If it is stone there is probably stone behind it and the shelf would likely be easy to remove. Could you just pull the shelf off the wall and look behind it without causing damage? The FP is only 1 ft deep? Do you plan to use a liner? Don't forget the floor protection. If the shelf was removed, would the stove fit in the FP as Dixie suggested if you extended the hearth?
 
There are a few things wrong with this picture. The wood fascia appears to drape over the lintel. What is the actual height of the opening behind this fascia and how much of the opening is it covering? If is removed can the stove be set back far enough to connect to a liner? If so, will the front legs of the stove need a hearth extension support? From the picture there appears to be little or no hearth in front of this fireplace. Regardless of stove that is installed, the hearth needs to extend 16" in front of the stove glass.
 
I'd demo the white mantle and the junk supporting it. And those 3 weird drawer front thingys....the middle one looks like it has hinges on the bottom edge? But I understand you not wanting to get into a can of worms. Try some discrete demolition/holes so you can verify what/how its attached etc.
It looks like it doesn't meet proper clearances of combustibules from a fireplace opening. And agreed with the other poster, you likely need to construct a proper hearth extension.
Did you consider an insert?
To get into that flue thru the fireplace, you'll need a 90 deg bend and probably into a T, with cap at downward leg for cleanout. Not great for draft, unless your flue is tall.
Is the flue large enough to run a liner down it to connect to the stove? Or were you planning on venting it directly into the existing flue? Is the existing flue lined?
Did you get a copy of the stove's owner's manual to check the installation requirements/clearances?
 
The more I look at it, the more there are options. An insert, as suggested (good idea !), depends on the house layout (need 'um lay out/plan).

Stove in FP, with hearth extension, would work. Probably need an extension for an insert any way.

That white wood has got to go, regardless.
 
Tear all that funny looking wood down. It makes your fire place look like a desk?

That cant be there regardless of what goes in its way to close. I would not want that wood there even if i had a normal fire in the place.

wHATS behind it.. Im guessing stucco like whats above it. Thats non flamable, wood not so much and has to go!
 
Lot of comments so I will add one. That Mansfield ain't gonna work there. It is a heating beast. Not just the wood above it but the floor is a major concern. It is a fantastic wood stove but installing it there is not something you should attempt. As may have been already said I can't believe somebody was burning in that fireplace with that wood out front of it. In fact no smoke stains on the white paint says that they didn't.
 
Looks like the floor of the firebox is raised a foot off the floor. So that is keeping you from sliding back further....and limiting your height for an insert.

Looks like a tough situation requiring demo no matter what you do....hopefully the groovy brick behind is in good shape (cosmetically).
 
Thank you for all the replies. I apologize for asking for help and then disappearing.

The white wooden mantle definitely will go!

I definitely wouldn't mind demo'ing the whole thing. The groovy brick and all!
It just won't happen this year unless I cheap out on materials!

I think I know what the stucco covered bump out is made of. There seems to be 1/4" stucco then 3/4" of concrete and air. And I have no idea what the structure is farther up (wood or metal joists).

We are planning on installing a liner down the existing chimney. The house is a 1.5 story ranch so I'm guessing there is about 20-25' of interior chimney.

We still need to build a hearthpad, but that seems to be the easy part.

This stove can't fit in the fireplace...it narrows in the back and it wouldn't fit.

We thought about an insert at first, but our area loses power alot during the winter. And we wanted to get the most from the stove, so we figure out in the room with all four sides exposed has to be much better.

There is ~19" clearance on both sides to the green, wooden cabinets on either side. So they should be OK according to the owner's manual. But you have me second guessing them!

You have me dreaming of buying a sledgehammer and sending the hubbie and kids off on an errand. LOL
 
LOL !!

What about an insert that convects when there is no power? Just a thought.

How big is that FP, any ways ?
 
I have an insert, but i also have a generator to power my blower when the powers out. For $90 you can get a HF 800W generator that will power an insert blower just fine when powers out. May also run your tv as well?

When my power and neighbors is out i crank the genny up and in the winter im sitting with my feet up in an 80F room watching my Satelite TV!
 
Generators are nice in an outage, but we have week long power outages every so often. At these times, running a genny 24/7 is not an option. Especially when the gas stations also have no power. We usually run it a few hours in the morning and evenings, primarily to keep food frozen in the freezer.
 
Surely every town cant be out for a week, there has to be a town within 30 miles with power? If your area was without power that often for weeks why would anyone live there, who could run a business or why bother doing anything, you cant operate without power, no matter if your subway or a doctors office?
 
clemsonfor said:
Surely every town cant be out for a week, there has to be a town within 30 miles with power? If your area was without power that often for weeks why would anyone live there, who could run a business or why bother doing anything, you cant operate without power, no matter if your subway or a doctors office?
Click to expand...

We're 10 miles out of town. They are the first to get up and running, often days before us. If the roads are blocked or snowed in, we may not get out to town for 4-5 days. Such is life in rural America. It was the same when I lived in rural CT. Towns are many miles apart and some have no gas stations at all.

treacherous has the right idea. propane doesn't go stale. But even with propane, it's wasteful to run it round the clock. We're also in a severe earthquake zone. If a big one hits, we may be a few weeks on our own. The first to be reconnected will be the denser populated areas. We're a much lower priority. That's why we have a propane cooktop in the kitchen and a woodstove that heats the house without needing a grid-powered fan.
 
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Is it possible to open the fireplace up a little ?
Looks like you may be able to remove the lower brickwork and make a new hearth extending out into the kitchen, hard to tell from the photo but then the stove may be able to be pushed part way into the fireplace possible enabling you to use the top stovepipe.
Not sure if this would meet the regs in the US, would possibly depend on what type of floor you have.

Hope this helps.

Billy.
 
begreen said:
Generators are nice in an outage, but we have week long power outages every so often. At these times, running a genny 24/7 is not an option. Especially when the gas stations also have no power. We usually run it a few hours in the morning and evenings, primarily to keep food frozen in the freezer.
Click to expand...

Hell, the recent storm that hit the northeast a few weeks ago had people without power for about a week in many parts of Jersey.

The power goes out frequently in the Northeast. It's one of the main reasons I went with three free standing stoves as oppose to an insert for the Kitchen.
 
IIRC there were areas after the recent storm that couldn't get gas for a few days and when they could, it was rationed. Same thing happened here with our last big storm. We keep gas tanks reasonably full and try to have about 15 gallons of gas on hand at any time.
 
BrowningBAR said:
Hell, the recent storm that hit the northeast a few weeks ago had people without power for about a week in many parts of Jersey.

The power goes out frequently in the Northeast. It's one of the main reasons I went with three free standing stoves as oppose to an insert for the Kitchen.
Click to expand...
Yea my brothers inlaws live in Great falls VA. This is an Upity rich DC suburb. They were out of power for a week or so in that bad storm a month or so back. But you could find gas is my point, the whole area is not out just certain areas and neighborhoods and rural areas.
 
clemsonfor said:
Yea my brothers inlaws live in Great falls VA. This is an Upity rich DC suburb. They were out of power for a week or so in that bad storm a month or so back. But you could find gas is my point, the whole area is not out just certain areas and neighborhoods and rural areas.
Click to expand...


I will politely disagree as Atlantic City is NOT a rural area.
 
clemsonfor said:
"Atlantic city" I said Great Falls
Click to expand...

No, it's not. Atlantic City is not a rural area. It was out of power for several days. Including gas stations.

But you could find gas is my point, the whole area is not out just certain areas and neighborhoods and rural areas.
Click to expand...
 
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