Lintel Removal OR Damper Plate

I've gotten so much help from my awesome hearth.com compatriots that I thought I'd offer another problem for you to solve!!

I've been toying with the idea of removing my lintel (or part of it) to make room for any stove I might want to buy (removing the lintel pushes me from 28.5" to 37.5" for the fireplace height and a lot of stoves are around 35" tall to the flue connector.)

If this is not possible, I'll just stick with my current configuration and make a damper plate for my fireplace, as I have fiberglass insulation now, which seems kind of weak, right?

So, to start it off, here are some pictures of my lintel, damper frame and hearth. I've also shown the width of the bricks of my fireplace/hearth for reference:



What is the motivation for this? I am kind of enticed by the idea of just opening up my fireplace before installing my new stove. I've sort of settled on the Jotul Oslo, b/c I think it would work well, but I fell in love with the Woostock Progress Hybrid, AND I am still enticed by the Blaze King Princess as well.

The Oslo will fit right now as long as I add a hearth pad of some sort (maybe I can just make one out of cement board and tile to come out 18" - hearth height + height of hearth pad?)

To get the Progress Hybrid to fit I'd have to extend the brick hearth pad out by 4.5-5 inches, as the depth of the hearth pad is only 20 3/8". My fireplace width is 33 3/4" (pretty good size for most stoves.)

My hearth bricks seem to be going below the floor, so if I take out my hearth I'll have to build it up a few inches I think. Can I just cut out my lintel and the damper frame I've tried to show on the pictures here?

Right below the hardwood floor in front of my hearth pad is a double 2X6 frame in the basement that goes around the hearth. The hearth goes all the way to the basement floor and is solid brick. Can a row of bricks be added on top of my hardwood floor to help support the Progress Hybrid or is that unstable?

Am I making any sense?

Boiler74 said:

You sure the Woodstock Fireview wouldn't be better suited to the space than the PH? Seems that room might be a bit small for the PH, and your hearth size lends itself better to a smaller stove.

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You might be right. I like the idea of the Fireview, but I find it very unattractive looking. I just don't think I can get past that. It's the "Persian-themed" window opening that pushes me away every time I look at the stove. I'm also concerned it isn't big enough.

I'll see if I can find a reputable mason who can give me some advice and a quote for various modifications.

I attempted using the woodstove sizing guide from Woodstock's website: http://www.woodstove.com/pages/guidepdfs/woodstove_sizing.pdf

and came up with an estimated square footage after ceiling adjustment of 1775 sq ft, (that is spread evenly over my downstairs and upstairs.) As you can see, my living room is small, but it is very open, and I have a ceiling fan on in there on reverse all of the time, pushing heat out as well. It doesn't seem to get too hot with a pretty hot woodstove.

I also followed the part of the guide talking about BTUs and came up with an estimate of 46K to 57K BUTs per/hr for my heating zone, insulation level, comfort level, draftiness of house, etc. So, I assumed I'd want a stove that had the capability of at least 60K and up to higher would be ok.

Maybe I should just go with the Jotul Oslo. I seem to be coming back to that as a safe, easier to install choice that will probably work fine. Why do I have to make things complicated!?

Yeah, I really like that installation. It could be a longterm goal if nothing else, as long as I get a stove that fits the current configuration in the meantime.

Nick Mystic said:

You need to pay close attention to your fireplace and chimney construction before you start trying to remove the lentil you're talking about. The lentil is a structural component in many cases and when it is removed the bricks above it could come tumbling down! The lentil is supporting the weight of the bricks that are placed above it. As mentioned earlier a competent mason would be able to inspect your current set up and advise you accordingly. Good Luck. As far as weight is concerned regarding adding more brick on top of your wooden floor in order to support a new stove, that's something that you need to think carefully about, as well. You said, "Right below the hardwood floor in front of my hearth pad is a double 2X6 frame in the basement that goes around the hearth." Do you mean that the current hearth pad is framed with these 2x6s, but actually sits on your subfloor and joist system? If so, you are already carrying a fair amount of weight on those joists. If you add more brick to extend the hearth pad and then place a 700 lb. stove on top of it, you're starting to talk about some serious weight. Can you add some posts down below in the basement to shore things up?

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I don't plan on cutting into anything! Here is a picture of the hearth as it extends all the way down to the basement floor. Then, I took a shot of the upper right corner where the joists do frame around the hearth. I suppose to do it right you would have to remove the framing joists and install new ones further back and then build out the hearth from below so that it is flush with the hardwood floor upstairs, right? Joful gave me some tips on that in a private post.