Rebuilding Surround/Hearth for Insert

yukiginger said:

You've done a real nice job on the façade. I would be trying my best to fit a freestander there - preferably part way in the fireplace. I would go with the biggest stove that would fit. This, because you said you were trying to fee yourself from the oil heat. How well an insert will heat also depends on how often it can be tended, so perhaps the medium inserts will work just fine for you. I have a bias against blowers being necessary for full heat. I also don't see anything about your house size or layout. Tell your shop that you intend to heat as much of the house as possible and see what other options they might have for you. Get them to agree if you want to switch out to another one of their products after a short time that they will only charge the difference in the unit costs. (Well, that's what I would try to do if I was spending the money on a brand new unit and install with the intent of heating my entire house.)

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Thanks! That is very good info and advice but with the size of our living room and the balance of esthetics we decided on the insert. Given what we have gotten used to temp wise (keep thermostat between 58 and 62) I believe this insert will give us most of the heat we need. We will still have to use oil sometimes so I will see how good we do in reducing these costs. This will be a trial by fire. I will ask though if we would be able to do what you said and possible switch to a freestander.

weatherguy said:

What stove did you go with Haz? Looks nice, you did a nice looking job, time to get rid of the oil man.

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We went with a Regency I2400. Got what I thought was a pretty good deal on it. We had planned on a Lopi stove but that dealer really left a bad taste in our mouth and I went with the dealer that USMC80 had used in this thread. I really appreciate the positive feedback on the refacing I did. It makes the hardwork feel even more rewarding. I am enjoying how much more open the room feels now that I took about 13 inches of depth away from the old surround. Looks nicer too.

Should be installed tomorrow, cannot wait. Will post pics then!

basswidow said:

Nice looking work. Can't wait to see the stove install. What modifications are done to the fireplace damper to get the flue or liner up the chimney?

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Thanks!

For the damper I used a jig saw and metal cutting blades to cut out the old damper or whatever it was that was rotting away connected to a lever. I had a new damper put on last year (ripped off when I didn't know better at the top of our chimney that was now removed).

So the stove is in! Had 2 break in fires, going to do another one tonight. I think it looks great. The only thing is I have to redo the trim, we tried to match the floor stain but I want it to match the mantle which is dark.

On to the pics!

This is right before the install. The mantle is on, the electric is buttoned up (put in a new outlet in the mantle). Had to cut about 8 inches off the depth of mantle for it to fit. This is the original mantle. I also sealed/enhanced the slate.




After the install, before trim:



And all done! (Minus redoing trim doh!)



Ignore my wiring mess, I have to clean that all up now. Thanks for looking! I am very very pleased with how it all worked out. Even the installers were impressed. With this project a success my wife has decided I am capable of redoing our master bathroom...lol.

Oh and before shot for reference:

Just wanted to say something funny a co-worker just told me, "Great job getting it done, it's just in time for the 60 degree weather this weekend..."

begreen said:

Looks great. Now you need to dress those wire to finish the look.

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_717CMK30/Wiremold-Flat-Screen-TV-Cord-Cover-CMK30.html#details-tab
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_717CMK10/Wiremold-CordMate-Cord-Organizer-CMK10.html

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Thanks! The wires used to be somewhat managed but I kept unhooking them to do some work on the fireplace and this is our only television, wife needs her TV lol.

I just ordered some wire channel and plan on running some wires through the basement to conceal them, will post new pictures after the trim is stained and the wires and living room cleaned up.

USMC80 said:

Very nice Hazex. The wire concealers work great. Mine runs along the mantle and down the right hand side. You won't even notice it after a day. Don't worry temps gonna get real cold this week. Let us know how she performs

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That picture is great! Our dog is warming up to the fireplace, no pun intended ha. Still investigative about it but I think he will be lying like yours soon.

Just did the wire channel last night and painted it the wall color. I think it came out ok. I still need to take a picture with a real camera, my phone does terrible in low light so this is really dark.



So at this point the project is done! Going to get it fired up today since the temp is already low.

Happy Holidays everyone and thanks for looking!

SuperGenius said:

Fantastic job! I bet the room even feels bigger without that mass of brick. You've inspired me to get off my butt, and redo mine so I can finally buy an insert.

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Thank you very much! It does feel a lot bigger without the old mass of brick there. I am glad to have inspired, it was a lot of work but I definitely feel it was all worth it. Make sure you document it and post pictures!

NickDL said:

You did a great job there. I hope that you're happy with how everything turned.

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Thank you very much as well! I am very happy especially now that we are getting a lot of heat from it. I have to play with it more but I am wondering if I have TOO good of a draft because even with the air control closed all the way we still get some decent flames which I think is eating the wood. But last night I really packed her full and this morning the house was 64 degrees and I had very hot coals which was nice, just put some small splits in which caught and got it going good again before work.

We had family over for Christmas Eve and it felt good getting such positive feedback from everyone plus they all loved the warmth it produced, was a nice night.