Hearthstone Heritage Relined/Sealed firebox with Rutland Cement

Hi all I am brand new to this forum. I have read lots and I love it. I am and always have been a fire and heat enthusiasts. I would like to say hello to all of the nice helpful people here. Your words and kind/knowledgeable advice are an inspiration to me.

Recently I bought my first wood burning stove. I have not yet installed the stove but have began plans for its use Including cutting and splitting wood 6 months ago. Most of my wood is Ash from a tree cut down two years ago!

Getting to my topic. I recently bought a hearthstone heritage soapstone stove. It is beautiful! It is more than I dreamed. I bought it used. It was built in Oct 2001. It is in great condition. I re-gasketed all the doors. But today was the big one. I sealed the stove in Rutland (new) grey cement. The stove had two lose soapstones on the bottom of the firebox (under the stones is 1/4 cast iron). I sealed all the corners bottom and sides, attached the bottom soapstones to the cast iron bottom, and secured the bottom portion of the ash grate. The bottom half of the ash grate was not securely in place when I bought the stove.

I thought you would all be interested in my pictures. I have been waiting and wanting to join this forum and now here goes. I will try my best to put up my pictures here. Thanks.

By the way...Putting in the cement was changing to say the least, it was a growing experience. When using this cement it is crucial to have a bucket of water near by. The best thing to do is thin it out with water. Also get your hands nice and wet so that it is easy to spread the cement (like mud or tile grout) in the stove without it sticking to your hands so much.

All comments and suggestions are welcomed. I noticed a little fire burn in the corners of the stove and figured air was entering these spots. I sealed the stove with the cement. I tried not to go over board. I hope I prevented all the leaks and improved my stoves integrity too.

http://quinnhearth.snapfish.com/comcast2

Ryan

P.S. The grey inside the stove is the cement I spread today. fyi

Thanks all for welcoming me. Here is a link to my pictures. You will not need to register to see them there. http://good-times.webshots.com/album/560792336AvuGrC

Yes the heritage is a beautiful piece of work. I am fortunate to have run into this one for sale. I bought it from Bill Brown at Grass Roots Energy in Wauconda, IL.

Highbeam said:

Wow, great job. You must have used a lot of cement. Did you grout the outside too? I had lots of the original Hearthstone cement bubble up and fall off. Will the stucco'd cement spall off? It looks great, lots of time surely.

Click to expand...

No Highbeam, I did not grout the outside. I did grout the inside bottom of the firebox (in between the joints of the stones).

A little history about the cement. I read carefully the many types of stove/furnace products Rutland makes and determined the one I needed. This particular cement withstands temps of 2700 f. The cement is recommended on stone-to-stone-, stone-to-metal, and metal-to-metal connections. I hope this is the right stuff. It wasn't too expensive either. I think the cost of three half pints was $8.50 at Menard's. Throughout the season and into the spring I will be watching carefully evaluating how the cement holds and post for everyone the outcome.

I chipped away and scraped any lose cement, ash, and creosote before applying the cement. The old cement on the back wall was half bubbled up especially along the joints of the stones. My main concern was attaching the bottom stones inside the firebox and sealing the corners where in the back right corner it appeared air was entering. Re-cementing the back was an extra.

I don't mine taking a few hours or more caring for the stove if it means better performance and longer useful lifetime. I enjoyed it!

gtg