Hearthstone Homestead rebuild & firebrick questions

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wahoowamf

New Member
Oct 7, 2014
2
Shenandoah Valley, VA
Hello forum,
Great site! I've enjoyed using all of the information here to begin installing an alternative to baseboard heat. So, I've torn apart an older Homestead I just bought ($500 +450 shipping) and have several questions:

#1: One of the rear firebricks is cracked in half and there is a retrofit "rear brick kit" (95-83700) to replace it. Sounds like it is 2 4x9" standard bricks and an 8" channel steel spacer (5957-000). Rather than waste $43 (plus it's on backorder), I'd rather waste my time looking for the width of the steel channel and do it myself. Any folks out there with a newer Homestead willing to take a look under their hood? The other thought is to cement the two original pieces back together and worry about it next summer.

#2: All of the steel splines have been wrapped in flat tape and then embedded in cement. The tech docs I've seen on replacing soapstone panels don't mention this tape. Is this an obsolete assembly method or should I put it back the way I found it? Is it to account for steel expanding and contracting at a significantly different rate than the stove cement? There was also a gasket embedded in cement between the top and sides...

#3: Any experience cold welding cast iron? I've got a 3" small crack on the rear panel. I've put a hole at the end of it to stop it from growing and am planning on using Blue Magic Quiksteel Xtreme to close it up after grooving and cleaning. Anyone else think this is a good idea?

Thanks!
 
Did you ever get the dimensions of the spacer ? I saw bricks avail for about $27.00 but need to be cut.
 
Well I don't know your stove but I will tell you this, I also just bought a used Hearthstone Phoenix I for about the same money. When I got it home and really looked at it, it requires a complete rebuild. The fire brick they sell on line with part numbers are a huge rip off. I bought all new standard size bricks from ACE hardware and will cut them to fit my stove at a fraction of the cost, under $50 bucks total. Now I also had cracks in the soapstone and I was going to just try and patch it with cement after getting prices on line. Guess what, I went to see my local dealer, they ordered them for me at half the on line price, half. I ended up getting 5 new stones. I guess what I'm saying is, look around, really look around. When I'm done it will very close to a brand new stove at just over $1200 including the stove cost. For me that's a huge saving. Good luck with your project, it will be worth it in the end. Mike
 
Wet tile saw, no problem but you can also cut them with a hacksaw. Never tried that but I'm sure it works. Soaking them first helps. You can buy a wet tile saw for 60 bucks on ebay, I had one because of the hearth I built. Still way cheaper than buying that part number stuff and when you need to replace them you have the saw. Look up cutting firebrick on You tube, there are a few video's
 
Never got the dimension of the spacer - I ended up furnace cementing the firebrick back together (as well as a soapstone panel I broke in half chipping cement off) and it's been fine for 6 weeks of burning.

I used the Blue magic to cold weld the crack... worked for a bit, but seems to be flaking out slowly. Also tried it to rebuild up the inner door frame as the latch has worn through a significant amount of metal. That wore off pretty quickly. Might try using it to glue on a piece of metal at some point. There isn't anyone out there looking to sell the inner frame and/or new style latch for a Homestead is there?? :)
 
I looked at taking ours to a machine shop (if it failed) and having it milled back in a step pattern and then drill and tap a hole and make a replaceable stop. But I never had any problems with it, and neither has the new owner, so far.
 
FYI I just had two secondaries made here locally because they were $200 each to buy. Bought the stainless pipe on Ebay for $30 and then had a local shop drill and weld both for $100. You can get anything made and probably cheaper.
 
froggybottom said:
FYI I just had two secondaries made here locally because they were $200 each to buy. Bought the stainless pipe on Ebay for $30 and then had a local shop drill and weld both for $100. You can get anything made and probably cheaper.
Click to expand...

Be interesting to know the length of those tubes. Replacement ones for an Englander 30 are $28.75 apiece and available with the holes at four different angles. About 19" long and all you would have to do is cut the retainer off of one end.
 
Just a tip for cutting brick...get a blade for your skilsaw or miter saw and it will work fine. Soak the bricks in water for a 1/2 hour or so then cut. Cuts down on dust and keeps the blade cool.
 
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