1st break in fire in Hearthstone Homestead.

[Dakotas Dad]

OK, so we went from fireplace to wood stove...


to get the full story (in pictures) of how it has gone so far.. see our album here.. http://tinyurl.com/ylye7l5


we welcome all questions, comments, etc..

 

[Highbeam]

Even when I click on your link it is dead. Can't really blame the hearth site for that.

Will check back later though, can't wait to see the change.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Only here have I not been able to just link straight from PB.. don't know why, but figured out how to attach them straight from my 'puter, so it's all good. ;-)

 

[BrowningBAR]

Only here have I not been able to just link straight from PB.. don't know why, but figured out how to attach them straight from my 'puter, so it's all good. ;-)

The link worked for me. Nice install.

 

[Highbeam]

The new link works great.

So I'm going through your photos and the hearth is square out front and then all of the sudden, the corners are cut at 45s. What happened? I wish I had done the 45s.

How did you like working with the metal studs? I hated them.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

So I'm going through your photos and the hearth is square out front and then all of the sudden, the corners are cut at 45s. What happened? I wish I had done the 45s.

How did you like working with the metal studs? I hated them.

Well, one night we looked at it, and thought about the fact that just to the left of that big old hearth is a door we take two Golden's out 20 times a day, and sooner or later we would kick the thing and break a toe... so 10'oclock at night we got the shop vac and saw out, cut the laminated concrete board off, then the next morning, dremeled the steel studs out and added back in some wood 2x4 corners. was easy as pie.

The metal studs are something I think it will take a few times with to get sorted out. I am a school trained carpenter and cabinet maker, so the lay out and all that was no big deal, but the demensions, and flexibility of the steel stuff baffled me a few times. It didn't help that we were trying to work to the footprint of the original fireplace install, and it was not as centered as I would have liked. Truthfully, the "hardest" part so far was the fact that I felt I *had* to have the rock wool batting for insulation under the stove. I don't know how it is in the rest of the country, but that stuff is rare as hen's teeth in central Kentucky.

 

[thinkxingu]

Dakotas Dad, that looks real nice--we've loved ours this winter, 71* in, 20* out right now, and hope you do too.

Good luck!

S

 

[thinkxingu]

By the way, one quick thing: there is a HUGE difference in the amount of heat the stove puts out at different temperatures. I'm not sure if all stoves put out heat exponentially, but at 300-400, the Homestead will keep our house temps stable whereas 400-500 will raise the temps. When it's around 550, the house will rocket up quickly.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

By the way, one quick thing: there is a HUGE difference in the amount of heat the stove puts out at different temperatures. I'm not sure if all stoves put out heat exponentially, but at 300-400, the Homestead will keep our house temps stable whereas 400-500 will raise the temps. When it's around 550, the house will rocket up quickly.

thanks for the heads up, she will want to keep the stove at 575, based on your experience..lol.

oh, and when we get the rest of our tile done this week, you (thinkxingu) will like the tile. we have a custom tile with Henry Ford's quote to inset in our field.

 

[Highbeam]

I will agree with the stone's heating qualities. I can cruise all day during a colder day at 400 or lower and not overheat the house but as soon as it runs up to 450 the house temp starts to climb. I'm not quite sure why that is, it seems to be a bigger difference than when you add 50 degrees to a steel stove. It takes a lot of work to get the stone stoves up to 550+ and you only should need to do that if it's super cold out and you let the house ool down too far before starting the fire.

I would like to cut the corners of my square hearth but then I would worry that the two layers of durock (just like yours) would not be attached to the new corner studs and might lift off.

What made you think you needed rock wool? The owner's manual for your stove allows dead air space which gives a very high R-value. I didn't fill my stud cavity with anything. I should have left a treasure in there like a beer bottle.

 

[kenwit]

Great sequence of photos. Thanks for taking the time to post. How's the heat so far?

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I will agree with the stone's heating qualities. I can cruise all day during a colder day at 400 or lower and not overheat the house but as soon as it runs up to 450 the house temp starts to climb. I'm not quite sure why that is, it seems to be a bigger difference than when you add 50 degrees to a steel stove. It takes a lot of work to get the stone stoves up to 550+ and you only should need to do that if it's super cold out and you let the house ool down too far before starting the fire.

I would like to cut the corners of my square hearth but then I would worry that the two layers of durock (just like yours) would not be attached to the new corner studs and might lift off.

What made you think you needed rock wool? The owner's manual for your stove allows dead air space which gives a very high R-value. I didn't fill my stud cavity with anything. I should have left a treasure in there like a beer bottle.

I just cut 2x's to fit, and screwed them down to the subfloor with pocket holes, then drove the same type screws down thru the two layers into the 2x's.

For my install, I needed a min. r value of 6.6, so I needed a lot of insulation, the manual does allow "air gap" but only in 1/8th inch increaments, and they cannot be "stacked" so to build up my r value I would have had to figure out how to get multiple 1/8th air gaps.. seperated by "something". I decided I didn't want to even try to figure that out. I wanted rock wool because it is listed in the manual, and has an r value of 3.1 something per inch.. so 3.5 inches gives me tons of non-combustible insulation. After talking with the county inspector, he told me regular unfaced fiberglass bat was fine.. I don't need an inspection, he is a buddy.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Dakota says he does not know what "HeatLife" is.. but he likes it!

 

[lazeedan]

Nice install. We love our Homestead. I hope you do to.

 

[Highbeam]

For my install, I needed a min. r value of 6.6, so I needed a lot of insulation, the manual does allow "air gap" but only in 1/8th inch increaments, and they cannot be "stacked" so to build up my r value I would have had to figure out how to get multiple 1/8th air gaps.. seperated by "something". I decided I didn't want to even try to figure that out. I wanted rock wool because it is listed in the manual, and has an r value of 3.1 something per inch.. so 3.5 inches gives me tons of non-combustible insulation. After talking with the county inspector, he told me regular unfaced fiberglass bat was fine.. I don't need an inspection, he is a buddy.

I actually researched this and found that you CAN stack the air gaps just like you can stack inches of fiberglass. I got this from the actual Hearthstone tech because I "stacked" my air gap to 3.5 inches. In the end either method will work but to anyone reading this in preparation to build their own, you can stack air gaps per Hearthstone.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

For my install, I needed a min. r value of 6.6, so I needed a lot of insulation, the manual does allow "air gap" but only in 1/8th inch increaments, and they cannot be "stacked" so to build up my r value I would have had to figure out how to get multiple 1/8th air gaps.. seperated by "something". I decided I didn't want to even try to figure that out. I wanted rock wool because it is listed in the manual, and has an r value of 3.1 something per inch.. so 3.5 inches gives me tons of non-combustible insulation. After talking with the county inspector, he told me regular unfaced fiberglass bat was fine.. I don't need an inspection, he is a buddy.

I actually researched this and found that you CAN stack the air gaps just like you can stack inches of fiberglass. I got this from the actual Hearthstone tech because I "stacked" my air gap to 3.5 inches. In the end either method will work but to anyone reading this in preparation to build their own, you can stack air gaps per Hearthstone.

Highbeam has a different stove then myself, and I don't really feeling like doing a ton of research on a stove I don't own, so I am just going to add this note: My guess is, in case of a fire or loss, my insurance company IS going to read the manual if the stove is suspect, so I did my very best to follow that document and exceed every minimum, but on the air stacking...

in case someone reads this in the interest of hearth construction, for the Hearthstone Homestead, this is taken directly from the manual for that stove:

Page 10:

Note: You cannot “stack” horizontal still air to accumulate R-values; you must separate each layer of horizontal still air with another noncombustible material.

To fabricate a floor protector for a wood floor with an R-value of at least 2.5, consider the following examples:
½” ceramic board 1.10
8” horizontal still air 0.92
1 According to Intertek Testing Services, Inc.
2 According to ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals 1977
10

 

[Highbeam]

Wow, I didn't know your stove's manual said that. I wonder if Hearthstone made a change? I talked to Jim C from Hearthstone and my manual has no such line.

You're right. Good job.

 

[BrowningBAR]

For my install, I needed a min. r value of 6.6, so I needed a lot of insulation, the manual does allow "air gap" but only in 1/8th inch increaments, and they cannot be "stacked" so to build up my r value I would have had to figure out how to get multiple 1/8th air gaps.. seperated by "something". I decided I didn't want to even try to figure that out. I wanted rock wool because it is listed in the manual, and has an r value of 3.1 something per inch.. so 3.5 inches gives me tons of non-combustible insulation. After talking with the county inspector, he told me regular unfaced fiberglass bat was fine.. I don't need an inspection, he is a buddy.

I actually researched this and found that you CAN stack the air gaps just like you can stack inches of fiberglass. I got this from the actual Hearthstone tech because I "stacked" my air gap to 3.5 inches. In the end either method will work but to anyone reading this in preparation to build their own, you can stack air gaps per Hearthstone.

Highbeam has a different stove then myself, and I don't really feeling like doing a ton of research on a stove I don't own, so I am just going to add this note: My guess is, in case of a fire or loss, my insurance company IS going to read the manual if the stove is suspect, so I did my very best to follow that document and exceed every minimum, but on the air stacking...

in case someone reads this in the interest of hearth construction, for the Hearthstone Homestead, this is taken directly from the manual for that stove:

Page 10:

Note: You cannot “stack” horizontal still air to accumulate R-values; you must separate each layer of horizontal still air with another noncombustible material.

To fabricate a floor protector for a wood floor with an R-value of at least 2.5, consider the following examples:
½” ceramic board 1.10
8” horizontal still air 0.92
1 According to Intertek Testing Services, Inc.
2 According to ASHRAE Handbook of Fundamentals 1977
10

Interesting. The floor protection information is different for the Heritage. Page 7 states:

Floor protector’s come with various types of specifications. To convert a floor protector’s specification to an R-value, do one of the following:
• If the R-value is given, use that value—no conversion is needed.
• If a K-factor is given with a required thickness (T) in inches, use this formula: R-value = 1/K x T
• If a C-factor is given, use the formula: R-value = 1/C

To determine the R-value of the proposed alternate floor protector:
• Use either the K-factor or the C-factor formula explained above to convert specifications not expressed as R-values.
• For multiple layers of floor protectors, simply add the R-values of each layer to determine the overall R-value of the layers.

If the overall R-value of your setup is greater than the R-value of the specified floor protector, then your setup is acceptable.

Also note:
The Manual date on the Heritage is 10/01/08
The Manual date on the Homestead is 07/17/09

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Ok, tile work around the faux firebox is up.. it looks fantastic in person.. out to the shop I go to start on the mantel..

 

[Highbeam]

Did you buy the blower? How does it work?

That's a great custom tile. How did you prevent the tiles from sliding off the face while the thinset was wet? I see you back buttered each tile, ugh, that must have been tedious.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

Did you buy the blower? How does it work?

Yes we got the blower, we needed the heat shield anyways, so figured we might as well get the blower too.. seems to work fine, pretty quiet compared to the blower that was on the fireplace, I can't really give an opinion of heat output with/without, because we just turned it on, and when the fire box gets about 200, the fan kicks on. We have not had a fire without it yet.

That's a great custom tile. How did you prevent the tiles from sliding off the face while the thinset was wet? I see you back buttered each tile, ugh, that must have been tedious.

Tedious.. yes, but easier then trying to carefully mud the wall exactly where the tile needed to go, then set them.. There is a steel lintel piece that I made that runs all the way around the "firebox".. gives the tile a finished edge, and I was able to just let the top runs rest on it.. other then that it's just the spacers and the thinset.

BTW, I decided on the lintel edge look after I discovered that as expensive as buying reproduction arts and crafts tile can be, buying bullnose reproduction arts and crafts tiles will give a healthy man a heart attack. The green field tiles were about $3 a tile.. bullnose tiles were 3.5 times that, and we would have needed 33 tiles.. we actually wanted to go three wide on the sides also, but were two tiles short of whats in a box to do it, and I wasn't going to buy a whole 'nother 12sqft box of custom tiles at $27 a square foot + shipping, for two tiles.
The chop wood tile was $75 by itself, and there are two more reproduction tiles that will go into the mantel itself, that were even more..

Sure glad I am going to get "heat for free..."

 

[mendes9]

Dakotas Dad, I just purchased a homestead, and I should be burning wood this weekend hopefully. I noticed something on your pics, mine came with an OVAL to round 6" adapter. Your looks like it's 6" round right out of the stove. Mine out of the stove is OVAL, then Hearthstone provides an oval to round adapter. It doesn't seal at all, I'm going to have to use some cement in order for it to seal. Here is what mine looks like this, I think it's terrible. Wish it had a nice 6" round right out of the stove like the Heritage.

 

[Dakotas Dad]

I have a "close clearance" or "compact oval to round adapter" the part number is in the manual. It offsets the stove forward a bit also, it comes on the hearth model and not on the freestanding.. You probably have taller legs on yours than mine also..