I wanted to warn anyone in the western Pa, (Westmoreland Co), area to be careful in choosing who they contract to do there work as far as fireplace installs and chimney relines.
Let's start with how I located the contractor, craigslist. The 1st signal should have been when he couldn't even purchase the material and had to have me call an internet supplier and use my credit card to order the material. Also, allowing him to order additional material for his own personal use, big mistake
His initial contact didn't involve any measuring or any itemized list of work. Just boastful promises.
So, since he tells me he's done 100's of installs I figure he must be a pro and doesn't need to measure etc. He tells me he'll install my insert and reline my chimney, be in and out in 4 hrs. Well, it takes that long for him to butcher my damper plate out of my masonary fireplace. About now, I'm getting concerned. So I pick up the installation manual for the 1402 Napolean and start to ask a few questions. I ask should I use a grate with this stove? He says oh yeah. I point out that on page 1 it says not to use a grate or elevate the wood in anyway. He leaves, call #1, the blowers won't come on, he has to return. Call #2, I read the manual some more ad see 28" of clearance to combustables above, (mantle), required. I have 19" to a wood mantle with a recessed flourescent light fixture that was so hot I couldn't touch it directly above the insert. He returns and installs heat shield on mantle. Call #3, I continue to read manual, no block off plate installed. After a few days, he returns. Has some flimsy razor sharp stainless which after 3 trys he manages to piece together a 2 piece form of a block off plate with a couple of screws holding it and a few handfuls of furnace cement. I really need to pull the surround off and take some pics of this job for all of your amusement.
Let' continue, this ain't finished yet. I was having trouble with the glass smoking up in the lower left corner. Oh it's the wood, oh it's not hot enough. Well bought a thermo and a moisture meter. Not the wood, temps up to 575 F? Appears a different contractor who did a fantastic job on my basement looks at the door and says the gasket is separated at the bottom. I glue it, presto, problem solved.
Well about now my confidence in this so called professional is not even on the scale. I start to look at everything. Call #4, I have a 2x6 wood trim around my hearth extension that the insert sits on. It's so close to the stove that when you pull the draft lever out it sticks out past it. The manual says 48". He returns, removes wood, leaves hearth extension unfinished.
A month goes by. I want to check my liner and see I am burning ok. I go up on the roof and see what looks like a dryer vent pipe sticking out of my tile chimney not even cut smooth, jagged edges etc. I remove the cap and start to run thepoly brush down and feel this liner moving back and forth in my tile chimney. I wonder if my liner is going to push against the razor sharp make-shift block off plate he made and slice it. I wonder why my liner is so thin and flimsy compared to the job the other contractor did on my other basement flue. I wonder how if he insulated and thermixed my flue that this liner is moving at all? Call #5, I get told the liner is the best, a Dura Flex 316 Ti, lifetime guarantee. The top of the chimney is sealed with a handful of insulation not the entire as discussed. I ask for receipts for liner to prove what it is, none provided.
My surround vibrates so loud at around 400 - 450 F that you have to turn it down on low and push against it to quiet it down. The side covers on the air intakes vibrate and pop off occassionally which explains what I intially thoughts was a loud ping and the stove cracking. I guess the lesser of two evils.
I seen this guy is now advertising on this site too and while I will follow up my complaints to the appropriate authorities I don't want to see anyone else go through what I have dealt with. If his claim is true that he has installed 100"s then there are most likely some people who need to back check his work for safety sake. It won't be hard to figure out which business he is because when you read an ad with the worst grammar you have ever seen you'll know who he is. Trust me, his work is as poor as his grammar.
Trust me, BUY FROM A DEALER. I did on my 2nd job and it is flawless.
My patience has been pushed almost to the max. I want the job completed correctly and am willing to work with this individual. If he is unable to complete the work correctly with a reasonable time I will most definitely be filing complaints with the BBB as well as the Attorney Generals Office and Consumer Affairs.
Please, just be careful who you deal with. Times are tough and the bait and switch game is in full force in Westmoreland Co PA.
Let's start with how I located the contractor, craigslist. The 1st signal should have been when he couldn't even purchase the material and had to have me call an internet supplier and use my credit card to order the material. Also, allowing him to order additional material for his own personal use, big mistake
His initial contact didn't involve any measuring or any itemized list of work. Just boastful promises.
So, since he tells me he's done 100's of installs I figure he must be a pro and doesn't need to measure etc. He tells me he'll install my insert and reline my chimney, be in and out in 4 hrs. Well, it takes that long for him to butcher my damper plate out of my masonary fireplace. About now, I'm getting concerned. So I pick up the installation manual for the 1402 Napolean and start to ask a few questions. I ask should I use a grate with this stove? He says oh yeah. I point out that on page 1 it says not to use a grate or elevate the wood in anyway. He leaves, call #1, the blowers won't come on, he has to return. Call #2, I read the manual some more ad see 28" of clearance to combustables above, (mantle), required. I have 19" to a wood mantle with a recessed flourescent light fixture that was so hot I couldn't touch it directly above the insert. He returns and installs heat shield on mantle. Call #3, I continue to read manual, no block off plate installed. After a few days, he returns. Has some flimsy razor sharp stainless which after 3 trys he manages to piece together a 2 piece form of a block off plate with a couple of screws holding it and a few handfuls of furnace cement. I really need to pull the surround off and take some pics of this job for all of your amusement.
Let' continue, this ain't finished yet. I was having trouble with the glass smoking up in the lower left corner. Oh it's the wood, oh it's not hot enough. Well bought a thermo and a moisture meter. Not the wood, temps up to 575 F? Appears a different contractor who did a fantastic job on my basement looks at the door and says the gasket is separated at the bottom. I glue it, presto, problem solved.
Well about now my confidence in this so called professional is not even on the scale. I start to look at everything. Call #4, I have a 2x6 wood trim around my hearth extension that the insert sits on. It's so close to the stove that when you pull the draft lever out it sticks out past it. The manual says 48". He returns, removes wood, leaves hearth extension unfinished.
A month goes by. I want to check my liner and see I am burning ok. I go up on the roof and see what looks like a dryer vent pipe sticking out of my tile chimney not even cut smooth, jagged edges etc. I remove the cap and start to run thepoly brush down and feel this liner moving back and forth in my tile chimney. I wonder if my liner is going to push against the razor sharp make-shift block off plate he made and slice it. I wonder why my liner is so thin and flimsy compared to the job the other contractor did on my other basement flue. I wonder how if he insulated and thermixed my flue that this liner is moving at all? Call #5, I get told the liner is the best, a Dura Flex 316 Ti, lifetime guarantee. The top of the chimney is sealed with a handful of insulation not the entire as discussed. I ask for receipts for liner to prove what it is, none provided.
My surround vibrates so loud at around 400 - 450 F that you have to turn it down on low and push against it to quiet it down. The side covers on the air intakes vibrate and pop off occassionally which explains what I intially thoughts was a loud ping and the stove cracking. I guess the lesser of two evils.
I seen this guy is now advertising on this site too and while I will follow up my complaints to the appropriate authorities I don't want to see anyone else go through what I have dealt with. If his claim is true that he has installed 100"s then there are most likely some people who need to back check his work for safety sake. It won't be hard to figure out which business he is because when you read an ad with the worst grammar you have ever seen you'll know who he is. Trust me, his work is as poor as his grammar.
Trust me, BUY FROM A DEALER. I did on my 2nd job and it is flawless.
My patience has been pushed almost to the max. I want the job completed correctly and am willing to work with this individual. If he is unable to complete the work correctly with a reasonable time I will most definitely be filing complaints with the BBB as well as the Attorney Generals Office and Consumer Affairs.
Please, just be careful who you deal with. Times are tough and the bait and switch game is in full force in Westmoreland Co PA.
I am sure it is fine for wood burning. Most of them are fine for wood in the size. They will seem thin and it will be jagged when cut. Not much one can do to prevent that. If you have the lifetime warranty than you need that documentation. That would piss me off! Normal protocol is to insulate the top and sometimes bottom. Some people want the entire thing insulated, but it isn't really super important. 
Would save you a bunch of money and you could brag to everyone about how you installed yourself. Installers....Don't need no stinking installers! 
