Installing a hearthstone homestead in front of my fireplace

[wolinski]

My fire place is a masonry fireplace, made of bricks, the fire box is made of metal. It has 4 small openings about foot away from the fire box, 2 at the bottom and 2 at the top. When I Look into the openings it looks like the air can go in from the bottom and out thru the top openings( not sure if this is making sense) its not a heatalator from the descriptions i read of those.

Well here is my issue, I put durock over the brick and tiled with marble on top of that, covering the 4 openings. I will be installing a Hearthstone homestead on the hearth pad in front of the t fireplace and it will vent thru a tee into flex pipe up thru the fireplace chimney. I will also be using a souround for the stove . Did I make a mistake by covering the vents on the front of the chimney. It must have been built in the 60s.

The second question is the damper plate was easy to remove, but the damper opening will have to be cut to allow a 6inch flex pipe to fit thru. How hard is it to cut the damper opening.

 

[paulie]

do you have pictures? It sounds like you will be ok. I too installed a Hearthstone Homestead in front of a fire place. Enjoy it it's a very nice stove and puts out alot of heat

 

[wolinski]

Thanks, my wife is worried that we will burn down the house. From what I gather the openings that I covered with durock and Marble tile are for natural convection heating. They are open to an area above the fire box. They do not connect to the chimney or firebox directly, just to each other or behind the firebox. Will there be a build up of heat in this open area around the firebox.

I am tempted to drill holes where I think the vents were. Any other advice would be helpful

 

[Ithaca]

It sounds like we have the same fireplace, or something similar. I also installed a Homestead on the hearth.

I wouldn't worry about the heatilators (that's what I think they are.. cool air from floor flows over metal firebox and out the top).

My damper/firebox was a bear to cut to allow the flex pipe. I was using the wrong type of Sawzall blade though. So beg, borrow or steal a Sawzaw and make sure you have the correct blade for the thickness of the metal you are cutting. It shouldn't be too bad but will be messy.

Plan out your block off plate. I had some trouble and had to redo mine because I 'winged it'. I suggest you put the block off plate ABOVE the T assembly. This may seem obvious but I didn't realize how tall the T was and much cursing developed as a result.

Good luck.

 

[gpcollen1]

Those are just big metal boxes inside a masonry fireplace. Those vents will blow cold air when the stove is not in use. I have mine stuffed with insulation to prevent that. I suppose covering them will be fine.

As for cutting - it was a bear cutting into the smoke shelf b/c it is not just on flat piece of metal but a corner of a metal box. So you need to cut down and back and then across at some point. Then I just pounded the metal down - so I did not actually remove any of the metal.

All in all - it was a big pain but doable. I think a grinder would be preferable to a sawzall - and a torch may be the best choice.

 

[wolinski]

I read the manual for my stove, I ordered it in July and still havnet gotten it, it says not to cover any venting holes. Some of the posts I have seen say dont cover and some say ok to cover.

Re the damper, when you cut , you cut towards the back of the fireplace, does it leave a hole since it sounds like it is just corner of a box as you say ?

 

[gpcollen1]

Yeah - there will be a hole of sorts - that you could seal or weld or something if you wanted too.

I do not have any issues in blocking the vent holes on mine. That is my decision. You will have to make yours.

 

[bfunk13]

Damper and firebox cutting is a major pain in the ass.
I did my own because i refused to pay what the dealer wanted.
I used the grinder and sawzall, but ended up using a torch to get
the majority of the metal cut. Keep in mind you will be shooting sparks
and hot metal between your masonry chimney and the firebox.
Who knows what is back there, i did have some creosote catch fire.

Brad

 

[wolinski]

thanks for all your replies, basesd on the amount of fun i may have cutting the damper, i might try to take my round 6" pipe an ovalize it- if that dont work , its cutting time.

as far as the masonary fireplace with the metal box with the openings doesnt sound like a an issue, if it was a prefabricated system- zero clearance factory built fire place it would be an issue covering up the vent holes.

It doesnt sound like an issue in my case, I am going to check with hearthstone and see what they say. My wife has to be assured the house wont burn down.