Q&A Missing Fire Brick

Question:

The house I'm purchasing has a missing fire brick in he small Timberline woodstove in the basement. The place that is missing the brick is on the left side, in the top row 2, second from the front of the stove. My questions are, is this a hazard if I do not replace it? And how do I go about fastening it to the side of the stove if I do replace it? I saw that the first bring in the row had a flange of metal bent around it, but there does not appear to be any metal around the spot for the second brick in the row.



Answer:

Most of these stoves use a "split" fire brick, which is 1 1/4" thick. It's available at most masonry supply yards. If the brick is 2 1/2" inches thick, then you have "full thick".

It is probably not a hazard to leave it out. These early stoves were way overbuilt (that stove is 20 years old), and the brick just serves to protect the steel again excess heat and possible warping.

Most of these liners are held in by small angles that are welded to the inside of the stove. It's possible that the small angle has fell out, in which case it will be difficult to replace the brick.

If it were my stove, I'd simply leave it out