New Jotul Kennebec pic

An attempt here to post the before and after installation photos. If they don't come thru, I'll try again!
Before is with gas logs and cover removed. Also, original owner had some kind of hollow fireplace grate system with vents and blower, circa 1970's?

After installation photo, with cleaned up brick face, removed mantle (too low for stove specs). I'm looking for some ideas to replace the mantle, maybe using existing mounting holes. Maybe a custom wrought iron mantle? Or, a MO HEAT boar head?

Anyway, thanks to all you folks out there for the great advice and interesting post over the last year! I've learned alot. And thanks for hosting, Craig.

I just had the same insert installed, here are some pics.

The "before" was a pic of the fireplace when we first looked at the house (before we bought it)

The "during" was after the hearth construction, before the instalation

The "after" is the finished product (brickwork needed quite a bit of cleaning still)

The pics don't quite do it justice. It came out looking spectacular, if I do say so myself

The raised hearth is 2x4 construction (10" on center) entirely skinned in 1/2"plywood, and then
entirely skinned in 1/2" durock. When we bought the house, there was a large pile of bricks in
the garage, so the facade matches the rest of the fireplace. The top was done in 12" slate tiles.

Now that it's all cleaned up (no pics handy of that), it looks like it's always been there.

With that first picture, I was expecting something like a PE Summit insert flanked by a couple Napoleon 1100s!! :lol:

That's the perfect insert for the fireplace. It looks great.

That really is spectacular with the double flanking wood storage areas. The second install is nice too, and good to see the effort put into extending the hearth.

I have a suggestion for a mantle...create some sort of support brackets made out of angle iron to support a new mantle made out of cement board and a light color tile. Another option I just saw at the tile store, (seems to be my favorite place to visit these days) is a new tile they have there that looks so much like wood I had to touch it to check. It looks more like real wood than even Laminate (Pergo etc....) They had peices of tile that were surprisingly large and quite varied in color and wood type, so if done properly with accent tiles and some creativity, you could restore the wood mantle look with something that was completely non-combustible.

Tell you the truth, I really like the nice clean look of no mantle in the second shot. Maybe it's just because my fireplace/insert is built the same way with no mantle, but I really think it makes that brick wall look quite imposing and allows the insert to really stand out.
My personal opinion is also that mantles are just junk and dust collectors.

It's hard to tell from the picture, but the old mantle mounting holes don't seem to stick out too badly, but depending on what you want to do with those might affect your decision also.

What I have seen several times that looks really cool is some type of art work, decorative metal work or other design, flush mounted high up on the wall that acts as a secondary focal point. One of the neatest I've seen was a flat screen plasma TV, but mucho $$$ and hard to route the wires, etc. Also, kinda trendy now, but who knows down the road...... just my 2 cents.

Willhound

Thanks for the mantle suggestions! I had not considered tile or flat screen TV yet, so gives me some extra idea-fuel to mull over.

Also, nice install to the fellow Kennebec owner up there in message post. Hope you enjoy your stove.
It's been so warm outside the last couple of days here, I haven't had the need to fire it up.