pellet insert for huge fireplace- surround falls short about 2 inches, any creative ideas how to fix

[mbhoakct76]

its a breckwell insert i settled on , its a small house so i picked the p23 - not a huge stove.....but we have a huge fireplace.
fireplace is made of brick and the surround will barely cover in one direction with less than 1/2" overlap each side , and for the height the surround falls short by 2 inches!! I was told i would have to slide the stove in and out for a good cleaning once in a while , plus it needs a good support on the bottom - so this 2 inch space is left openly visible at the top and will look terrible!
Im purchasing the largest surround availble , and well being on a budget- this stove is at a good price so im going to have to make it work!!
Im figuring i can just add a course of bricks to the existing and this should solve the problem , but the brick colors will not match at all - but it will solve the problem and i can move forward with installation. .
Before i go buying some brick does anyone have any tips?? or maybe alternatives?? any creative ideas out there??
maybe i should screw in a metal plate to reinforce the new brick to the old?

 

[begreen]

I made a sheet metal extension for my surround to deal with this situation. It was made out of 22 ga sheet metal. I painted it black, glued it to the opening with silicone so that the insert surround overlapped it. Came out pretty good.

 

[pegdot]

I think Green has the right idea here. A sheet metal addition would look nice and it wouldn't mess up the look of your fireplace with bricks that don't match. (Why is it you can NEVER find brick that do match?) If you aren't comfortable working with metal just about any welding shop would probably make you something for a small fee. You could either attach the extra piece to the brick or attach it to the back of the exsisting surround. Perhaps pop rivet it with a bead of high temp sealer between the two surfaces. I'd be tempted to take the surround to the welding shop and let them make something to match and just let them tack it on.

 

[Steve_in_NH]

My fireplace opening was also way too big for the new Harman. As others mentioned - a sheet metal surround solved the problem. Hope the pic was attached correctly.