New member checking in... let me bring you up to speed. When we bought our house in it had a fabricated fireplace insert that put out no heat. Since I grew up watching my dad burn wood in a Morso 1125 that he got in the late '70's, (that stove can put out some heat, but it is butt-ugly!) I knew a wood stove was the way to go. I got my hands on a Vermont Castings Encore 2550 for a good deal and then the fun began. After demolition, I found out that a new chimney was needed to replace the air cooled chimney that vented the fireplace insert. A new 8" Excel chimney was installed in its place. I chose the 8" pipe in order to be able to burn with the doors open.
After some planning and a few design changes, I've got the new space roughed in with metal framing and buttoned up with cement board (Durock). The plan is to cover the rock with a stone veneer. Here is where the questions remain.
Im using screws called Rock-On to attach the Durock. They have a drill tip on them that does not drill quickly enough into the metal, causing the threads to "auger" out some of the cement material as the screw rotates before finally tightening. Unfortunately, I could not find any other screws at the blue big box store. I had to pre-drill all my holes to prevent this. Does anyone have any experience attaching to 20ga. studs? Since I may need to add metal lath, more screwing may be necessary, ugh!
What are your thoughts on stone veneer options? That is, real stone veneer versus the cultured products from Eldorado or StoneCraft - which I have seen and I'm not sure if I like the look of the fake stone made to look real. Obviously there is a price difference. But if anyone has experience installing either, I'd appreciate your input.
For the hearth pad. I was considering Hampton Limestone. Its a pretty hard, neurtral colored stone that I've only seen in its natural state. I'm curious to see how it looks with a sealer on it.
Thanks, and looking forward to finishing!
After some planning and a few design changes, I've got the new space roughed in with metal framing and buttoned up with cement board (Durock). The plan is to cover the rock with a stone veneer. Here is where the questions remain.
Im using screws called Rock-On to attach the Durock. They have a drill tip on them that does not drill quickly enough into the metal, causing the threads to "auger" out some of the cement material as the screw rotates before finally tightening. Unfortunately, I could not find any other screws at the blue big box store. I had to pre-drill all my holes to prevent this. Does anyone have any experience attaching to 20ga. studs? Since I may need to add metal lath, more screwing may be necessary, ugh!
What are your thoughts on stone veneer options? That is, real stone veneer versus the cultured products from Eldorado or StoneCraft - which I have seen and I'm not sure if I like the look of the fake stone made to look real. Obviously there is a price difference. But if anyone has experience installing either, I'd appreciate your input.
For the hearth pad. I was considering Hampton Limestone. Its a pretty hard, neurtral colored stone that I've only seen in its natural state. I'm curious to see how it looks with a sealer on it.
Thanks, and looking forward to finishing!
