Howdy y'all!
This spring we moved from a 1,000 sq ft house heated by a Hearthstone Tribute woodstove (which we absolutely adored), to a 3,000 sq ft house with a big ol' natural gas furnace. Lucky for us, there is also a fireplace in the lower level, so we can still enjoy burning wood.
The fireplace is an older Security Chimneys BIS 1. Nice hearth, and has the heat exchanger ducts above. It won't heat the house, but it will help a bit. It has been neglected. While the chimney (external, bricked facade) is in great shape, the firebox needs some help. The original refractories are shot, so I pulled them out. I'll need to replace the sides, back, and top baffle. Since these are expensive parts, I'd like to replace the back and sides with 1.25" firebrick. I'll recreate the original dimensions, cutting and mortaring the bricks together. Anyone see a problem with that? For the baffle, not sure what I'll do yet. A replacement is at least $60, and I'll have to drive an hour to get it. Not a big deal, in the long run.
Another thing I noticed when cleaning the firebox, is a few holes in the firebox. They appear to have been drilled, since they are perfectly circular, and lined up along the left side of the box (near the top). Any idea why these might be here? Should I plug them with mortar? I assume I want the firebox as tight as possible, except for combustion air and of course the flue.
Thanks for your help. Here are some pics:
left side, small holes are for refractory bracket. Larger holes above are suspect. Yes, it's also cracked near the opening.
Right side, only the bracket holes appear here.
This spring we moved from a 1,000 sq ft house heated by a Hearthstone Tribute woodstove (which we absolutely adored), to a 3,000 sq ft house with a big ol' natural gas furnace. Lucky for us, there is also a fireplace in the lower level, so we can still enjoy burning wood.
The fireplace is an older Security Chimneys BIS 1. Nice hearth, and has the heat exchanger ducts above. It won't heat the house, but it will help a bit. It has been neglected. While the chimney (external, bricked facade) is in great shape, the firebox needs some help. The original refractories are shot, so I pulled them out. I'll need to replace the sides, back, and top baffle. Since these are expensive parts, I'd like to replace the back and sides with 1.25" firebrick. I'll recreate the original dimensions, cutting and mortaring the bricks together. Anyone see a problem with that? For the baffle, not sure what I'll do yet. A replacement is at least $60, and I'll have to drive an hour to get it. Not a big deal, in the long run.
Another thing I noticed when cleaning the firebox, is a few holes in the firebox. They appear to have been drilled, since they are perfectly circular, and lined up along the left side of the box (near the top). Any idea why these might be here? Should I plug them with mortar? I assume I want the firebox as tight as possible, except for combustion air and of course the flue.
Thanks for your help. Here are some pics:
left side, small holes are for refractory bracket. Larger holes above are suspect. Yes, it's also cracked near the opening.
Right side, only the bracket holes appear here.
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