here are some pics of my hearth in progress. we started from scratch. i installed the excel ss chimney( scored on ebay, $700, complete, 24' of pipe). it will be the new home of my other score- a 10 year old, used only 3 years, Jotul 500 Oslo. we should be done next week. i have around 8-10 cord ready to go, well maybe not the oak, but we'll be burning any day now. friends of ours knew i was looking for a stove. i have all that wood, so people were wondering- i had no stove or fireplace. our friends were over one day and said we can have their stove. they can't use it because of allergies and asthma. i said no thanks because i knew what stove i wanted, wether i was getting it used or new. i figured they had an old or beat up stove, not even considering it. lo and behold, i saw some pictures of our kids at their house and saw the jotul 500 in the background. 2 days later, it was in my garage for a very fair price. they were going to give it to me, but they had no idea what they had. i felt like i was robbing them if i took it for free. we talked about it and worked it out. its in almost brand new condition. what luck! hope the pics come out ok. i used picassa. yeah, it worked.