1830s hearth renovation (photos!)

[Whirled Peas]

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of a large remodel in my kitchen/dining room and the centerpiece of that room is the 1830s brick fireplace and beehive oven. I figured you'd all be appreciative of a few 'so far' photos. The overall plan for the room is:

1) raise the ceiling height by reframing the attic floor, dropping the ceiling and exposing the old timber framing. This was a 2-for-1 where we needed to improve the insulation in the ceiling as well, so we've just gone from 6" of poorly installed fiberglass to 11" of minealwool. We'll also have a little more headroom and some recessed lighting.

2) re-floor to new (but similar) plank pine flooring

3) new electrical to replace the scary, mouse-eaten wiring at this end of the hosue

4) new kitchen

and finally!

5) give our fireplace some love!

The floor of the fireplace only extends out about a foot from the front of the fireplace opening and so we've been running one of those crappy metal hardware store protectors. One change will be to re-frame the floor to allow a mason to come out to extend the hearth out to 42" from the face of the fireplace. The house mostly has a full depth field-stone foundation, but this very end of the house is only above a crawlspace, so the new hearth will probably end up being brick on slab on grade. My hope is to just have the bricks cleaned and re-pointed and perhaps have a new plaster coat put on the beehive? TBD on that one. We will NOT be closing it all in when we are done, so we're still getting used to staring at this thing.

Here's where it was when we started:


And here was the 'reveal'


So there it is. Got my call out to the mason and I'll update with more photos as the project progresses. For the immediate term, I'm going to pull the Jotul off the flue to let the crew work and then I'll put it right back, but I DO already have a new Woodstock Absolute Steel sitting in my other fireplace waiting for the major work in here to be done. I'm not too sure about replacing flue liner and clambering around on my roof while its covered in ice/snow, so I may hold off on that install until closer to the spring.

Dan

 

[Vg3200p]

What an awesome space

 

[snobuilder]

So you set the wood stove in the alcove of the old FP. All that brick is a great heat sink. Good luck with your money pit. Quite an undertaking!

 

[bholler]

Hi all,

I'm in the middle of a large remodel in my kitchen/dining room and the centerpiece of that room is the 1830s brick fireplace and beehive oven. I figured you'd all be appreciative of a few 'so far' photos. The overall plan for the room is:

1) raise the ceiling height by reframing the attic floor, dropping the ceiling and exposing the old timber framing. This was a 2-for-1 where we needed to improve the insulation in the ceiling as well, so we've just gone from 6" of poorly installed fiberglass to 11" of minealwool. We'll also have a little more headroom and some recessed lighting.

2) re-floor to new (but similar) plank pine flooring

3) new electrical to replace the scary, mouse-eaten wiring at this end of the hosue

4) new kitchen

and finally!

5) give our fireplace some love!

The floor of the fireplace only extends out about a foot from the front of the fireplace opening and so we've been running one of those crappy metal hardware store protectors. One change will be to re-frame the floor to allow a mason to come out to extend the hearth out to 42" from the face of the fireplace. The house mostly has a full depth field-stone foundation, but this very end of the house is only above a crawlspace, so the new hearth will probably end up being brick on slab on grade. My hope is to just have the bricks cleaned and re-pointed and perhaps have a new plaster coat put on the beehive? TBD on that one. We will NOT be closing it all in when we are done, so we're still getting used to staring at this thing.

Here's where it was when we started:

View attachment 288542
View attachment 288543

And here was the 'reveal'

View attachment 288544
View attachment 288545
View attachment 288546
View attachment 288547View attachment 288548

So there it is. Got my call out to the mason and I'll update with more photos as the project progresses. For the immediate term, I'm going to pull the Jotul off the flue to let the crew work and then I'll put it right back, but I DO already have a new Woodstock Absolute Steel sitting in my other fireplace waiting for the major work in here to be done. I'm not too sure about replacing flue liner and clambering around on my roof while its covered in ice/snow, so I may hold off on that install until closer to the spring.

Dan

Looks great I love to see old structures like these. And you are making it as efficient as possible

 

[EbS-P]

Very interesting. Does the oven have its own flue? Are you keeping the oven functioning and do you plan on using it?

 

[Whirled Peas]

So you set the wood stove in the alcove of the old FP. All that brick is a great heat sink. Good luck with your money pit. Quite an undertaking!

LOL, ok. It's 75 in that room all winter long and it costs me some bar oil and about ~5 gallons of chainsaw/splitter fuel per year. Heat pump kicks on overnight if I get lazy.

This is an 1830s addition on a 1791 original construction. The whole damn thing is a money pit!

 

[Whirled Peas]

Very interesting. Does the oven have its own flue? Are you keeping the oven functioning and do you plan on using it?

The oven merged into the main chimney at about ~7 feet off the floor, but the prior owner bricked it shut sometime in the early 1980s. I will not be using it.

 

[EbS-P]

The oven merged into the main chimney at about ~7 feet off the floor, but the prior owner bricked it shut sometime in the early 1980s. I will not be using it.

Well that would dash my hopes of a wood fired pizza oven in my house. But I’ll keep dreamin.

 

[bholler]

The oven merged into the main chimney at about ~7 feet off the floor, but the prior owner bricked it shut sometime in the early 1980s. I will not be using it.

We still work on one that is used occasionally

 

[Whirled Peas]

Well that would dash my hopes of a wood fired pizza oven in my house. But I’ll keep dreamin.

We still work on one that is used occasionally

What's that like, set-up wise? Any sort of liner prior to the larger diameter chimney?

 

[bholler]

What's that like, set-up wise? Any sort of liner prior to the larger diameter chimney?

No liner and the chimney is huge. Like 2' x 3' inside. Not very safe really. But it's still cool

 

[Whirled Peas]

It's been a bit of a doozy with non-hearth remodel-related projects since I posted last. The joys of a 200 year old house.

Anyways, the previous hearth extension had field concrete poured AROUND THE JOISTS that were hung on a header that was right at the opening of the fireplace. When the tiles and concrete were removed and those joists were exposed, they were completely black and charred from burning! I am sorry that I did not get a photo of those framing members before they were trashed. With a woodstove in that location, I am able to easily keep my hand on the tiles under the stove, so I would guess that the damage came from when the set up was last used as an actual fireplace (the 1970s or early 1980s).

This photo is of the re-framed floor/hearth edges and the ~5" of concrete that was poured yesterday afternoon by a local masonry company. Slab on grade. They'll be back Tuesday to lay the bricks (1 of 2 piles, pictured) and then I'll be hopefully adjusting the flex liner up a few inches and installing my new Absolute Steel. I'll likely hold off on replacing the liner for a new, insulated one until this spring/summer.

 

[Whirled Peas]

Anyone have any products they'd recommend for removing spray foam residue off granite and/or bricks? Rubbing alcohol?

 

[SpaceBus]

Anyone have any products they'd recommend for removing spray foam residue off granite and/or bricks? Rubbing alcohol?

I think they usually recommend acetone or mechanical removal.

 

[bholler]

Anyone have any products they'd recommend for removing spray foam residue off granite and/or bricks? Rubbing alcohol?

Yeah try acetone after scraping everything you can

 

[Echo Parking Lot]

Thanks for the careful documentation. This is great inspiration for a project we’re hoping to do to our circa 1780 home. Center chimney with a beehive as well, separate flue that meets the chimney around the same height as yours (along with two other fireplaces in addition to the main one next to the beehive. Getting a sense of the scope. Very awesome.

Why does one own a 200+ year home if not to pour endless amounts of money into the pit that is under the basement stairs? 😂

 

[qwee]

Muriatic acid might work, but could be too extreme. It might stain (yellow) your bricks. I wouldn't think it would change the complexion of those bricks, but unsure. Oh yeah it is dangerous, too.

 

[bholler]

Muriatic acid might work, but could be too extreme. It might stain (yellow) your bricks. I wouldn't think it would change the complexion of those bricks, but unsure. Oh yeah it is dangerous, too.

Muriatic acid should never be used on old soft brick and I really doubt it would do anything to spray foam

 

[qwee]

Ya it might eat the brick. I know masons use it on stonework.

 

[Whirled Peas]

Thanks for the careful documentation. This is great inspiration for a project we’re hoping to do to our circa 1780 home. Center chimney with a beehive as well, separate flue that meets the chimney around the same height as yours (along with two other fireplaces in addition to the main one next to the beehive. Getting a sense of the scope. Very awesome.

Why does one own a 200+ year home if not to pour endless amounts of money into the pit that is under the basement stairs? 😂

We have the same multi-fireplace center chimney situation in the 1790 ‘original’ part of the house. Uncladding that monster would require tearing down walls in two beds rooms, a bathroom and our living room! Compared to that, this is a comparative walk in the park (considering we’re still living in the rest of the house.

 

[Echo Parking Lot]

is that a DIY door closing up the beehive? i just tied some twine around an spare bit of drywall, but an actual handle… that‘d be nice.

 

[Whirled Peas]

Yeah, it’s a wooden door with a hardware store drawer pull on the front, wrapped around the edges in black foam for a pretty snug fit.

 

[Whirled Peas]

 

[Whirled Peas]

Now I just need to climb up on my snowy roof, to loosen the flex liner connection, slide the whole assembly up ~5” and hook up the new stove. Getting close.

 

[SpaceBus]

What a beautiful hearth.