Advice on a fireplace surround - can I go with aluminum? Here’s a picture of my brand new Heatilator PioneerII fireplace which the dealer successfully fitted into a stone facade that once held a 35 year old Marco unit. If you’re wondering about the blue color, that’s a surround template that I made using sheet plastic from the nearby Amish junkyard.
What I did in the past with a Lopi Cape Cod insert fitted into a true brick fireplace was to just drop off a template at a metal shop and pay what the they asked for 1/8” steel cut to my template. The price was north of $400 and that was ten years ago.
The very same Amish scrapyard has a pile of 1/8” aluminum sheets available at scrap price. The sheets would be more than big enough. I’ve already bought two for other projects and they cut easily with a saber saw.
My question is: would aluminum work? There’s a lot of discussion about surround panels on this website and folks even glue them on with high temp silicone. Now, if high temp silicone will hold up aluminum certainly ought to. I’m not aware of any silicone RTV rated over 600 deg F and aluminum is twice that.
No, it’s not steel and the Amish scrapyard does have hunks of sheet steel around but it’s a bear to cut with a saber saw.
Opinions, please.
What I did in the past with a Lopi Cape Cod insert fitted into a true brick fireplace was to just drop off a template at a metal shop and pay what the they asked for 1/8” steel cut to my template. The price was north of $400 and that was ten years ago.
The very same Amish scrapyard has a pile of 1/8” aluminum sheets available at scrap price. The sheets would be more than big enough. I’ve already bought two for other projects and they cut easily with a saber saw.
My question is: would aluminum work? There’s a lot of discussion about surround panels on this website and folks even glue them on with high temp silicone. Now, if high temp silicone will hold up aluminum certainly ought to. I’m not aware of any silicone RTV rated over 600 deg F and aluminum is twice that.
No, it’s not steel and the Amish scrapyard does have hunks of sheet steel around but it’s a bear to cut with a saber saw.
Opinions, please.
![[Hearth.com] Aluminum Wood Burning Fireplace Surround?](/talk/data/attachments/340/340064-8e65b5793f15259660e7c6f3664c1f03.jpg?hash=VI8RHsfKWh)
