Buy Woodstock Fireview 205?

[Sockman17]

Good day! I have the opportunity to buy this Woodstock Fireview and am lost about what to look for. The price is $1,000 delivered, I am curious if this is a worthy price. From what I know of, it looks good but just dirty and a tad bit of rust that needs a good scrub. Thoughts? Please note, I am not familiar to wood stoves and just bought a property in which I will be installing one. I am not 100% sure what to look at regarding over burning, etc. Sorry for some blurry pics, they are not mine.

 

[brenndatomu]

Send WS an email with these pics attached, see what they think...I'm betting that price is high for the condition

 

[begreen]

It will need a repaint after wirebrushing the rust off of the frame. This can be done with masking and a brush. Internally, one needs to make sure that the bypass mechanism works properly and that the cat combuster holder is not warped. This one looks dirty, but not terrible.

Read up on past Fireview threads to learn more about what to look out for. Search in this forum for Fireview:

Woodstock Soapstone

This forum is for discussions and information regarding Woodstock Soapstone

www.hearth.com

 

[moresnow]

Thoughts? Please note, I am not familiar to wood stoves and just bought a property in which I will be installing one

Considering your situation, you may be better off being advised to select a simpler stove at this time. A Drolet sized appropriately can be purchased new at close to the same price.
That WS Fireview you are considering is a classic and good performer but has much more potential repair and maintenance issues in general. Mostly an older used model that cannot fairly be deciphered from computer pics. My opinion. Good luck.

 

[mellow]

WS does rebuild them, but at $1k he is asking top dollar for it, I personally wouldn't pay that for it, I would be in the $700 range for it if everything checks out.

The cat is $160 alone from WS, it looks like it needs gaskets all around as well.

You can see a breakdown of parts at WS site: https://www.woodstove.com/fireview-205-parts

 

[Sockman17]

Thanks for the help so far! Just talked with Woodstock for awhile and they went through all the pictures with me. The lady on the phone said she thought it looked pretty good apart from the obvious. Looks like if I wanted to upgrade all the main parts to make it run like new, i'm looking at around $400 give or take a little. I was able to get it for $800 as long as I pick it up which is no big deal. So let's say under $1300 for a beauty and some elbow grease for the rust, I would be pretty happy. Also, good job on Woodstock for having an incredible customer support team. If I pick it up, I will post pics and show restoration progress.

 

[Woody Stover]

talked with Woodstock for awhile and they went through all the pictures with me. The lady on the phone said she thought it looked pretty good apart from the obvious....If I pick it up, I will post pics and show restoration progress.

Yep, looks OK from those pics. If so, that's a decent price. My hunch is that this stove hasn't seen heavy use, just sat for a while and got a little surface rust. The seam cement looks intact, what I can see of it.
I think you'll enjoy the way the Fv burns, and they look pretty cool too, IMO.
What kind of space are you looking to heat with it?
Looking forward to better pics when you get it and install parts, and your posts when you finally fire it up. 👍
That ceramic cat ( and old cast iron cat scoop) looks OK, and I'd see if it works first. Although Woodstock only sells steel cats now, you can get the OE Applied Ceramics cats from Firecat/Midwest Hearth. I haven't tried a new steelie, since Woodstock started making them in-house...I'll do that when I need a replacement for the Keystone.

 

[vap0rtranz]

Just saw your post. I run this stove. Did you decide to buy it?

The price is $1,000 delivered,

Folks said the asking is too high but Woodstocks don't appear often out here in the Midwest. I'm in Wisconsin and noticed you're in Indiana. Folks out East could haggle more because there's more of them.

Despite my picture, I don't get paid by Woodstock I'm saying any soapstone is harder to find out here. The other soapstone stove I could find were Hearthstone, so options are limited by location. Vermont Castings are everywhere out here, and of course Blaze King. If you don't care for stone stoves or live elsewhere, then it's not a factor.

Plus, getting a 500# stove delivered is worth it. I paid $1k for mine in similar condition AND had to pick-up/move it.

 

[Sockman17]

Long story short, I did end up buying the stove! It has sat in our barn most of this year as we had a ton of big projects I finished up in the summer. Just an update, I am in the process of putting part orders together and it looks like it will be $300 to get this stove operational in good condition again. Woodstock has been incredible to deal with. I believe the old cast iron combustor pan kit is still good other than the actual combustor. So far on the list is new combustor, paint, and gasket kit. Super excited to get started and am looking forward to having this stove in the house in about a months time! Will post pictures after the restore!

 

[vap0rtranz]

Long story short, I did end up buying the stove! It has sat in our barn most of this year as we had a ton of big projects I finished up in the summer. Just an update, I am in the process of putting part orders together and it looks like it will be $300 to get this stove operational in good condition again. Woodstock has been incredible to deal with. I believe the old cast iron combustor pan kit is still good other than the actual combustor. So far on the list is new combustor, paint, and gasket kit. Super excited to get started and am looking forward to having this stove in the house in about a months time! Will post pictures after the restore!

Great to hear.

I did similar maintenance to my Fireview, and it needed a new combuster damper.

And yea, Woodstock is great to work with. They also sent me a maintenance kit plus a few parts and replied quickly to emails.

Glad to hear you're going to get your Fireview running soon!

 

[huauqui]

That is going to be beautiful. Make sure you take pics along the way and share. I redid the guts on mine last year and documented it here.
@Woody Stover links to a great rebuild thread in post #5 of my thread should you need help or want to see what it looks like to tear into. You will love this stove.

huauqui

 

[Sockman17]

Well I finally got it completely restored. Only things that needed replaced after being completely taken apart was the combuster and gaskets. Threw on some new paint, and away we go. Woodstock was incredible to work with and I'm so glad I got the stove for the price I did. Many more years to come with this Fireview!

Ignore the unfinished hearth and new window replacement. The backstop is we bought an abandoned house with a property and woods for a heck of a price....we are redoing it as well and the wood stove will make a perfect addition!

 

[huauqui]

Beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to show us. How do you like burning that beauty?

huauqui

 

[DPBurn]

Wow beautiful, look like new! You'll enjoy your Fireview, best stove I've ever owned.