Freedom Has Landed . . . Install Project With Photo's

[CT-Mike]

Well,

After a lot of research, consternation, and plain ole procrastination, we picked up a Lopi Freedom from Dean's Stove & Spa in Southington, CT. Stove, plain black face and door, blower, 10" surround panels, enough 18 ga SS rigid pipe and 1 piece of HD flex to mate to the stove, along with chimney cap, and all attendant parts, along with the governors cut came to $3572. Not a bad deal in my book.

Only vehicle I had to pick it up in was a Jeep Liberty. Very easy for the shop to load it with a forklift, not so easy for me to unload. Finally got a couple of 6' long steel pipes and ran them from the bumper to the ground, and with the kids help it was very easy to gently slide her to earth.

Here are some photo's:

As you can see, the old mantle/surround I built had to come down as it would have been too close to the stove. So we went by the local builders yard and ordered enough of the Natural Stone Veneer Virginia Ledgestone to do the surround:

(broken image removed)

The mantle shelf will be a 4x8" hand-hewn pine beam that my brother-in-law is making for me. He is a restoration carpenter and just happened to have 2 of these left over from a previous job. One will be made into the shelf, and the others will be made into pilasters/corbels to surround the stone and support the shelf.

I will take more pic's as things progress, currently I am waiting on the building inspector to approve the permit so that I can get started. I also called my homeowner's insurance company to see if it mattered that I had a stove, they didn't care as long as it was properly installed and inspected.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Jags]

Looking good so far.

But seriously I would look into getting rid of the woodpecker that made its way across the top of your fireplace opening (3rd pic). Having them suckers in the house is good for nuthin'.

Now ferrets on the other hand.........

 

[BJ64]

The Freedom has landed....At 300 plus pounds I bet that was a mighty thud!

Congratulations! that looks good.

But seriously I would look into getting rid of the woodpecker that made its way across the top of your fireplace opening (3rd pic). Having them suckers in the house is good for nuthin'.

It is worse than that Jags! That wood pecker had a nail gun!

 

[Jags]

The Freedom has landed....At 300 plus pounds I bet that was a mighty thud!

Congratulations! that looks good.

But seriously I would look into getting rid of the woodpecker that made its way across the top of your fireplace opening (3rd pic). Having them suckers in the house is good for nuthin'.

It is worse than that Jags! That wood pecker had a nail gun!

A flying peckerhead with a nail gun :bug: :bug: :bug:

Get out while you can, he can have the house.

 

[fossil]

...A flying peckerhead with a nail gun...

Oh, you're familiar with my builder? %-P Rick

 

[BJ64]

A flying peckerhead with a nail gun :bug: :bug: :bug:

Get out while you can, he can have the house.

I have no idea how you are gonna load it back up but you have take the stove!

 

[CT-Mike]

Actually,

The woodpecker was 6'2 blonde (me) with a nail looking for studs to mount the mantle shelf to. Lopi's website stated the stove weighs 455#, but there was enough friction on the pallet and the rusty steel pipe ramp that I actually had to pull the thing down the ramps so it landed very gently.

I will keep this updated as I progress, I hope to have it up and burning within a couple of weeks.

Mike

 

[fossil]

You know you can buy a little ultrasonic studfinder that works like a charm for about what all those randomly shot nails cost you. Rick

 

[CT-Mike]

You know you can buy a little ultrasonic studfinder that works like a charm for about what all those randomly shot nails cost you. Rick

Yah I know, I even own one. I was just too damn impatient to try and find it. All that sheetrock is getting ripped out and replaced with DuraRock anyhow to mount the veneer stone to, not to worried about the holes.

Mike

 

[CT-Mike]

Ok,

I got to reading the manual, and looking at parts, and mentally picturing how everything fits together. Here is a photo of the top of the stove:

Here is a photo of the elbow that was part of the chimney re-line kit I bought, sitting in the stove outlet:

Here is another shot showing the gap between the elbow and the stove:

I figured that the elbow would connect to the stove, and the accordion would connect between the rigid pipe and the elbow. Am I missing some parts, or just not putting things together properly? I did try fitting a piece of rigid to the stove also and the fit wasn't any better.

Thanks for any and all help,

Mike

 

[Hogwildz]

Do you need the elbow, or can you get away with an adapter & running the flex to the adapter? Looks like you got oval to round flex? You may need an oval to round adapter to connect to stove.
I did similar set up with double wall insulated rigid down to 5' or round flex. I cut out enough of the old damper to get the round through and avoided the oval all together.

 

[webbie]

A loose fit is ok - use furnace cement to seal - BUT, it is not OK if the pipe ends up pushing down against the damper. I can't see that detail from afar.

 

[CT-Mike]

Do you need the elbow, or can you get away with an adapter & running the flex to the adapter? Looks like you got oval to round flex? You may need an oval to round adapter to connect to stove.
I did similar set up with double wall insulated rigid down to 5' or round flex. I cut out enough of the old damper to get the round through and avoided the oval all together.

I imagine that I could just run the flex and not use the elbow, it was just included in the package. The oval to round flex was also what was included. I suppose I could cut out enough of the damper plate with the torch, but I plan to just use what I was sold since the store is 70+ miles away.

 

[CT-Mike]

A loose fit is ok - use furnace cement to seal - BUT, it is not OK if the pipe ends up pushing down against the damper. I can't see that detail from afar.

Well, the elbow does drop down onto the rod that operates the damper, I imagine that would hinder operation and cause problems. Any problem with cutting a slot to fit over the rod? There appears to be a couple of weld blobs that would keep the pipe from falling completely onto the damper.

Since you mention the furnace cement, do I use that to seal each joint of the liner, seal where the top plate fits to the top of the flue tile, and all other joints? Seems like it would be a good idea.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Hogwildz]

If your talking about the damper plate inside the stove outlet, don't cut that. Thats a nono. And you will void the warranty on that new stove.
Just make asure whatever you put in the stove outlet hole does not bottom out on the damper in there. This is why a stove adapter may be beneficial.

 

[CT-Mike]

No, I meant cutting the damper plate in the chimney so that a 6" round could fit through. I am getting the feeling that I did not get a 'stove adapter'. What is it? I imagine I can get it from my local stove store.

 

[CT-Mike]

If you folks don't mind I have a few more questions. I searched Youtube for chimney liner install, and found a video showing a full length flex-liner install. The flex was insulated and covered in wire mesh the entire length. Is that something I need to do with the single wall rigid pipe that I have? What benefit does the insulation provide?

Sorry for all the questions but I want to do this properly the first time.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Hogwildz]

Ah I was thinking that afterwards. I used this adapter...........
(broken link removed)
They also make a 30 degree so you can atach to it on a slight angle if you cant go straight down. Would be much easier with a round pc of flex, which would be more forgiving to afford more leway to connect tot the stove.
They also make an ovalized adapter. You could use the ovalized flex you already have, take it from the rigid down to the oval stove adapter and done. May not need to cut any extra damper out that way.
Although they list it as aluminized steel, it is actually stainless steel. Just double check whenyou order it just to be sure they send the right one.

 

[CT-Mike]

Got up on the roof today and installed the liner with my sons help. I have to say that the roof was steeper than it looked from the ground, and I don't have the confidence I did when I worked as a carpenter as a kid.

Now I just have to wait for the block-off plate for the top of the chimney and the stove adapter to arrive. The block off plate I was given had a 4" hole, obviously no good. Both parts are being overnighted (stove store is 75 miles away) and should have them tomorrow.

Anyhow, it is on to the demo of the drywall so that we can start working on the stone veneer surround.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[CT-Mike]

Here is a quick shot of the stove slid home so that I can mark the area that needs to be covered with the stone:

Demo shot:

Later,

Mike

 

[CT-Mike]

Here is a shot with the DuraRock installed:

Here is an updated shot with the stonework installed:

Took me about 7 hours to do the stonework, but I think it turned out alright. 20 sq. ft. of stone, thinset, and assorted accoutrements cost about $350. I ran into a mason who wanted to charge me $500 just for the labor, that wasn't in the budget so I did it myself. The wife is happy with it so that is what really matters.

Thanks,

Mike

 

[fossil]

Well, that's nice, but I really liked the flying peckerhead nail gun motif. %-P Rick

 

[CT-Mike]

So I finished up the install (with the exception of the mantel and surround), the building inspector came by today, and I started the first fire when I got home from work. Currently it is humming along at about 500 degrees, and the blower is nicely heating all of the downstairs.

Here is a beauty shot just after I added a new load of wood:

So far were are very happy with the stove, and hopefully I can figure out a way to get the heat upstairs.

Mike

 

[begreen]

Those Lopis are born to burn. Looks great. Nice fire shot.

 

[BJ64]

That looks GOOD!.