Hearth Remodel & New Stove Install - Ongoing Project.

[Pennsyltucky]

Wanted to share this project, hopefully it can help other people doing the same! As of 11/16 the project isn't done but we're getting there. Living in Pennsylvania I went with local PA Bluestone for the hearth pad & surround. The firebox is getting large format porcelain tiles installed. They are leftovers and I figured this would be a perfect use for them.

I'm doing this entire project myself with help from family & friends, one of which is a retired mason of 40 years experience.

The stove going on this platform will be a hearthstone heritage which is sitting in my garage awaiting install. The stove will not be in the insert, it will be in front of it entirely on the hearth pad so there will be nothing over the top of the stove. The ~2" return on the top & sides will be trimmed with Boral. Those who know what that is understand you can put a torch directly on it and it won't burn. It's overkill and not necessary as I'm meeting clearance requirements but better to over engineer when dealing with heat. There will also be 1" airgaps around the surround using ceramic spacers. Overkill, but I'm only doing this once..

Day 1, Original Fireplace


Cutting out Heatilator Insert



Insert Removed


Widening opening to ~68"


Removing Old Brick Hearth Pad & Mocking up Blue Stone. Originally going to use 12.5 wide pieces for a 12" reveal but the quarry carried 14" wide so I ended up going with 14" as it was less than the labor to cut down to 12.5. I can always pack out the wall & trim for whatever reveal I want. I have MORE than enough width for the minimum hearthstone clearances.


The Hearth Pad:


How we transported the slab:


Installed. Slab was ~600 pounds at 7'2" x36", 2" Thick. This was TOUGH to move. Had lots of help thankfully.


Installed the Surround the following weekend, cut porcelain ready for install in the fire box.


The porcelain is being set in the firebox this week and after that I'll running the double wall insulated liner ~27' up the chimney. More updates to come in the next few days. Hoping to have stove installed before Thanksgiving.

 

[ispinwool]

NICE! I can't wait to see how it turns out! (we love our Hearthstone Heritage )

 

[Pennsyltucky]

Got the porcelain set over lunch today. Fresh air vent isn't perfectly centered but the stove will hide it. We're 1" left of center. Long story short the hearth opening isn't centered on the wall, we corrected that with the stone facing but the hole was core drilled before we corrected center. So the bluestone opening & stove will be perfectly centered between the windows & on the wall, but unfortunately my fresh air is an inch off.

You'll never see it though, just between you & I.

 

[spudman99]

Yes but that 1" offset will bother you ever day, every time you fill the stove, every time you clean the pipe, just about all the time....hehe

***just planting an earworm to jag your wires... lol ****

 

[Pennsyltucky]

Yes but that 1" offset will bother you ever day, every time you fill the stove, every time you clean the pipe, just about all the time....hehe

***just planting an earworm to jag your wires... lol ****

That's it, I'm ripping the whole thing out and starting over.

 

[Pennsyltucky]

NICE! I can't wait to see how it turns out! (we love our Hearthstone Heritage )

Can't wait to fire the stove up. My Dad has had a heritage for over a decade, always liked the stove and the way it burned. My last home came with a steel stove and while it got really hot really quick, it got cold just as quick. Cold to the touch by morning after stocking for the night.

 

[Pennsyltucky]

Decided to pull the wallpaper & paint. Trim going in as well, even though the stove is in front of the trim I still used non-combustible James Hardi Cement Board on 1" Ceramic spacers. overall width of opening is 66" so well outside minimum clearances, used 2x4 to pack out on sides for this reason.

The top piece of blue stone has a 2" air gap behind it in the center, ~20 inch wide 2" deep due to how the original fireplace was built, I've left this gap there intentionally and have spaced my non-combustible trim 1/4 back from the face trim which has created a ventilated space for heat to escape from the wall or from the interior of the fire box. I'll post pics of that once it's all installed, waiting for trim paint to dry...

Double-wall insulated pipe installed as well.. that was fun to pull up 30' and attach to the top cap with 1 hand.

 

[Pennsyltucky]

Got everything wrapped up over this long weekend, stove installed & first break-in fire done. I've had 2 other small break-in fires just to be safe and will bring up to regular operating temp this week when temps dip. Window trim is going back on... eventually.

Heat shield was installed on the stove, looks great and blends well with the stove, better than the older shields I'd seen in the past. The height helps fill the gap and hide the liner from view. I don't have a side-shot but the Tee is high-temp black and disappears well.

Test fire was on 55F day and with the 30' insulated liner I had excellent draft. My main concern is that draft will be too strong when temps dip! May installed a pipe damper in the Tee snout if this is the case.