Hearthstone Mansfield Installation (pics and comments)

[brian_in_idaho]

Quite some time ago I posted about my construction activities with respect to building a hearth. Well, things have been very hectic what with finishing the house, or at least making it livable, (built it myself over the last 3 years). I got the stove, and moved in, just before christmas, finally finished the slate tile on the top of the wall and floor in the entryway this last week. BTW, slate kind of bites to work with, it takes a whole bunch more work to clean grout than with plain ceramic tile.

Anyway, I have been very happy with the Mansfield, it works pretty much like the marketing material says. Even in cold weather, a fire in the morning kept it up to 60 when I got home (around 11-12 hours), another fire when I got home and a couple extra splits at bedtime kept the place comfortable, morning temps usually in the low 60's. We upgraded the insulation to R49 ceiling and R21(??) walls, I think it really helped. We didn't burn electrons at all this winter, with the exception of a bathroom to keep it comfy for the wife.

I find the Mansfield very easy to start in the morning, I have a little 3-tong garden tool that I use to scrape any coals to the front of the stove, toss on a couple of splits and a handfull of kindling, and open the ash drawer, usually have a nice fire in 5 minutes or so. Even on a cold start, I find opening the ash drawer really helps get a fire going, this stove doesn't have the additional start-up air that some (like my last Quad) had, I find that it's pretty much necessary to get her to start well. I never leave it open more than 5 minutes or so to avoid overfiring.

I know some people had issues with the ash pan, I admit it could be larger, but the open front works well for scraping any excess ash up that spills on the shelf for the ash pan. I'll make a little cover to go over it to avoid the dust when taking it out to dump, but no real complaints. Overall very happy with the stove.

Here are some pics. (OK, picture quality is bad, I'll get some better ones).

 

[Harley]

Beautiful job nice work.... more pics, please

 

[jqgs214]

Nice set-up but you took the picture at that angle just so you could see yer reflection eh??

 

[MrGriz]

Very nice job!

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Another view. I haven't gotten as far as building a proper TV area, I'm going to do more of a built-in cabinet when I get some time.

 

[begreen]

Hey Brian, you can build the TV cabinet to match the Hearthstone. Then you can run fire videos in the summer.

 

[Todd]

Looks real nice. I bet it's hard to watch TV with a roaring fire going.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Looks real nice. I bet it's hard to watch TV with a roaring fire going.

That was part of the plan...when the wife has one of her chick-flicks on I can watch the fire.

I like the idea of matching the TV cabinet to the Mansfield...now if only the table saw would eat soapstone...mmm. I'm planning on going with hickory p/w for the TV cabinet, I want to make it approximate our cabinets.

 

[begreen]

It's coming along nicely Brian. It must feel good to be moved in and enjoying the fruits of your labor.

 

[Bob512]

What a dream come true! Big screen on the left and a wood fire on the right. Nice job, enjoy! Quick

 

[Bones]

"BTW, slate kind of bites to work with, it takes a whole bunch more work to clean grout than with plain ceramic tile"

Brian, several years ago I used slate for the base of my Nashua stove. I put several coats of sealer on the top side
(not edges) and let each coat dry, then grouted (carefully) and wiped excess off with burlap before dried. Yes it's a pain.
Stove looks good. Tile saw (wet) might cut the soapstone.

 

[Corie]

Gorgeous.


Simply beautiful. Really nice to finally see the finished product.

 

[Harley]

.now if only the table saw would eat soapstone...mmm. I'm planning on going with hickory p/w for the TV cabinet, I want to make it approximate our cabinets.

Actually, the table saw will do that real easy! Even with a cheap masonary blade, the table saw will cut through 1/2" tiles of soapstone like butter. It really is a pretty soft material to work with, but be prepared for a LOT of talcum powder-like dust. I picked up some soapstone tiles to extend the hearth, and that's how I cut them... it was actually a lot easier than using a tile cutter on regular tile flooring. The cabinet would look pretty good with some of that in there as well.

 

[DonCT]

Absolutely stunning! Excellent job!!

 

[brian_in_idaho]

"BTW, slate kind of bites to work with, it takes a whole bunch more work to clean grout than with plain ceramic tile"

Brian, several years ago I used slate for the base of my Nashua stove. I put several coats of sealer on the top side
(not edges) and let each coat dry, then grouted (carefully) and wiped excess off with burlap before dried. Yes it's a pain.
Stove looks good. Tile saw (wet) might cut the soapstone.

bones, thankfully I sealed the slate before I grouted and tried a small area at first, just working it in with a grout float, like regular tile, but working in a small area. Even sealed, it took me a lot to clean the grout there. What I found worked best was to apply the grout with a grout bag just to the joint, then once it set for about 1/2 hour to work it in and tool it with a piece of wood, I rounded it a bit to make a uniform joint. It left a little excess, after a few hours that scraped off quite readily. Then I gave it a light wipedown to get the grout "haze". It wasn't too bad once figured out the technique, but that first section real hard on the back!

I'm intrigued about the soapstone on the TV surround. I'm going to lower the TV so the top is flush with the wall around the stove, but don't have the whole thing figured out yet. 20/20 hindsight I should have "capped" the whole area above the TV with plywood and covered the entire area with slate, flush with the top of that dividing wall, it would have been a nice way to integrate things-duh. Not too worried, I'll come up with something.

I'm also building a bed one of these days, I've seen some head and foot boards with slate in them and was thinking of doing the same but soapstone there would be a cool touch too.

Thanks for the kind words all, this has been a fun and rewarding project, but a good bit of work.

Bri

 

[Corie]

Hey harley, where did you pick up sheets of soapstone from?

 

[Harley]

Hey harley, where did you pick up sheets of soapstone from?

I got 12" X 12" tiles (1/2" thick) up in Vermont. I'm pretty sure the place was called Vermont soapstone. They can/will cut bigger pieces if you want... I just went for the cheaper flooring tiles.

 

[Corie]

Hrmmmm.

Can you ballpark or PM me a price?


I've got something in mind for the next stove.

 

[Harley]

Corie:
I think somewhere around here I have a few tiles left - how many do you think you would need?
I usually am pretty organized - this time of year... some things get a little out of control - I'll see what I have here, and try to check on the price in a little bit.


EDIT... just have 2 full tiles, and maybe another 2 sf in some oddball cuts that I made - you are welcome to them if that would help... just curious - what do you have in mind? found the website for the place I got them from - looks like they are going for anout $12/sf - hope you are not planning a hearth re-build for one of the donor stoves - we'd have to have another fundraiser.

 

[Corie]

Okay, no rush at all!


The stove fabrication usually takes Brandywine Valley Fab at least 2-3 weeks. And I haven't even forwarded over final drawings yet. Still working on it as we speak.

I'd probably need something like two panels approximate 36" tall by 22" wide. That's a ballpark though.

 

[Harley]

I'd probably need something like two panels approximate 36" tall by 22" wide. That's a ballpark though.

Wow!! that would be a pretty good chunk... how thick would you need that?

 

[Corie]

I'm working on that. 1/2" would be nice, but realistically I may go with 1/4". We'll see.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Corie, are you thinking about building a soapstone stove? I've been toying with the idea, perhaps something of a cross between a Hearthstone and Tulikivi, something with a pre-assembled "core" section and a user-assembled base and perhaps upper, that would be more cosmetic. I love the looks of a Tulikivi, but not the price nor the weight, and associated structure. One of these days I need to fire up Solidworks and see what I can come up with. Looking at the construction of the Mansfield, the basic package doesn't look all that hard to replicate. I'd do steel, rather than cast iron, for the corners and ties, just to keep up front tooling costs down.

Bri

 

[Corie]

I'm not doing a true soapstone constructed stove. Looking at feasible of adding panels to the sides to soften the radiant heat and add some asthetical value. I'm working through the final solidworks model. I'll let you guys see it before it goes to the fabricators.

 

[brian_in_idaho]

Interesting idea, you get the nice appearance of a soapstone stove, without the potential fabrication issues. I like the idea of soapstone for the firebox, since you have decent conduction combined with a high heat capacity, unlike many of the firebrick products that tend to insulate, and the soapstone should provide near infinite life. Yet, a steel shell is a lot easier to fab and seal than SS. One concern is that you're going to have a pretty high thermal resistance between the steel and soapstone, you might be able to do more of a floating "shell" with SS, using it more for appearance and a convective shell. Lots of possibilities, I'd be interested to see what you come up with. Maybe we can turn this into the wood stove design forum...