Help Selecting A Quality Stove

[cableman]

Great install so far! That chimney came out nice! I had a place by me make a bluestone slab out of 2", 50"x50" corner install. The wife didnt want it either but one piece with no mortar joints looks so nice! I have a pic in my thread, im still not done yet either!

 

[RossB]

Great install so far! That chimney came out nice! I had a place by me make a bluestone slab out of 2", 50"x50" corner install. The wife didnt want it either but one piece with no mortar joints looks so nice! I have a pic in my thread, im still not done yet either!

Thanks! I just went and checked out your thread, I like the looks of the single piece of blue stone alot. I'm definitely thinking at I'll go the one-piece route. How bad was it to wrestle that beast into the house and get it into place?

 

[Todd 2]

Enjoying the pics and narrative . . . it's fun following this project.

Well said Jake !

. I think I'm going to go with it. My guy at the building supply place thinks he can get me the entire slab in a single piece of 1.5" thick bluestone. I'm sure it will weight a ton (400lbs actually), but I think it would look really good when its done

I think you will like a solid placement for the stove, that is where most of your ash / wood dust ends up and it sure makes for easy clean up.

Now all I need is that crew of Munchkins from the Wizard of Oz to give it the same buff treatment that the Tin Man got...

Thats a beautiful sight to us stove junkies !

 

[begreen]

It's coming along nicely. The only error I see so far is that the roof brace is set for a sideways load instead of a downslope load. The brace is supposed to be on the upslope of the roof, not the side. The brace is protecting against wind, but mostly it is bracing the pipe against snow load. This is especially important with that upper roof's potential to quickly dump a big load of snow onto the lower roof.

 

[cableman]

Thanks! I just went and checked out your thread, I like the looks of the single piece of blue stone alot. I'm definitely thinking at I'll go the one-piece route. How bad was it to wrestle that beast into the house and get it into place?

Not too bad, 3 guys and a nice dolly, rolled it onto carpet then layed it in place. More rolling then lifting! A pallet jack would have been best cause i took it home on a pallet!

 

[RossB]

It's coming along nicely. The only error I see so far is that the roof brace is set for a sideways load instead of a downslope load. The brace is supposed to be on the upslope of the roof, not the side. The brace is protecting against wind, but mostly it is bracing the pipe against snow load. This is especially important with that upper roof's potential to quickly dump a big load of snow onto the lower roof.

I was completely unaware! I guess I had assumed that wind was my primary concern so I positioned the braces counter to the prevailing (and exceptionally strong) winds . As snow sliding down the roof would only exert force against the lowest foot or so of the chimney, where the most strength is, I never imagined that the brace 5' up would be a factor. I'll have to keep an eye on it this winter and reposition as necessary. The pitch is pretty flat...most of the snow just sits up there all winter...I have to get up there an shovel if things get too significant. Thanks for the heads up though. Another novice reader may benefit and do it right the first time.

 

[RossB]

I was hoping to start slinging some mortar this weekend, but the temps dropped overnight and I needed to get the exterior of the house buttoned up. I stayed up late staining a stack of cedar clap boards last night and I got out there early to put them up. Looks like the sliding glass door was never there. All that's left is the kick plate which is drying as I type this. I'm hoping to throw a few nails in it later today. I wish I could start on the cinder blocks, but I'm just too lazy.


No more slider...

Like it never even happened...

 

[RossB]

Despite my best efforts this weekend...still no woodstove...the dog and I will have to settle for naps by the fireplace...

 

[northwinds]

I was hoping to start slinging some mortar this weekend, but the temps dropped overnight and I needed to get the exterior of the house buttoned up. I stayed up late staining a stack of cedar clap boards last night and I got out there early to put them up. Looks like the sliding glass door was never there. All that's left is the kick plate which is drying as I type this. I'm hoping to throw a few nails in it later today. I wish I could start on the cinder blocks, but I'm just too lazy.

I don't see any "lazy" in this thread.

 

[cableman]

Really does look great! Kinda like what im doing but added the slider and got rid of the door! Lucky you have something else to light! Its getting cold here and i smell the neighborhood wood burners! Im jealous lol

 

[Brokenwing]

Looks really nice, and I think the dog has a great idea, with the best seat in the house!

 

[lml999]

...I wish I could start on the cinder blocks, but I'm just too lazy.

Um, you put the rest of us to shame. I'm tired from just reading this thread.

Nice work!

 

[RockyMtnHigh]

Good job on the ceiling support box, that thing could support a tank the way you installed it.

 

[bag of hammers]

I was completely unaware! I guess I had assumed that wind was my primary concern so I positioned the braces counter to the prevailing (and exceptionally strong) winds . As snow sliding down the roof would only exert force against the lowest foot or so of the chimney, where the most strength is, I never imagined that the brace 5' up would be a factor. I'll have to keep an eye on it this winter and reposition as necessary. The pitch is pretty flat...most of the snow just sits up there all winter...I have to get up there an shovel if things get too significant. Thanks for the heads up though. Another novice reader may benefit and do it right the first time.

 

[bag of hammers]

My neighbor lost his chimney last winter - braced well for wind but I suspect snow sliding off the roof took it out at the knees. If I recall one chunk of pipe was hanging by the bracing, rest laying on the ground kinda mangled. Much steeper than your roof, and metal roofing so he had things stacked against him. Still made me go "wow". Old man winter can sneak up fast.

 

[RossB]

Yeah...I'll definitely keep an eye on it. I don't think I've ever had snow slide off of the roof there, but if we had 2 feet of heavy snow sitting on the main roof and the sun worked its magic...I could see it comin down in a big wave. Haven't I seen a shark fin looking thing that goes on the uphill side of the chimney for deflecting snow? I might have imagined that.

 

[RossB]

I had a busy afternoon today, but Photobucket is down so I can't host the pictures for show and tell. I guess I'll have to wait. It's not much fun without the visual aids.

 

[Holiday]

There is a snow wedge available, called a cricket I believe. (broken link removed to http://www.icc-rsf.com/main.php?t=chem_produits&i=22&l=en)
I'm not sure what you would need if snow decided to come off that top roof. I have a metal roof so definitely more of a sliding issue. I put metal bars across on the roof above the chimney like a ladder to prevent sliding down above the chimney.
Maybe you could add a third brace to have the wind and snow issues covered.

 

[cableman]

You up load them to photo bucket not here?

 

[RossB]

Ahh...I didn't see that I could upload pictures to the forum directly. I've been hosting them on Photobucket and posting links.



So I got home from work today and I just couldn't look at the dirty finger prints on my new chimney any longer so I got a ladder and polished it up a bit.

.

 

[RossB]

Then I decided to take a shot at laying down some mortar for the cinder blocks. I've never done this before so I really wasn't sure what to expect. First thing I did was to clear out the area and stage the blocks.

 

[RossB]

I wasn't sure how far a bag of mortar would go so I split a bag into 2 buckets so I could experiment with half a batch initially. 1/2" drill with mixer worked perfectly with 2 quarts of water.

 

[cableman]

Looked like they were hosted on the site! Thats why i asked! Great work again, ill be doing the same thing to my chimney lol, which i hope to finish this weekend! I just cant seem to get a day off and now its dark too early!

 

[RossB]

So it didn't go so well at first. I had drawn the lines on the wall 3/8" above the blocks and used a level to extend them out to the end. I created a bed of mortar and placed a block in it, but I was having a heck of a time getting the block down to the line or level for that matter. I was beating the snot out of it with a dead blow mallet, but it just wasn't cooperating. I added a little bit of water to the mix and tried again; this time getting a little closer to the consistency of peanut butter. Then I tried a technique I saw on Youtube.

If you're going to try laying some bricks, I really think you need to master this. It took me a few minutes of trial and effort, but after about 20 times, I managed a perfectly formed cat turd.

 

[RossB]

Looked like they were hosted on the site! Thats why i asked! Great work again, ill be doing the same thing to my chimney lol, which i hope to finish this weekend! I just cant seem to get a day off and now its dark too early!

It's definitely getting dark way early. Unfortunately, the holidays are coming at us like a freight train and I need this room completed before Christmas so I have to work on it as much as possible. Sucks.