Installation aggravation

[smileti]

Yesterday my new Hearthstone Mansfield arrived and was installed in the old cooking fireplace in the main section of my ancient house. Looks great, and I'm burning the break-in fire now. My thanks to all of you who helped me decide on the Mansfield.

That concludes the happy part of my story.

Now the tale takes a turn for the sad. The installers were also hired to move my Hearthstone Phoenix from the old cooking fireplace in the main house, to another old cooking fireplace in the kitchen ell. Because they'd done such a nice job with the Mansfield, and it was such a beautiful day, I figured I could leave them alone to do the Phoenix installation while I went outside to begin moving some of the firewood into the shed. "How much trouble could they get into?" I reasoned. After all, they already had all the stovepipe and tee-fittings for the Phoenix (they used new pipe and fittings for the Mansfield).

I'm sure you've already guessed that the answer to my question is "more trouble than a two year old on Red Bull." I now have the ugliest "professional" installation in the history of Stovedom. Rather than reusing the black stovepipe and tee, they ran the 6" flexible and very shiny chimney liner right down to a very shiny oval tee fitting. I have no idea why they used an oval tee when both the chimney liner and opening to the Phoenix are round. Certainly not for lack of room in the chimney - it's huge. The stove / fireplace scene now looks godawful, with all this modern shininess hanging down behind the Phoenix. The stove is also pushed way out into the hearth, which makes no sense since the room is smallish and we have our kitchen table in the middle of it. It has to be set much further back into the fireplace or half the family will cook along with their dinner.

Here's my question to all you pros: did the installers follow standard practice when they ran the liner right down to the tee-fitting and omitted the stove pipe, and/or when they used an oval tee in this situation? If they did, then shame on me for not knowing enough to ask for "the plain black stovepipe and round tee installation, please." If they didn't, then I'll stand up for myself and for unwitting would-be woodburners everywhere and request a fix at no charge. Letting them choose the stove placement was my mistake: I ought to know by now that there's nothing common about common sense.

Thanks for reading. I appreciate the therapy.

 

[gpcollen1]

I think what they did was technically ok but not really ok in my book. Do you have a picture of both?? It sounds like they just did it the easy way and did not do it 'for looks', which is usually a concern for a homeowner.

Pics
pics
Pics

 

[smileti]

Hi CTW -

Here's the Mansfield and the Phoenix . . .

 

[d.n.f.]

Looks like a spaceship.

Can you spray paint it black?

 

[Valhalla]

Hello Skip,

You have some very beautiful and old CT fireplaces! Yes, move that Phoenix back into the opening.

Enjoy them all.

 

[branchburner]

I think running the stainless right to the appliance is standard (certainly for inserts) and actually preferable, unless you specify otherwise. I agree it's ugly, but makes sense: fewer connection seams, longer-lasting material. But these guys saw you had black pipe, I would hope they'd either ask or set it up the way you had. Key word - hope.

Your type of situation is one of many reasons I ended up doing my own install - I wanted black pipe like you, none of the guys I talked to had any interest in doing it my way (not that they wouldn't have - they just didn't seem to care, and I'm easily offended!). Block-off, insulation, etc. It was like nobody had ever asked them before, and I was crazy for asking.

Why they would use oval is beyond me, though. Unless its what they had and wanted to get rid of it.

 

[begreen]

Flex liner doesn't come in black as far as I know. Does the damper throat narrow down to less than 6", thus requiring them to use oval pipe? That may be why the ovalized fittings. If not, have them swap out the tee for a black elbow and persuade the stove back further on the hearth. It won't be quite as easy to clean, but that's not the end of the world.

Enjoy the new stove. It looks great on that old hearth.

 

[branchburner]

As far as placement, that is in the eye of the beholder. Many would say bring it out that far to radiate more heat. Obviously if the room is small, you want it back in. That was another issue I had with my prospective installer - he said the stove would end up where it ends up, but couldn't tell me where that would be.

I would ask the installer why he didn't use the setup you had, and why oval. Since you used black pipe for the new stove, and had black for the old, it would follow that your intention was clearly to use black again. See what he says.

I was thinking you could paint the flex black, but flex is flex - may not look antique/traditional in any shade.

 

[smileti]

Thanks all for your comments - especially the compliments! dnf - it does look like a spaceship, and that's how I'll describe it to the stove retailer (he set up the installation). I suppose I could paint it all black, but I'd rather spend that energy getting the installers to come back and do it right (they're going to have to move the stove further into the fireplace anyway). Looks like Branchburner figured out the reason for the oval tee - it's what they had. The throat to the chimney is big enough to stand in, so space wasn't a consideration.

I'll have at them tomorrow. At least it's balmy here and I'm not missing out on any burning opportunities.

 

[begreen]

If that's the case why did they use a flex liner at all? Was this price driven or like you said - what they had on the truck?

How old is the house? They look like serious working and at one time cooking, fireplaces.

 

[InTheRockies]

Those are beautiful fireplaces and stoves. I like old colonial homes. Your's should stay nice and warm with those two wonderful stoves.

Sorry the install on the second stove didn't go as smoothly--I try to do most of my own projects since my experiences with different tradesmen haven't always been that smooth. (Years ago, there was a running joke among my friends after I told them of dealing with a (so-called) plumber who installed a new hot water heater and then couldn't explain why the water pressure in the house had dropped. I had suggested that it was probably sediment clogging the aerators or the faucet cartridges since the pressure had been fine before he turned of the main water; he didn't try to trouble shoot but simply said "It's too hard." and left. Fortunately, I was able to trouble shoot it myself; it turned out simply to be clogged faucet cartridges that I was able to replace cheaply. Anyway, whenever problems arose after that, my friends liked to say "It's too hard.")

Have you burned the stove moved to the kitchen since they put in the new liner and pipe? If not, would the store that did the install give you a refund if you removed and returned it? Do you have friends and family who could help you remove that new SS liner and pipe and and install something that looks better? Maybe you could work out an arrangement with the stove shop to have them fix it at a discounted price. Good luck.