I finally made my decision to buy a hearthstone mansfield stove,I'm in the process of redoing my hearth and will have an appx r value of 1.04 befrore the top layer of stone is applied.So thats one job almost out of the way.I went to two local stove dealers today to inquire on prices.Both were in the price range right around $3,000.They didnt have any in stock and said they are a special order stove since their isn't much of an interest for them in the area.They also talked about the maintenance involved in a soapstone stove mainly the caulking between the pieces of soapstone,they said its really a pain in the butt to redo.I have not read anything about this even in the manufactures manual. So if any of you who have a soapstone stove please let me know about the maintenance aspect.