My Fireview project

[hiites]

I've lurked on here awhile and appreciate the wealth of knowledge and info available here. I'm just beginning a basement remodel project that will include the addition of a woodstove. After a lot of back and forth, I decided to go with a Woodstock Fireview. I was able to find a used one on Craigslist at a decent price. One of the reasons I chose a Woodstock stove was the availability of reasonably priced replacement parts. Because of this, I wasn't too afraid to take a gamble on a used stove. I plan on documenting my progress here and hope to get additional ideas and encouragement here. And so it begins......
The first order of business after picking the stove up was to unload it from my pick-up. I tried to find an Escalera to rent to load and unload it but didn't have any luck so I built a "box" to put the stove in to help protect it during the loading, unloading and the drive (I traveled roughly 450 miles each way to pick up the stove). I don't know if I can actually call it a "box" since it is only a bottom and a back with a little bracing on the sides but.....

I used a couple of 2X8X8 for ramps. I cut about 16-18" off the length and use them to support the middle of the ramps. Where the ramps rested on the bumper, I drilled some holes and inserted some 16d nails in the gap between the bumper and bed to keep the ramps from sliding off.

Using this set up, I was able to unload the stove by myself.

Once it was unloaded, I needed to get it up on a furniture dolly. I wasn't able to do this by myself so I enlisted a couple of neighbors to help. We got is slid off the box and onto the dolly with out any difficulty and the dolly was just the right size for the legs to sit on.

At this point, it was time to start the refurbishing. I disassembled some of the inside to replace the gaskets, catalyst, bypass door, scoop, andirons and one piece of the glass that I couldn't get clean. I also wanted to change the color from metallic blue to charcoal. I buffed out a lot of the scratches in the soapstone, wire brushed the surface rust off the cast iron and then masked it off to paint. I bought a couple of cans of charcoal colored stovepaint from Woodstock and painted the cast iron.

At this point, I have to wait on some parts to come in so I can begin to change the gaskets and put it all back together. This basement remodel project is going to take a few months so it will end up being April or May before I can get the stove moved to the basement and installed. I can see now that I'm going to get impatient. I will have a hard time waiting until next fall for my first fire.

 

[Todd 2]

Hi hiites, Gotta cheep laugh there on me for a second, thought you over sprayed the stone too till I looked closer and seen the masking tape. lol
Nice looking job there so far, should be a a well enjoyed project when complete. summer installs are hard on the patients, welcome to the forum too, post some more pics as you go, we are all a bunch of pic junkies on here.

Todd 2

 

[begreen]

It's great to see you breathing new life into this stove. It should be rewarding you with some good heat soon. Keep up the good work and keep us posted.

 

[ddddddden]

+1
Well worth the effort.
Looks like a 205. Current model. Sweet secondary burns from the airwash.

. . .it will end up being April or May before I can get the stove moved to the basement and installed. I can see now that I'm going to get impatient. I will have a hard time waiting until next fall for my first fire.

April/May = the perfect time for break-in fires.

 

[Todd]

Nice job, keep us posted.

 

[charly]

Nice thing,,, you'll know the stove inside out! Looks great!

 

[sailor61]

Been burning my Fireview for a bit over a month....you're going to love it. I don;t envy you the project of getting it in a basement...it was bad enough getting up the 2 steps - with landing in between - to get into this house. If you're using a laminate flooring ignore Woodstock's stated front clearance of 8 inches and leave at least 12 to 18. I followed the 8 and have had a problem with the planks directly in front of the stove contracting in their length. This isn't an issue with the stove - it's the flooring. Feels warm but not hot to the touch and there is no sign of distortion or heat damage...just the contraction. Temporary fix of home made slate shield but it would have been simpler to just put in another row of slate than dealing with cutting the installed laminate.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Welcome to the forum hiites.

You must have gotten a really good deal on that stove. As for the distance, I still remember a couple driving to Woodstock's factory to pick up a new Fireview so there was some big time mileage there.

We too put the stove on a furniture dolly like you did and also used 2 x 10's or 2 x 12's. Don't remember the size of the planks for sure but they did the job nicely. Then before we lifted it up onto our raised hearth we removed the top lid, firebox door, firebrick, etc just to lighten it a bit. It worked.

You no doubt now know that Woodstock is very easy to work with and they will help you if needed. So congratulations on the new stove.

btw, we bought our stove in early March. Installed it in September. It sat in the crate so we actually did not even see the stove until September when we uncrated it. We moved it right to the hearth before removing the crate. We've been very happy with the stove.

 

[hiites]

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement. I was out of town for a week in Florida for work so I didn't get to work on the stove for a little while. It's just as well since I was waiting on some parts to come in. I got back and found most of my parts had arrived so I headed back to my project. While I was gone, we had a snow storm that dumped about 7-8" of snow and my wife had gotten the snowblower out to clear the driveway and sidewalks. I appreciated her taking care of business while I was gone but she is not really used to using the snowblower. She started blowing the snow with the garage door open and had the chute pointed into the garage . So, when I went to work on the stove, I found water sitting on the top and some rust on the newly painted surfaces. Soooooooo, I started by cleaning up some of the areas that I had already worked on. After that was ready to go, I installed the bypass door and replaced the gaskets.

After installing the bypass door and gaskets, I adjusted the fit of the bypass door and the side door. Woodstock has great instructions for the adjustments and it all worked perfectly.
I then installed the new glass, andirons and glass retainer.

The soapstone cleaned up nicely with some 0000 steel wool and I'm loving the way that it's coming together. I'm still waiting on the new combustor and combustor scoop. After that, I think it will be ready to go.

 

[charly]

Stove is looking like new ! Great job!

 

[ddddddden]

Stove is looking like new ! Great job!

+1. Bēēautíííful!

It doesn't get much prettier than a charcoal Fireview.

Nice pics showing how easy it is to field strip this stove.

. . .While I was gone, we had a snow storm that dumped about 7-8" of snow and my wife had gotten the snowblower out to clear the driveway and sidewalks. I appreciated her taking care of business while I was gone but she is not really used to using the snowblower. She started blowing the snow with the garage door open and had the chute pointed into the garage . So, when I went to work on the stove, I found water sitting on the top and some rust on the newly painted surfaces. Soooooooo. . .

Doh!

 

[Backwoods Savage]

hiites, that is some great work. Looks like a new stove and looks the same color as ours. Feed it good fuel and that thing will throw some serious heat and will last you a long, long time.

 

[ScotO]

Welcome to the nuthouse, Hiites! Congrats on getting a deal on a great stove, and the refurb (as well as the documentation of your project) looks great, very informative as was already mentioned! Do you have an existing hearth or is it something you are building, have you started that project yet? I LOVE a good project, and looks to me like you do too!

Keep updating this thread, I'll be watching it for sure!

 

[raybonz]

Hiites your stove looks like new! Very nice work on a great stove! Welcome to the forum..

Ray

 

[Bub381]

I too want to thank you for the pic's and info of the work done.Boy are you gonna be happy when you're done.

 

[charly]

We'll all hear ya smiling with your first full out fire!

 

[Blue2ndaries]

What a restoration project and awesome documentation of the step by step! Nice work (an understatement)

 

[hiites]

Welcome to the nuthouse, Hiites! Congrats on getting a deal on a great stove, and the refurb (as well as the documentation of your project) looks great, very informative as was already mentioned! Do you have an existing hearth or is it something you are building, have you started that project yet? I LOVE a good project, and looks to me like you do too!

Keep updating this thread, I'll be watching it for sure!

I haven't started on the hearth yet. I will be starting that part of the project in a couple of weeks. My mother in law is currently staying with us (in the basement) so I won't be able to start tearing that up until she heads home. It's a finished basement but its pretty plain. White walls and basic trim. My plan is to install Arts and Crafts trim made of quartersawn oak along with some wainscot out of the same material. If there is any interest, I will post some shots of the hearth area when I get started. As I said, it will be a few weeks for that to start. Thanks for the compliments.

 

[ScotO]

I haven't started on the hearth yet. I will be starting that part of the project in a couple of weeks. My mother in law is currently staying with us (in the basement) so I won't be able to start tearing that up until she heads home. It's a finished basement but its pretty plain. White walls and basic trim. My plan is to install Arts and Crafts trim made of quartersawn oak along with some wainscot out of the same material. If there is any interest, I will post some shots of the hearth area when I get started. As I said, it will be a few weeks for that to start. Thanks for the compliments.

Oh, there's lots of interest here, bud! My living room hearth project is documented in the link down below, in my signature. Flip through to see it. Was a monstrous task but i'm almost totally done with the room, hoping to be in it by Easter.....

 

[hiites]

I have finally finished by basement remodel project and stove install. It took me WAY longer than anticipated but life has a tendency to get in the way. My basement was already a finished basement but was plain white with stock builders trim and a catch all for all sorts of stuff.





I planned on removing the carpet on one end where the stove would go and staining the concrete. Easy peasy, right? I pulled the carpet back and found that the builder had left the concrete uncovered during the drywall work and painting. So, I had to strip the paint and get down to the concrete.


I used a product called Soy-gel that actually works pretty good. Very low odor.



Then I had to scrub the concrete.



I finally got the paint stripped and applied an acid concrete stain. That was pretty neat stuff. It reacts with the top layer of concrete and doesn't look like much until the top coat is put on. Then, the color ends up having lots of depth. Here's a shot before the entire area was covered with the top coat. I used a Varathane Floor Finish.


Here it is all covered with top coat.


With the concrete done, I wanted to install some "rock" on the wall that would be behind the stove. I went with fake rock product that was installed like tile.


After that, I began to install my wainscot. That took way longer than anticipated. I bought rough cut, quartersawn oak lumber and milled it down into the dimensional lumber needed. It turned out to be more plainsawn and riftsawn that quartersawn but I was still happy with it. Except for the panels, I bought some 1/4" quartersawn oak plywood from Menards for that. The get the color that I wanted, I went on with a water based dye and then put a darker gel stain on top of that.



I can't insert anymore pictures so I'll start another post.

 

[hiites]

At this point, I still don't have the stove installed and I had some family due for a visit and I wanted to get a Murphy bed built on the end of the room opposite from where the stove will go.




Then, I finally got to install the stove. I went up with the Simpson DVL stove pipe then had to go to the left before I could go out the wall. It's not the most ideal set up but it's what I had to do with the limitations that I had to deal with. I had to miss my sliding glass patio door on the main floor.



I will get some shot of the chimney pipe install in the next couple of days and post those.

 

[Ram 1500 with an axe...]

Awesome dude....

 

[Oldhippie]

Great work!

Stove looks awesome and the room is great too! Having just installed one in my house with plenty of vertical lift before it was in the house and on the hearth, I totally appreciate your 1 man effort getting it off a pick-up!

 

[begreen]

It looks great up until the murphy bed. Check with your local authorities but usually a woodstove is not allowed to be put in a bedroom.

 

[hiites]

It looks great up until the murphy bed. Check with your local authorities but usually a woodstove is not allowed to be put in a bedroom.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll check into that.