My new hearth build and Englander 30-NCH install - lots of pics!

[FTG-05]

So this thread will be for the TL;DR types that like to see lots of pics with very little, if any, extraneous information that - god forbid - they might have to actually read.

Of course, questions are welcome, I'll answer them the best I can.

So, for this first post, here are the two From-To pics, more pics to follow!


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[Chuck the Canuck]

That looks real nice FTG. I'm really starting to like visual aesthetic of the alcove install. Love the stone on the top of the hearth....

 

[FTG-05]

My 30-NCH Arrives:

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And first stage of demolishing the existing fireplace area:

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The stove pipe installed. My installer used Duravent double-pipe throughout, including in the interior spaces. All the fiberglass insulation you see in the 2nd pic was reinstalled in the ceiling of the new alcove.

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More pics to follow!

 

[osagebow]

Nice! What is the stone product you used? Looks awesome.

 

[FTG-05]

Details of the new alcove and hearth build. All concrete board was Durock NextGen boards. The back wall got two layers and the hearth floor got four layers to meet the Englander 30-NCH requirement of R=1.5 for the hearth floor. I insisted on the 2x6 treated wood hearth construction with very little span loads due to the (relatively) weak structural strength of Durock.

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Hearth concrete boarded:

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[FTG-05]

The stonework was done by Scott Sanders (Double S Stone) out of Ardmore, TN using slate from Jenkins Brick, Madison, AL. I've got a couple boxes left over and I'll post the specific info from the box tomorrow. The stone comes in 4 ft sq boxes, each "square" about 6" x 24" with four to a box. Highly recommend both the stone and the stone work/masons! Scott and his people did a great job if I do say so myself!

Thanks,

 

[jigger47]

That looks amazing. Nice contrasting colours. When you post the stone info could you post the cost per sq foot for the stone.

 

[FTG-05]

Ok, let's see where were we? Oh yeah, more alcove build pics!

Here you can see the 2nd layer of Durock going over the first layer in the back wall:

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Left 3.5" hole for the computer fan to exhaust heated air out of the alcove:

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And the right hand side exhaust fan hole:

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Hearth and alcove complete structurally. You can see the OAK intake 4" pipe sticking out of the wall in the rear. The other end goes up the wall and into the chimney chase where the stove installer recommended it. Total length: probably close to 12' or so. This pipe was the only thing reused (except for the insulation) from the original fireplace installation. You can also see the exhaust hole for the right hand computer fan.

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Left side of the completed hearth and alcove. Note the double layer of Durock on the underside of the hearth 2x4 lintel (more about this later).

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[FTG-05]

That looks amazing. Nice contrasting colours. When you post the stone info could you post the cost per sq foot for the stone.

We got it for $6-$7 per square. I don't recall how we got the deal from Jenkins since my wife worked it out directly with them, but it was much cheaper than the next vendor in Huntsville (i.e. $12-$13/square).

We really liked the colors since they worked well with the wood floors we have. The one thing I liked as did my wife was the three dimensional nature of the stonework, vs just flat work.

The hearth floor is 3/8" natural slate. Scott picked this out for us since we didn't know what would work for the hearth floor. As it turned out, it looks great!

You're gonna get tired of hearing this: Scott Sanders et al did a great job!!

The other contractors also did a great job, let's not forget about them:

Dan and Darren of Dan Zeth Carpenters, New Market, AL

and

Robbie Parikh (Details Home Improvement), Gurley, AL. He came out twice, once for the stove pipe install (all construction was then centered around this pipe). Robbie also saved me a bunch of money by finding a way to get rid of two previously required 45 degree stove pipe joints and hence being able to go right up the chimney chase with zero turns. Way to go Robbie!

I highly recommend them all!

Thanks,

 

[begreen]

It looks good but I don't like that huge heat-trapping hood top on the alcove. Most stoves want a minimum of 84" ceiling height above a stove. In the least I'd have a very large vent up grille on the front face instead of the little computer fan vent holes. The manual doesn't cover alcove installation. Did you check with Englander support on alcove requirements first?

 

[bsruther]

Nice looking setup. The stove doesn't need to cost $3K to look good.

 

[PowersTree]

Beautiful!

 

[BIGDADDY]

I think it looks really nice, I like it!! Good job.

 

[FTG-05]

It looks good but I don't like that huge heat-trapping hood top on the alcove. Most stoves want a minimum of 84" ceiling height above a stove. In the least I'd have a very large vent up grille on the front face instead of the little computer fan vent holes. The manual doesn't cover alcove installation. Did you check with Englander support on alcove requirements first?

The "little computer fans" are rated for 82 cfm - each. And the temps at the interior top isn't all that hot as checked by a laser themometer, much less than I expected or planned for, which is good.

The inside of alcove is over 7', about 8' actually. The lintel isn't, but then again it's covered with 6 layers (or maybe 7) of Durock, so there's no issue there as well.

And finally, yes, I checked with Englander, still have the e-mail. I described what I planned to do and they said no problem.

 

[FTG-05]

Nice looking setup. The stove doesn't need to cost $3K to look good.

At $650 plus $100 shipping plus tax, the stove was by far the cheapest part of this setup.

But the good news is that now for the first time in +30 years, I have wood heat in my house! And it looks pretty dang good - if I do so say myself - to boot!

Here's the crazy part: It's windy and rainy here today, but only about 55-60 degrees. But I've been running the stove all day, keeping the main room pretty toasty, while we have the windows open in the other rooms! Oh well, I like the heat and I'm still learning how to use the stove, so it's all good.

 

[FTG-05]

Ok, more pics, this time of the stone work.

Stone work starting. You can see the 6"x24" stone pieces down at the lower right. What you're seeing on the left are two "corner" pieces, one on the left that goes around to the outside of the alcove and one on the right that goes into the interior. They filled in the missing areas with extra stone pieces.

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Left side going up with another view of the left computer fan outlet. We used 5" water drain assemblies with the pipe cut off as the fan vent covers because we could not find 4" round or 5" square vent covers.
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That's Tony, one of Scott's workers. He was a great guy and did excellent work! Tony did the majority of the stone work and was here all 4 days of it. Looking at the extreme right of the AL angle support, you can why we had to lower the lintel about 3"-4"; that's just where the 6"x24" stone pieces ended up when it got that high. We decided to then lower the lintel rather than cutting each 6x24 lengthwise to meet the original height. Scott installed 5-6 1/2" Durock over the already existing 2 layers to bring the lintel surface down, then covered it with 3/8" flat slate (the same as the hearth horizontal surface stone).
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Stone work finished! You can clearly see the OAK AL tube at the bottom of the alcove. If you look carefully, you can see first of two electrical outlets that I installed. This one is for the 30-NCH AC-30 fan. The other outlet is at the top left of alcove interior and powers the two computer fans.

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[cuttingedge]

Looks awesome. Good job

 

[MaintenanceMan]

Looks absolutely gorgeous!