My story starts 2 years ago when we bought this house. We inherited an old Belgium made Efel wood burning stove. It was rather unsightly and didn't work really well. Let's start at the beginning...
What the Living Room looked like while listed for Sale
The entire house was a wreck. I gutted the entire house inside and out(a story for another time). Jump ahead to some quick lipstick on the stone
Move-In ready at this point. Redid the floors as well. Other than some paint, the stone and stove are still as I inherited them.
Some close ups of the Efel Kamina that I inherited. Rather ugly and didn't work worth a damn. Sold it on craigslist for $100. Notice the installation. 8" to 6" reducer to a steel blocker plate over the entire opening. I'll re-use this bad-boy for my new blocker plate
Initial debris removal complete.
TIP: This dust is terrible. It ended up coating EVERYTHING on my first floor. Be very careful when cleaning your own fireplace.
Sweet! Damper already removed. It's sitting up on the ledge.
Bottom of the box has this plate with a lid. Looks like an ash discard. Drops down pretty far. In my basement below there's a door I can access and clean out the ash. Neat design. Not sure if I can use this or not but it'd be really cool if I could
Making room for the Liner. Sawzall for the metal. Boschhammer for the stone. Took all of 5min.
Took a stab at cleaning the bricks. Worked some diluted degreaser with a car wheel brush then wiped up clean with some rags.
I'm putting in a freestanding stove so I'd like the box to be black, but I didn't like all that soot. I'm undecided if I'm going to clean the back or not. Any tips on getting the bricks dark colored but clean?
What the Living Room looked like while listed for Sale
The entire house was a wreck. I gutted the entire house inside and out(a story for another time). Jump ahead to some quick lipstick on the stone
Move-In ready at this point. Redid the floors as well. Other than some paint, the stone and stove are still as I inherited them.
Some close ups of the Efel Kamina that I inherited. Rather ugly and didn't work worth a damn. Sold it on craigslist for $100. Notice the installation. 8" to 6" reducer to a steel blocker plate over the entire opening. I'll re-use this bad-boy for my new blocker plate
Initial debris removal complete.
TIP: This dust is terrible. It ended up coating EVERYTHING on my first floor. Be very careful when cleaning your own fireplace.
Sweet! Damper already removed. It's sitting up on the ledge.
Bottom of the box has this plate with a lid. Looks like an ash discard. Drops down pretty far. In my basement below there's a door I can access and clean out the ash. Neat design. Not sure if I can use this or not but it'd be really cool if I could
Making room for the Liner. Sawzall for the metal. Boschhammer for the stone. Took all of 5min.
Took a stab at cleaning the bricks. Worked some diluted degreaser with a car wheel brush then wiped up clean with some rags.
I'm putting in a freestanding stove so I'd like the box to be black, but I didn't like all that soot. I'm undecided if I'm going to clean the back or not. Any tips on getting the bricks dark colored but clean?