new hearth design and stove choice

[DaveGunter]

I am currently burning an nc30 brand new to me this year in my basement to heat my two story 2200sqft house. I was resigned to burning in the insulated but unfinished basement due to the floor plan of my first floor. But upon reconsidering, I am thinking of doing some remodeling and installing a hearth on the first floor, just in the planning stages now. The "L" shaped wall between the living room/kitchen/dining room would be removed creating one large open space and a hearth placed there with a factory class A chimney up through the second floor and attic. Due to the second floor layout and the floor and ceiling joists the chimney would be basically where the corner of the "L" wall to be removed is now, just to the front of the marraige wall. I was thinking of just placing the stove on the hearth with no walls around it, so the stove would be viewed from all sides. This would make heating the living space easier as well as allow some heat to get upstairs. Are there stoves designed for a space like this without a typical front/back/sides?

 

[David Tackett]

The top part of that L appears to be a load bearing wall. Are you planning on placing a header? Also with a good part of that wall already being open, it probably already has a header, you may have to replace the entire header with a larger one. I am no architect, but I used to frame houses for a living. You may want to inquire with an architect about that wall.

 

[DaveGunter]

The top part of that L appears to be a load bearing wall. Are you planning on placing a header? Also with a good part of that wall already being open, it probably already has a header, you may have to replace the entire header with a larger one. I am no architect, but I used to frame houses for a living. You may want to inquire with an architect about that wall.

Thanks David
I am not a carpenter or an architect, all carpentry decisions would be made by my trusted contractor (father-in-law). The house is a modular, so the wall that you are talking about is actually the marriage wall where the two first floor modules meet.

The drawing is not exactly as built, the open space between the kitchen and living room is not a clear span, it is a cased opening with a 2 foot wall on the gable side of the opening. From pictures that I took while the house was being set, I think I can see that there is a header from the gable end all the way to the wall by the basement stairs. My father-in-law already brought this problem up and said that once we get in there if the header is not as we suspect that the wall will have to stay or we will have to support the headers that are in place already, probably with some pillars up from the hearth. The other option is to not remove the marriage wall portion, just remove the wall between the foyer and living room, and go with a typical front/back/sides stove with the back of the stove toward the marriage wall.

 

[begreen]

The top part of that L appears to be a load bearing wall. Are you planning on placing a header? Also with a good part of that wall already being open, it probably already has a header, you may have to replace the entire header with a larger one. I am no architect, but I used to frame houses for a living. You may want to inquire with an architect about that wall.

By its location I definitely think it's load bearing and would not remove it. But the good news is that I don't think it needs to be removed or that there would be a lot of gain in doing so from a heating perspective. Instead I would build a hearth into that corner.

 

[David Tackett]

Well, if you really want to, you can replaced the current header with a newer longer and wider header. With the extra added length the header would probably have to be wider. Good luck on your project.