After 10 years of full time heating about 9 months per year almost all of the soft pumice bricks in my princess had deteriorated to the point of embarrassment. Most were cracked but all had “corroded” or lost thickness and started turning back into dirt.
I went to the local masonry yard and they had one firebrick option. No description on whether it was pumice or not for 2.78 each. The bricks ended up being lighter density than the hard ones in my Englander but noticeably denser than BK factory bricks. I think they’re pumice. Okay.
The old bricks crumbled as they came out. It was sad. The princess has two layers of bottom bricks and the bottom layer was in great shape so I reused them along with the front bricks. On a princess with a 6” deep belly there are bricks in front that did not deteriorate for some reason. I reused them too.
There is lots of space behind the unsupported side bricks that fills up with creosote flakes. These unsupported are easy to break so don’t feel bad if yours are cracked in the middle.
Underneath the bottom layer is a thin felt pad that is easily damaged so be careful.
The only trick is that the center floor bricks need to be custom milled to allow the ash door lid to set down right. It’s super easy to mill these bricks so no big deal.
Tools used are shown. A 4” diamond tile saw and disc grinder. Lots of dust.
I didn’t find any firebox corrosion. Just surface gunk.
I went to the local masonry yard and they had one firebrick option. No description on whether it was pumice or not for 2.78 each. The bricks ended up being lighter density than the hard ones in my Englander but noticeably denser than BK factory bricks. I think they’re pumice. Okay.
The old bricks crumbled as they came out. It was sad. The princess has two layers of bottom bricks and the bottom layer was in great shape so I reused them along with the front bricks. On a princess with a 6” deep belly there are bricks in front that did not deteriorate for some reason. I reused them too.
There is lots of space behind the unsupported side bricks that fills up with creosote flakes. These unsupported are easy to break so don’t feel bad if yours are cracked in the middle.
Underneath the bottom layer is a thin felt pad that is easily damaged so be careful.
The only trick is that the center floor bricks need to be custom milled to allow the ash door lid to set down right. It’s super easy to mill these bricks so no big deal.
Tools used are shown. A 4” diamond tile saw and disc grinder. Lots of dust.
I didn’t find any firebox corrosion. Just surface gunk.
