Raised Installation for Wood Insert

[Cranford77]

We want to install a Regency wood insert in our fireplace. The hearth extension we have is flush with the floor and would have to be extended to 19.5" if we just slid the unit into the fireplace. But the instructions say that if the unit's raised by 3.5", then we'd only need 16" and we already have that.

Has anyone done one of these raised installations? What kind of base did you use inside the fireplace so you could slide the unit in? What did you use to close off the opening under the raised unit?

 

[DAKSY]

We want to install a Regency wood insert in our fireplace. The hearth extension we have is flush with the floor and would have to be extended to 19.5" if we just slid the unit into the fireplace. But the instructions say that if the unit's raised by 3.5", then we'd only need 16" and we already have that.

Has anyone done one of these raised installations? What kind of base did you use inside the fireplace so you could slide the unit in? What did you use to close off the opening under the raised unit?

I've done a few raised installs, & all were with Regency inserts.
One method is to use fire brick or solid concrete cap blocks under the unit.
The solid block should give you a 4" rise.
We then had a weldment fabricated out of scrap plate steel to finish the bottom.
We weld up a rectangular box that extends past the edges of the surround
& extends out just past the bottom of the blower unit, & is the same height as the brick(s) under the insert body.
We paint it Metallic Black, which is Regency's color of choice & the final product
looks really nice. I don't have access to any pics for your viewing pleasure, tho...

 

[Nick Mystic]

Perhaps you could build a low riding dolly to put under the stove that would raise it the desired amount. The dolly would make moving the stove in and out of the fireplace easy for cleaning the flue if that was an issue. Also the dolly would serve as a base to attach some sort of cosmetic finish on the order of what Daksy described. Of course, the dolly would have to be out of non-combustible materials, which shouldn't be hard to come by.

 

[Cranford77]

Thank you for the replies. Daksy, when you put the unit into the fireplace, are the bricks cemented down so they don't slide?

 

[DAKSY]

Thank you for the replies. Daksy, when you put the unit into the fireplace, are the bricks cemented down so they don't slide?

Nope. Probably could do that, but never did. If they slid too far back, which wasn't often, we'd just add another one or two at the front. I WILL say that after an install like that, I've never pulled one back out, so I don't can't say what the problems the sliding bricks will lead to...

 

[Cranford77]

Awesome. Thanks for the info!

 

[KaptJaq]

Did an raised install of a VC Montpelier. Put firebrick under the stove (had some on hand) to raise the unit. Had a piece of bluestone cut to finish the front. The leveling legs of the unit sit on the bluestone. The bluestone matched his existing flush hearth. Placed some 4x4s on the flush hearth, moved the insert from the dolly to the 4x4s then slit it into place. After the first season we pulled the insert to add a block-off plate. We lifted the front of the unit then slid a piece of stainless under the legs. Slid the unit out onto the 4x4s, did the block-off, then slid the unit back. Left the stainless in there in case we had to moved the stove again... Stainless is non-combustible so it complies to code and VC had no problem with it there.

KaptJaq

 

[Cranford77]

Thank you KaptJaq!