# My alcove install. In pictures!!!



## cwill (Oct 25, 2011)

Started with the original 1976 Preway z/c fireplace.







We found some scary stuff along the way. Hole in the firestop for the ceiling, and lots of blown in insulation trapped around the fireplace. One of the intake tubes was venting smoke into my attic and the other wasn't attached at all. It was dumping cold attic air in all winter. 









Finally got the fire hazard out










My living room full of stone!!




We went with a drystack look





After alot of work, we have real wood heat









All the work was performed by me and my father.  I figure that we have about 25hrs just in the stonework.  This was a ton of work but very much worth it.  The compete build album is Here if anyone wants to see more pics..


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## tickbitty (Oct 26, 2011)

WOW, that's just beautiful.  Way to go!  That little Century couldn't ask for a better home.


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## Mrs. Krabappel (Oct 26, 2011)

Looks fab.   Love the stone.


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## Pagey (Oct 26, 2011)

Amazing transformation!  Congrats on all the hard work.  Now you have a safe AND beautiful installation.


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## Stax (Oct 26, 2011)

Excellent work.  Love the setup.  Pat yourself on the back.


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## pyronut (Oct 26, 2011)

Beauty   Great Job


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## NH_Wood (Oct 26, 2011)

Looking real nice - just in time for some nice wood heat! Cheers!


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## project240 (Oct 26, 2011)

Very nice.  Great job.  Very rewarding to see all your hard work come together like that.


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## NordicSplitter (Oct 26, 2011)

Did you keep the electrical outlet behind the stove? If so, do you have a blower put on the stove?


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## quint (Oct 26, 2011)

Turned out great, alot faster then mine is coming along. Much better IMHO then what was in there before. Your stone and tile work turned out looking really good.


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## Blue2ndaries (Oct 26, 2011)

Great work and nice selection of stone.  I like the dry-stack look as well.


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## Iembalm4aLiving (Oct 26, 2011)

Wow, beautiful job!


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## fossil (Oct 26, 2011)

It's gorgeous, cwill.  I'm going to move the thread over into the Perfect Picture forum...hang on, here we go.  Rick


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## leeave96 (Oct 26, 2011)

Super looking install!

For a moment, I thought I was looking at an Englander 30-NC with legs, but with the handle on the left vs right side.

Enjoy!
Bill


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## cwill (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks everyone for the kind words. 



			
				NordicSplitter said:
			
		

> Did you keep the electrical outlet behind the stove? If so, do you have a blower put on the stove?



I added the outlet and a slider switch for the blower so I don't have to reach around behind a hot stove to adjust it's speed.


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## firefighterjake (Oct 26, 2011)

Wicked good looking install.


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## begreen (Oct 26, 2011)

Fabulous work, that looks sharp! I like that you and your dad worked together on this. That will be a nice memory for a long time to come.


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## Eatonpcat (Oct 27, 2011)

BeGreen said:
			
		

> Fabulous work, that looks sharp! I like that you and your dad worked together on this. That will be a nice memory for a long time to come.



Sweeeet...Looks like a lot of hard work, Great job my friend!!


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## GAMMA RAY (Oct 27, 2011)

Wowza! 
I am diggin your setup....job well done
Enjoy...I am sure you will...


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## ScotO (Nov 21, 2011)

looks fantastic....and much better as a heater than that old prefab unit.....you deserve a big pat on the back.......love the stonework


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## thewoodlands (Nov 21, 2011)

cwill said:
			
		

> Started with the original 1976 Preway z/c fireplace.
> 
> We found some scary stuff along the way. Hole in the firestop for the ceiling, and lots of blown in insulation trapped around the fireplace. One of the intake tubes was venting smoke into my attic and the other wasn't attached at all. It was dumping cold attic air in all winter.



cwill, great looking job. Looks like you will have some nice fires and good times.


zap


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## mrfjsf (Nov 21, 2011)

Great job on that install! So beautiful! Can I ask how hard it was to lay all that stone on the wall? Ive been thinkin of doing that to the exterior of my chimney and wasnt sure how difficult it was.


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## tfdchief (Nov 21, 2011)

Looks great!  I am glad you got the old ZC out of there.  The blown in insulation laying on top of it is pretty common.  We have had many fire calls involving ZC fireplaces that were covered in blown in insulation.  Those guys that do that don't pay a lot of attention as to where that stuff is going.  As a fire service person, I hate blown in insulation......it causes a lot of problems.


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## helismash (Nov 24, 2011)

Beautiful!!


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## raybonz (Nov 24, 2011)

You should be proud you did a great job transforming that hearth! The stone looks beautiful!

Ray


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## cwill (Nov 26, 2011)

mrfjsf said:
			
		

> Great job on that install! So beautiful! Can I ask how hard it was to lay all that stone on the wall? Ive been thinkin of doing that to the exterior of my chimney and wasnt sure how difficult it was.



Wasn't that difficult. I had never done it before, but it was VERY time consuming. Like putting together a huge puzzle with no picture. Took three of us about 20-25 hrs to do all of it. total was only about 80 sqft. We did go with the drystack look, which the place we bought the stone from said was the more difficult/time consuming way to do it.  It was all worth it in the end and everyone that has seen it in person is completely amazed by it.


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## raybonz (Nov 26, 2011)

I was thinking that some wall wash lights would have enhanced those walls.. I really like that effect and adds drama to the stone but it still looks awesome! How do they sell stone like that, square foot? How much did the stone run you? I love the permanent and timeless look of stone..

Ray


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## Corey (Nov 26, 2011)

Looks great!  Been there, done that with the stone...that stuff will melt your eyeballs after a while trying to find 'just the right piece'.


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## cwill (Nov 26, 2011)

raybonz said:
			
		

> I was thinking that some wall wash lights would have enhanced those walls.. I really like that effect and adds drama to the stone but it still looks awesome! How do they sell stone like that, square foot? How much did the stone run you? I love the permanent and timeless look of stone..
> Ray



We have some lights in the ceiling from when the old fireplace was in and those seem to light things up pretty well. Now that it's done I would have added some up lighting in the tile floor just to be different but I didnt think of that in time.  They sell the stone by a 8sqft box or by a 100sqft crate. Was about $700 in stone and another $140 in morter. The morter was some high adhesive type made just for this type of stone and without using lath.


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## cwill (Nov 26, 2011)

cozy heat said:
			
		

> that stuff will melt your eyeballs after a while trying to find 'just the right piece'.



EXACTLY That's why it's so time consuming. Trying to find the next perfect piece.


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## raybonz (Nov 26, 2011)

cwill said:
			
		

> raybonz said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



That sounds reasonable considering how good it looks! You'll be enjoying that for many years.. I bet you saved a small fortune doing it yourself..

Ray


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## Gasifier (Nov 27, 2011)

:ahhh: Ho ly sh!t. What a transformation. Nice work cwill! When did you get that completed? How much burning have you been doing in it? Got a pic of it with a fire going in there? Low lights for good effect!  :lol: Looks great!


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## cwill (Nov 27, 2011)

Gasifier said:
			
		

> :ahhh: Ho ly sh!t. What a transformation. Nice work cwill! When did you get that completed? How much burning have you been doing in it? Got a pic of it with a fire going in there? Low lights for good effect!  :lol: Looks great!



We completed the install about the middle of October, but we still have been finishing up the details like repainting the room and ceiling (wow what a diffierence that made) still have to put some crown molding up and paint the trim but thats just ongoing small projects.  We have been burning as much as needed. In fact it's going right now, supposed to snow later today.  I haven't been able to get a good picture other than the low light one on the first page. The little stove has done great so far but we plan on replacing it with a Super 27 or Regency stove after this year, mainly for the longer burn times.


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## Gasifier (Nov 27, 2011)

:lol: Sorry about the request for a fire. I got cruising through perfect picture threads and went to fast. Now that you mentioned it, that pic of the fire was real nice. Thanks. Since I got my boiler, I have been craving pictures of fires more. No glass door on the boiler.  :lol:


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## geardoc (Dec 5, 2011)

Looks Good


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## cwill (Dec 5, 2011)

geardoc said:
			
		

> Looks Good



Thanks geardoc, yours was the inspiration,  I bookmarked your install and showed it to my wife, "look honey we could have something like this!" she loved it and i went with it.


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## Eatonpcat (Dec 5, 2011)

Looks Fantastic


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## Dougie (Dec 5, 2011)

great job!  nice looking


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## BlankBlankBlank (Dec 31, 2011)

Masterful!!

Q:  How did you affix the stone to the cement board?  And did you affix directly to the cement board or did you add metal lathe and scratch coat first?


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## blacktail (Dec 31, 2011)

Wow! That is sweet!


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## cwill (Dec 31, 2011)

WoodNStuff said:
			
		

> Masterful!!
> 
> Q:  How did you affix the stone to the cement board?  And did you affix directly to the cement board or did you add metal lathe and scratch coat first?



Thanks The stone is attached directly to the cement board.   The place that we got the stone from also sells a high strength mortar made just for this type of stone.  Saved us a bunch of time and hassle but the cost was slightly more than the lath and traditional mortar combined.


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## wapiti39 (Jan 2, 2012)

Nicely done! Looks excellent...


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## Frogwood (Jan 11, 2012)

Curious about this since we can't see above the ceiling...Did you use the existing prefab chimney pipe from the ceiling on up or did you install all new pipe?


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## cwill (Jan 14, 2012)

Frogwood said:
			
		

> Curious about this since we can't see above the ceiling...Did you use the existing prefab chimney pipe from the ceiling on up or did you install all new pipe?



All new chimney all the way to the cap. Nothing was reused from the old set-up. Had to redo the water heater vent as well, all new 3".


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## madison (Feb 4, 2012)

I vote that these pictures and thread should be a reference for any future questions regarding "shoehorning" an insert into an existing prefab.   Nice work!


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## FireAnt (Feb 6, 2012)

Wow does that look good!


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## DeerMeadowFarm (Feb 6, 2012)

Great job! You should be pleased!


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