1830s hearth renovation (photos!)

[Whirled Peas]

Calling this portion of the project a wrap! Now onto to the ‘how do I… Absolute Steel…?’ threads. So far so good with this thing!

I ended up finally having a good idea— why not just cut off a few inches off the bottom of the flex pipe and re-install the tee, rather than climbing around on the snowy roof and moving the entire assembly? I just marked it, took and angle grinder to the heavy wall pipe, put the tee back and cemented the joints. Took an hour start to finish because I’m slow (measure twice!).

Dog and wife are happy. Toddler is excited about the “new stobe! —hot!” 😎

 

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

The oven merged into the main chimney at about ~7 feet off the floor, but the prior owner bricked it shut sometime in the early 1980s. I will not be using it.

That is a shame. I have the same kind of oven and it is awesome. I don't see why the previous owner felt the need to block it off. They have a liner on the stove anyway. They could have just not used the brick oven and left it as an option. Of course it is easy enough to remove a few bricks. The chimney is huge and easy to fit another liner. How bad is/was the original chimney? Mine is pretty good, all things considered.

I ended up finally having a good idea— why not just cut off a few inches off the bottom of the flex pipe and re-install the tee, rather than climbing around on the snowy roof and moving the entire assembly? I just marked it, took and angle grinder to the heavy wall pipe, put the tee back and cemented the joints. Took an hour start to finish because I’m slow (measure twice!).

I really liked the old Jotul. How do you like this one in comparison? Long burn times? Does it take a while to heat up?

No liner and the chimney is huge. Like 2' x 3' inside. Not very safe really. But it's still cool

When you say work on it, do you mean cleaning it? What method do you use to clean something this large? I have the same kind of fireplace, oven and chimney. I am still considering keeping it original for fireplace and brick oven, and putting stove through separate insulated double wall metal chimney.

 

[SpaceBus]

That is a shame. I have the same kind of oven and it is awesome. I don't see why the previous owner felt the need to block it off. They have a liner on the stove anyway. They could have just not used the brick oven and left it as an option. Of course it is easy enough to remove a few bricks. The chimney is huge and easy to fit another liner. How bad is/was the original chimney? Mine is pretty good, all things considered.

I really liked the old Jotul. How do you like this one in comparison? Long burn times? Does it take a while to heat up?

When you say work on it, do you mean cleaning it? What method do you use to clean something this large? I have the same kind of fireplace, oven and chimney. I am still considering keeping it original for fireplace and brick oven, and putting stove through separate insulated double wall metal chimney.

They used to pull pine saplings up the chimney with a rope.

 

[bholler]

That is a shame. I have the same kind of oven and it is awesome. I don't see why the previous owner felt the need to block it off. They have a liner on the stove anyway. They could have just not used the brick oven and left it as an option. Of course it is easy enough to remove a few bricks. The chimney is huge and easy to fit another liner. How bad is/was the original chimney? Mine is pretty good, all things considered.

I really liked the old Jotul. How do you like this one in comparison? Long burn times? Does it take a while to heat up?

When you say work on it, do you mean cleaning it? What method do you use to clean something this large? I have the same kind of fireplace, oven and chimney. I am still considering keeping it original for fireplace and brick oven, and putting stove through separate insulated double wall metal chimney.

Yes clean and maintain it. That one I clean with a telescoping ladder and brush. If it was taller I would use a harness and hoist from the top.

 

[Whirled Peas]

That is a shame. I have the same kind of oven and it is awesome. I don't see why the previous owner felt the need to block it off. They have a liner on the stove anyway. They could have just not used the brick oven and left it as an option. Of course it is easy enough to remove a few bricks. The chimney is huge and easy to fit another liner. How bad is/was the original chimney? Mine is pretty good, all things considered.

I really liked the old Jotul. How do you like this one in comparison? Long burn times? Does it take a while to heat up?

When you say work on it, do you mean cleaning it? What method do you use to clean something this large? I have the same kind of fireplace, oven and chimney. I am still considering keeping it original for fireplace and brick oven, and putting stove through separate insulated double wall metal chimney.

The old Jotul has been wheeled into the other fireplace and is probably going to be cleaned up, re-gasketed and installed for cozy movie watching or as a social draw into our living room. The hearth pictured here is in our kitchen/dining area and, because it is the main heat for the home in the winter, when we've had parties or hosted holiday meals, it gets a bit too crowded and a bit too hot in that room. It'll be nice to be able to light a fire in the other room and spread the joy around the rest of the house as well.

I'll save my new stove review for a month or two from now, but so far I'm liking it. I ran it pretty light for the first few reloads but have now pushed two pretty big overnight loads through it and also did one test to run it up to ~650 and was happy how it did that. My immediate comparison is that it heats much more evenly than the Jotul, isn't overpowering when hot and I've awoken each morning to find enough coals to be able to light full size splits with no effort by simply tossing a few in and opening the air back up, which is something that Jotul can only really dream about. That has been my favorite part so far.

 

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

The old Jotul has been wheeled into the other fireplace and is probably going to be cleaned up, re-gasketed and installed for cozy movie watching or as a social draw into our living room. The hearth pictured here is in our kitchen/dining area and, because it is the main heat for the home in the winter, when we've had parties or hosted holiday meals, it gets a bit too crowded and a bit too hot in that room. It'll be nice to be able to light a fire in the other room and spread the joy around the rest of the house as well.

I'll save my new stove review for a month or two from now, but so far I'm liking it. I ran it pretty light for the first few reloads but have now pushed two pretty big overnight loads through it and also did one test to run it up to ~650 and was happy how it did that. My immediate comparison is that it heats much more evenly than the Jotul, isn't overpowering when hot and I've awoken each morning to find enough coals to be able to light full size splits with no effort by simply tossing a few in and opening the air back up, which is something that Jotul can only really dream about. That has been my favorite part so far.

That sounds great!

Despite the opinion of many, I really like having multiple stoves.

Yes, my little Jotul is exactly as you describe. I am hoping that my soapstone stove will be the appropriate counterpart to it.
It seems like you have it figured out pretty well and have the two stoves in the appropriate locations.

Yes clean and maintain it. That one I clean with a telescoping ladder and brush. If it was taller I would use a harness and hoist from the top.

You don't want to do the sapling method? Hahah.
Any recommendation for a type and size brush that I should try?

 

[bholler]

That sounds great!

Despite the opinion of many, I really like having multiple stoves.

Yes, my little Jotul is exactly as you describe. I am hoping that my soapstone stove will be the appropriate counterpart to it.
It seems like you have it figured out pretty well and have the two stoves in the appropriate locations.


You don't want to do the sapling method? Hahah.
Any recommendation for a type and size brush that I should try?

I use a hand scrub brush. If the brick and mortar is actually in good shape I would use a rotary cleaner. But it never is so I typically actually get in these old chimneys and clean them. Using a rotary cleaner would do a good job but would remove allot of material from the chimney. I only do that on old soft chimneys in preparation for a liner install.

And yes the homeowner has to sign a waiver stating that they have been informed the chimney is not up to modern standards and they and it may not be safe to use. It also costs much much more than a standard cleaning

 

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

I use a hand scrub brush. If the brick and mortar is actually in good shape I would use a rotary cleaner. But it never is so I typically actually get in these old chimneys and clean them. Using a rotary cleaner would do a good job but would remove allot of material from the chimney. I only do that on old soft chimneys in preparation for a liner install.

And yes the homeowner has to sign a waiver stating that they have been informed the chimney is not up to modern standards and they and it may not be safe to use. It also costs much much more than a standard cleaning

Wow! That is cool.
I want to get my small wife inside the chimney to clean. I am not making much progress on that effort.

This is exactly where I was heading with this. I considered a rotary device. But yes the old mortar would very likely be affected. that is good to know. I should do it by hand. I'd like to hire someone, but you know it is a bit tricky to get good people out here.

One good thing is that I have access to the entire outside of the chimney. Only a little section where it goes through ceiling/floor is a bit tricky. I could do repointing of almost the entire thing from the exterior.

 

[bholler]

Wow! That is cool.
I want to get my small wife inside the chimney to clean. I am not making much progress on that effort.

This is exactly where I was heading with this. I considered a rotary device. But yes the old mortar would very likely be affected. that is good to know. I should do it by hand. I'd like to hire someone, but you know it is a bit tricky to get good people out here.

One good thing is that I have access to the entire outside of the chimney. Only a little section where it goes through ceiling/floor is a bit tricky. I could do repointing of almost the entire thing from the exterior.

I can tell you without a doubt doing it is not cool. It is absolutely miserable. And takes about 4 hours compared to the normal 15 to 30 mins for a normal cleaning.

 

[N.E.K. - D.D.S.]

I can tell you without a doubt doing it is not cool. It is absolutely miserable. And takes about 4 hours compared to the normal 15 to 30 mins for a normal cleaning.

Man, I wish I had some kids!
Okay, the wife it is then!

 

[SpaceBus]

We are a two stove house, albeit a small house with small stoves. One is a cookstove and the other is a freestanding Morso 2b Classic. The Morso could do all of the work heating the house, but it has to be pushed pretty hard when it's 0f or less. Neither stove runs hard now and the house is very warm, wood consumption isn't really any different either.