REF1 said:
I’ve been away for a few weeks since posting the thread. We decided to get the Homestead rather than Woodstock. Not happy.
The entire issue of quality control I have seen on discussion boards almost scared us away. Probably should have. We wanted soapstone. That leaves two companies. We chose the looks of the Homestead.
In the order I noticed things:
1. Flimsy crate
2. Stove not bolted down to skid.
3. Heat shield scuffed up in huge sections
4. Side trim not plumb
5. Top stones not level
6. Legs bolted on crooked, out of square.
7. Two cracked stones, obviously filled and a white residue left behind.
8. Splatters of stove cement on inside glass of the door.
9. Wood shim left inside, logically used to press against stones while cement cured.
10. Completely uncured cement inside, soft as caulking.
11. Oval to round adapter fits INSIDE cast iron fitting.
REF1,
I just had a very similar experience with a Hearthstone Heritage. Got it delivered yesterday afternoon. I'll list the problems like you did for comparison. Also in roughly the order I noticed them.
1. No crate at all, just sitting on a flimsy pallet.
2. No plastic wrapping.
3. Not bolted down.
4. Top stones not even.
5. Side stones not even.
6. Minor paint scratches.
7. Poor chrome on front door handle.
8. Random spatters and smudges of stove cement throughout.
9. Wood shim wedged inside.
1. 2. 3. I do happen to know how these are supposed to be crated since I helped a friend unpack his Hearthstone a few years ago. His was as several other posters described; Bolted down to a pallet, framed in a crate, and wrapped with plastic wrap. Since that was what I expected I immediately was suspicious and started inspecting the stove. In hindsight I should have turned it away right then on the spot, but I was excited to get it installed.
4. I immediately noticed the uneven top stone. Again, I should have turned it away right then, but impatience got the best of me since I've been waiting 3 weeks already. This morning I loaded the thing on my pickup, (a difficult process involving a hydraulic jack and wood 4x4s as cribbing to gradually raise it up to the level of my pickup bed), and took it back to the dealer. They were unable to unload it since they don't have a forklift or even a pallet jack, which I found really odd. I had to bring it back home. I have to wait for them to send a truck with a hydraulic tailgate to pick it up, like the one that delivered it.
While I was discussing options with the dealer he called Hearthstone and asked them if they would fix the uneven stone. They said that if the stone is off by more than the thickness of a quarter they would cover it under warranty. (A quarter turns out to be .065" to .068" thick, or just over 1/16", for any technical geeks like me out there. I measured a few.) I put a straightedge across the gap between the stones and found that a quarter would just barely slide under while just barely brushing the straightedge. Looks like I got one that just barely passed through quality control. Still not good enough in my book. After doing this "quarter test" we were unable to get hold of the Hearthstone people again so I don't know how they would respond to a claim of it being just barely the thickness of a quarter. Regardless, the dealer agreed to order me a new stove and accept return of the one I have. This time we agreed that I would inspect the stove in the store before delivery.
Concerning the unevenness of the stones, the dealer mentioned several times that these are "handcrafted" like that would make uneven stones okay. To a point I agree but not much. I compare this to tile work on a bathroom floor, where 1/16" offset would be immediately noticeable and you would consider it poor quality, amateurish even, something you might expect if you did the work yourself with no prior experience with tile. In this case the stove top is a critical surface, comparable to a table top, it's the first surface a person will examine up close. When my friend lit his first fire in his stove, my first impulse was to run my hand over the top stones to feel the warmth beginning to come through. I just know it will be the same when people go to admire my stove. Everyone will notice the uneven stone. In reality there's not much "handcrafted" about these stoves anyway. The stones are obviously cut and polished by machine, the frame is cast iron, which is not a process you would consider hand crafting, and cut and drilled with precision machinery. The only thing done "by hand" is grouting in the stones. And I can say that even from my limited experience with tile, I know that it's not terribly hard to get three stones to line up. In fact, if Hearthstone is interested, I could easily design a simple fixture that would hold these top three stones in place with an offset of not more than 0.005" every time. (It would probably involve suction cups or double stick tape and a couple straightedges.) (In case you can't tell, I'm a mechanical engineer. Read "enginerd";-)
5. Uneven side stones are far less important than the top stones and something I would have accepted if the top was good.
6. Minor paint scratches would also have been okay if the top stone was good. I would have just gotten some black high temp paint and touched them up.
7. The poor chrome on the front door handle is something I would not have accepted. I wouldn't have returned the stove but I would expect them to send me a new handle under warranty.
8. The stray cement I would have just cleaned up or sanded off myself.
Considering the lack of a crate, I suspect someone else already redurned this stove because of the uneven top stone, it's the Achilles heel.
Now, all said, It is a beautiful stove if you stand back and look at it, and I still want one, I'll just inspect the next one better before accepting it.
