Missed by that much - thoughts on filling a gap?

[lml999]

Kodiak Enviro 1200 installed today. An old friend out of the garage and back into the house where it belongs.

Looks like I need to do some minor tweaking...there's a 1/2" gap between the top of the surround and the bottom of the fireplace opening.

Would appreciate suggestions on how to tidy this up. Obviously it's not a sealing problem...I want the air to come out, just need to make it look nice.

By the way, the installer did a very good job with a block off plate. He put it higher in the firebox than I did last time. Mine was just about level with the top of the opening. His is where the damper is located. I guess we were getting a lot of cold down draft with the open fireplace... I could feel the air rushing down the liner before the stove was installed, and now that everything is in place, the room feels warmer (and we haven't started a fire yet...have to wait for the inspector to sign off tomorrow.)

Again, suggestions appreciated on how to close/hide that gap.

And yea, I know, I need to clean the brick.

Thanks!

 

[begreen]

One simple fix would be to attach a long 2" strip of metal to the back of the surround so that 1" of it projects above the edge. Paint the strip black. Or attach a section of angle iron (painted grey grout color) on to the underside of the lintel.

 

[jatoxico]

Any chance you can get the surround off and place some slate under the unit to raise it the little bit you need? I don't think that gap would be noticeable if it was on the floor.

 

[lml999]

Any chance you can get the surround off and place some slate under the unit to raise it the little bit you need? I don't think that gap would be noticeable if it was on the floor.

In our last house, we had a 2" slab of stone under the stove, primarily serving as a hearth. We chose not to use it for this installation as the stove always rocked a bit.

If i raised the stove 1/2" I'd have a gap at the bottom of each side. Might look odd.

 

[weatherguy]

I had a similar problem with my pellet stove, I had a slab of granite that I slid under the stove to raise it up.

 

[Supersurvey]

Find someone to cut you a piece to sheet metal (U shape) and slide it in from the top.

 

[begreen]

You could raise the stove 1" on 2 sheets of cement board. A little black filler piece on each side of the insert wouldn't be as noticeable. You could even make it a little thicker than the surround so that they look like a pedestal base. Maybe use some 1" aluminum square stock.

 

[lml999]

Some good suggestions, thanks!

I originally thought about getting some 1x1" aluminum stock and making a picture frame surround. But I don't have a lot of room on the sides, so I'm thinking of adding just a 1X1 bar on the top, spaced just slightly with a couple of washers to create a small gap for esthetics.

I'll spray paint the aluminum with either flat black stove paint to match the surround, or perhaps something a bit more metallic to better match the anodized edging already in place.

Seems easier than lifting the stove and putting something underneath. I'm also not sure if I have play in the connector to the liner to do so...