New home build-needs a new wood stove- recommendations?

[Squirrely]

I had a question about your wood countertop.



Will you need to do anything to mitigate longitudinal splitting? Like possibly cross drilling and inserting nutted threaded rods for compression?

Greg

 

[bholler]

I had a question about your wood countertop.

View attachment 198704

Will you need to do anything to mitigate longitudinal splitting? Like possibly cross drilling and inserting nutted threaded rods for compression?

Greg

As long as it has been dried properly and is attached properly to allow for expansion and contraction it should be fine. But there are no guarantees with big slabs like that there is always a risk of cracking.

I was a custom cabinet maker in my previous career. And I did a fair ammount of live edge slab stuff in the last few years before i sold the buisness. And there were times even when you did everything right that they would crack. Through bolting is not a bad solution if it fits with the aesthetic.

 

[begreen]

More info and conversations for non-hearth construction here:
https://www.hearth.com/talk/forums/diy-and-general-non-hearth-advice.12/

 

[rsw49]

Just curious about your firewood source. The pics do not show any trees in sight. Although with 175 acres there is a lot we do not see here. I am surprised none of the regulars have mentioned " cut, split, stack" and get that wood a dryin!!

 

[sportbikerider78]

Just beautiful! Love your location.

My family has a lovely wooded, stocked stream, bald hill with rock..and a view property with 275 acres in NY. I'd love to build on it, but right now with little kids, we need to be near a good school and the property taxes are just killer....if I was to add a nice home.

 

[RUMBLON]

I am a fan of outside air for combustion. It will never be too cold to hurt the fire but sucking heated room air into the stove for combustion means you are sucking cold outside air into the house which will then need to be heated. In your climate, you also need to consider that this outside air being sucked into the cracks will be very dry in the winter and lower your humidity even more. Another consideration which is a real issue is that when you turn on a ventilation fan for an appliance like the clothes dryer, range hood, etc. you can actually suck chimney air back into the house!

I suck air from my ventilated crawlspace into the stove. This way I am venting the crawl but also, being under the house, there is no wind or snow accumulation issues to worry about. I attached a photo of the OAK plumbing. It was required by my county (Pierce County/Tacoma) or the install would have failed inspection.

In my shop I have no outside air feed to the stove. It is a slab and the stove is not on an outside wall so I can't do it cleanly. That shop is not as air tight as my home anyway.

One last thing, not all stoves are compatible with outside air feeds. The BKs and my last Hearthstone stove stove got 100% of combustion air from a 3" nipple on the stove so zero room air is consumed when you supply an air tight outside air connection to that nipple. Many non-cats including my NC30 have multiple, full throttle, uncontrolled, intake holes all over the stove that suck room air in despite supplying outside air per the directions. My NC30 has four separate air inlets and only one is hooked to the official Outside air connection!

Thanks for the pics. The fresh air is NOT required in my area but I have decided to go ahead and do the fresh air anyway. I have my hearth framed out so Monday I will head down and buy the stuff to get it vented below.

I am thinking about going with the Quadrafire. After many consideration I am thinking a CAT stove is not for us. That said, I love the look of the Explorer III but dont want the porcelain chipping like my Jotul has done. Does anyone have have comments on the quadrafire 5700?

It has tighter clearances for my hearth as well so I can it it further back into my corner. ?

 

[RUMBLON]

Just curious about your firewood source. The pics do not show any trees in sight. Although with 175 acres there is a lot we do not see here. I am surprised none of the regulars have mentioned " cut, split, stack" and get that wood a dryin!!

I have no firewood on site. But around here its pine or doug fir. I pay 125 a cord delivered in rounds and I split it myself. When things slow down and I am not building I can buy wood permits for 10 bucks a cord and cut all I want. I can get that way down if I get 20 cords in the form of full logs delivered and I cut and split it myself. I know a logger who lives close by. Its Idaho so logging or trees and close by. But after working in Lake Tahoe for 30 years, I had no wishes or plans to live in serious snow country again. But last year we were hammered with snow a 6-70 year record here at 2800 elevation and I had five feet of standing snow and much more over the year.

You can get hard woods but they are pricey.

 

[RUMBLON]

PS. If you like the look of enamel but don't want cracking consider a jacketed stove like a Quad Explorer III.

so you dont think the quadrafire explorer iii will chip like my jotul. If not, thats probably the stove I will buy?

 

[RUMBLON]

PS. If you like the look of enamel but don't want cracking consider a jacketed stove like a Quad Explorer III.

why does the jacketed stove not chip as easy as the Jotul? Just curious. THX

 

[begreen]

There is less thermal expansion and contraction on the cast iron jacket due to the air gap between it and the stove body. That should reduce the crazing that can happen over time on an enameled cast iron stove. The finish can still chip though with a hit from a tool or pot.