I had a stove installed by local guy the first year I bought this house in 2012 when I new zero about wood stoves and burning of wood. Since then I've been working on a complete gutting of the house when time permitted. It's 4 hour drive one way to the vacation home up north. Now that I'm near the end and had some time I took the surround off to see how the install was done. My worst fear materialized once I got it off. No block off plate or even some insulation stuffed up by the liner. Lost allot of heat over last 8 years of burning. The Buck 74 still would heat this house (1400 sq. ft.) well to the point of opening windows at times. If I can't find a installer to come out and seal it up I'll try to stuff some insulation up by the liner. I'm not very comfortable with pulling the stove out myself, from what I see it's just resting on a few bricks to hold it up. I could end up with a 450# stove in there cock eyed. Worst case for this year I'll leave it as is with surround off. Yes that would be a real waste. A few pics for your entertainment.
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261496-6e2ef8cb8adab4de31a2200813bad45f.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261497-35163db16a184166013a071e4d4690f7.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261498-47614de3016bab2ea4c6fc9ffea5ee6f.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261499-d1d58cfebc53743b12afb2bfac5c9f12.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261496-6e2ef8cb8adab4de31a2200813bad45f.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261497-35163db16a184166013a071e4d4690f7.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261498-47614de3016bab2ea4c6fc9ffea5ee6f.jpg)
![Surround removal Surround removal](https://www.hearth.com/talk/data/attachments/261/261499-d1d58cfebc53743b12afb2bfac5c9f12.jpg)