Ripping out a gas fireplace, putting in a wood stove.

Who makes a good quality fireplace tool kit at a reasonable price?

 

That is beautiful. You are going to love that.

We have a 'coon that sleeps in my grandmothers rocking chair,
right where the fan blows the air out of the Lopi.

 

Only 'coons around here poop on my stacks and then knock 'em over...

 

They are such great beasts...sorry to say this guy won't be with us for much longer. He was diagnosed with cancer a couple of months back, so we're just keeping him as comfortable as possible for as long as possible. He's 13 years old, and the Maine Coon doesn't live much beyond that anyway, unfortunately...just glad he made it long enough to get some stove time!

 

So, I was out at the stacks this afternoon checking stuff out, and decided to grab a sample from both of my 2018-2019 stacks of Ash and Shagbark Hickory. All of the wood in both stacks was from live trees that I felled back in February at a buddy's house, and was CSS within a month of felling. Now, I understand that it's possible to cut Ash one winter/spring, and have it ready by the following season, but have always heard that Shagbark needed at least two years, three if possible to get good and seasoned.

Here's the Ash sample:



and here's the Shagbark:



My stacks are all out in the direct sun (from sun up to sun down), and get a ton of wind whenever it's even remotely breezy. Can it really be that those conditions actually dried everything out that fast?

 

WoW! I would have said very unlikely...but looks like you have done it! Sounds like ideal conditions for sure...if you think about wet clothes on a clothesline, a hot and windy day dry's things up pretty quickly!

 

I am a total believer in Blaze King's shoulder season performance! Loaded the box about a third full of Poplar around 8:30 this evening, left it in bypass mode with the thermostat on wide open...took a quick shower, and returned to a raging inferno (this setup really breathes well!). I loaded a big split of 3 year old Ash+ a couple of 3" Cherry branches I cut from our tree out front this spring, and put the Cat to work. I turned the thermostat all the way to low and assumed the adult-hour position on the couch. The little lady and I watched a two hour show, sitting 10' away from the stove, and were perfectly comfortable. The stove is still cranking out warmth with a glowing Cat, but no visible flames. I ventured outside for a nature call, and there is no discernible smoke aroma. 10/10 from me for shoulder season performance!

 

Whoa now, as soon as that cat meter points above active you must engage the cat. If you fail to do this you will melt the bypass gasket retainers which require cutting and welding to replace. You can leave the stat on high for pretty flames but close the loading door and bypass asap.

Yes, I've melted the bypass retainers. I hope yours withstood this incident.

Looks great and I'm happy to see another bk working well.

 

Uh oh...how do I tell if I F'd something up?

 

Got a chance to sneak out this morning and grab a little Cherry harvest

 

Nice!

 

Upon further review, I was mistaken on the order of events...while I did leave the bypass open, I had throttled the thermostat all of the way down after the fire initially got going. When I got back downstairs and grabbed a beer, I turned the thermostat back to high, and that's when the fire got roaring. My wife reminded me that the fire was out when we got back downstairs.

Good tip though...I didn't recall reading that, but it makes sense.

 

Got the carpet put back into place this morning, and that just about finishes off the interior. Going to run some errands, and then get the joist bays insulated when I get back. I'll call for the final inspection in the morning.

 

That turned out really nice.

 

Thanks...I'm pretty happy with it.

 

Real nice job man looks great, the pad turned out lookin real good too

 

So glad to see the trim ring appeared around the ceiling support box. I was waiting for it.

 

Keep 'em wanting more ;-)

 

After a few evenings of burning under my belt, I am happy to report that the heat fills the entire main floor where the stove is located very nicely. The two story entryway draws the heat upstairs very effectively as well, and I have been greeted by a wall of warm in the morning as I step out of the bedroom. I haven't tested trying to move the warm air around via the furnace blower yet, but as of now (at shoulder season temps) it hasn't been necessary at all. Looking forward to the temps dipping into the 20s and beyond to really get this thing cruising!