I might be coming back!

TLDR: Wish me luck on my journey back to this awesome club.

Hey folks, after a long hiatus from the forums and wood hoarding life, I may becoming back into the club.

You may remember me as the crazy guy that tore out a massive fireplace DIY and installed a beautiful herthstone stove atop a massive peice Of flag stone. If not, check out my new member post, and come back after you catch up.

In November of 2018, I was in a bad car accident that took my left leg above the knee. This unfortunately led to me having to sell my mountain home. I had given my wood pile away to the local mountain community. It was amazing how fast it was hauled away. It broke my heart to see all of my work dissapear so quickly.

We did make a very good profit on the home after all the work we had done. Heartbreak #2 was when we looked at the home listed for sale not a year later. They had ripped out the gorgeous wood stove and replaced it with a TV. They were obviously not prepared for mountain living. Like most who do not know what they are getting into, they sold the house after the first winter.

We had moved "down the hill" and I began my recovery. We were at the very base of the mountain, in a tiny house, 850sq/ft, with no room for a new wood burner. It did not take us long to get to work on this house. We gutted the bathroom, changing it from a walk in handicap shower, to a full bath with large soaking bathtub. I like to make a joke about how the handicap guy tore out his ADA compliant bathroom, but I forget how it goes.

We tiled the kitchen floor, and I started prepping to add a third bedroom. The town and county were much more strict then were we lived before.

They said I could not add a third bedroom as a homeowner, I would need a licensed contractor to supervise the build. I said, hold my beer.

I ordered a study guide and code book, and studied for the C Contractor test. I took it in November of 2023 and passed. The town now approved me to build my own third bedroom. I had an architect draw the plans, a structural engineer stamp them, and an HVAC designer certify the HVAC, insulation, and window choices. This took until about February 2024.

It was about this time that I noticed a mountain home that my wife lIked had a significant price drop. It was still very expensive, but with the appreciation on my home, it was now within financial reaching distance. I put in offer, and on the same day that we picked up our approved stamped and signed third bedroom permit, our offer on the home was accepted.

I am now two weeks from closing and trying my best not to get too excited. Next week is the last week that the buyers for my house can back out. If I make it to Friday, March 29th without hearing any complaints from said buyers, we are moving into a 2400sq/ft, 5 bedroom, 2 bathroom mountain home on 1.3 relatively flat acres.

The new to us house is a bit of a mess. Aluminum wiring, asbestos ceilings, radon pouring out of the ground. Just the kind of project home I live for. We could easily net 400k on this one, if we wanted to sell it. Wife and I both think this will be our forever home.

It has a traditional fireplace upstairs, and a pellet stove in the basement. I am not sure how I feel about the pellet stove. I guess it will be nice to have a relatively affordable source of nice quality heat in the basement that requires very little attention.

I do know how I feel about the fireplace. It needs to go right away. I am not aure what solution I will go with. The location of the fireplace is not very conducive to a tear down like we did with our first home.


This is in the corner of the main family room, at the top of the basement stairs, and the end of the hall leading to the bedrooms. I worry that it may be a significant part of the structure. It makes up an exterior wall.

I would prefer to put a wood burning stove here:



I feel this location would give us a more central distribution of heat and do a better job at warming the bedrooms. That being said, it just seems a little too crazy to have two wood burining apertures in one room. I feel like a wood burning insert, or a wood stove in front of the stone fireplace would make much more sense from a normal human being stand point.

What would you do? Fireplace Insert, wood stove out front of fireplace, or new wood stove to the right of the hall leading to the bedrooms?

Please send positive vibes and prayers my way. This house would be an amazing gift to my growing family. My daughters really need their own bedrooms. I need the peace and serenity that mountain living brings. I need the exercise that I got from hoarding firewood. I miss the community here, and I miss heating myself twice, once when cutting, and once again when burning!

 

Welcome back.
I don’t think moving the stove 15-20’ would make any significant difference. IF the chimney is good I would put in an inset and be done with it.

It’s your money and time I would guesstimate $5,000 plus for a good efficient insert install vs $10,000-20,000 to install a new flu and free standing wood stove in the place you marked? That said is it worth $10,000 plus to move it for aesthetics, function or ease of use. If so move it!

 

Wow, I'm sorry about your leg. However your story is inspirational. I love the hold my beer part. I would go with an insert. You might use a box fan to move cold air down the hallway but it should heat the main floor well enough.

 

Since you have the FP there, as long as it's structurally sound, I'd just put a wood insert in there.

What a story though. I remember you from before but I don't remember the accident post. You have a great attitude and you don't let the loss of a leg appear to slow you down.

 

Welcome back

 

Sounds like Casper ...

 

Is the fireplace an actual masonry fireplace, or is it an insert and "fake" fireplace? Is the flue good, what size is it? Does it lend itself to putting a liner in?
All questions that would factor in for me...

 

Oh, it slows me down, just doesn't stop me.

Great to hear Handsonautotech overcoming life's challenges !

 

Now, on to the technical discussion. What type of knee do you have?

I've been using the OttoBock Genium X3 for the past 6 years. I love it! Of course, it's not as good as the genuine GM parts, but it does pretty well.

 

There are several members here that have both. Maybe not on the same floor or even the same room, but it sounds nice to have options.

 

Holding off on the vote for now.

But I agree that it seems a minimal move (heat distribution wise), and a lot more work/expense to install a freestanding stove by the hall.

I see you're not the type to let obstacles stand in your way, so I'll just kick back and enjoy the show.


Best of luck with the current sale.

 

I agree with brenndatomu . I had a zero clearance fireplace and it required most of it to be removed before my latest insert could be installed. More info is needed on the existing fireplace and chimney.

 

provided that your fireplace chimney is adequate to support a wood stove, I would go with either an insert or a free-standing stove. Both with viewable glass fronts. Just make sure your venting is appropriate. You are an inspiration to us all.

 

I've never had an insert, so am unsure how well they heat, but I would think a wood stove out front would give you more heat. Plus, if that area is prone to power outages, a stand-alone stove would be advantageous.

I don't think that putting a stove where that closet (I assume) is, would be worth the effort or be significant in gains.

 

I have a linksys right now and hate it. I use it as a peg leg mostly. I just got approved for the Genium finally! and I am excited to get it. I am waiting for my prothesis lady to finish my socket design. I have a very short stump and it is hard to design for, I have lots of nasty hardware inside me. Lets see if I can figure out how to do a NSFW photo.

 

The chimney sweep comes out April 8th, 2024 and I will learn more. It is a brick chimney.

 

You're going to love the Genium, I have the X3 since workers comp covers it. I deal with acids and caustic as well as water so they have approved two of them so far. The first X3 locked up and was out of warranty right at 5 yrs. We'll see if that happens again.

 

Do inserts depend on a fan to get the heat "out" ? It would be good to have a reliable source of heat for use during power outages. We do have a generator we can use in a pinch...