Holy cow! Rough walls on the inside of that basement, no? No matter, as long as it all holds together. Just looks sorta fragile.
Looking good, Ed! I can only dream of having my stone foundation house be that neat in the basement. Did you do all the work to finish it yourself? Ours is circa 1850 and the ceiling is just too short to even think of it. Good place to keep canned goods and an unused oil burner, but that's about it.
It's not the basement, it's the living room! The walls had been built out with firring and plastered to square up the corners. As it's only 9' wide, the 3" I gained on each side are meaningful. Now, I'm down to the original wall. I am working toward getting the stone repointed. The motar is soft, and it's hair-raising. The house was built in the late 1700's. The stove is a Flame Energy. It's an SBI stove, almost identical to the Drolet escape 1800i, 2.4' firebox, with an upgrade c-cast baffle. The cat is big, but not as fat as he looks in the picture, all curled up. For all his size, he's the most gentle creature I've ever encountered.
I have worked on some basements where the mortar was all crumbling. It was easy to gain access to the outside but left you wondering just how the integrity of the structure was faring.
You are right about the structural integrity. There's one "blow out", fortunately under a window, and only about 1/3 of the wall thickness, that requires attention. This is part of the reason I'm now planning to do the entire room. And, I really don't enjoy the slow, filthy work. Fortunately the cellar walls are much more sound.
I knew it looked familiar, as you said looks almost identical to the Drolet! What's a c-cast baffle? Just looked in my owners manual think the Drolet has a Vermiculite baffle material. How do they compare or differ? Just asking, thanks much!!!
If you check out SBI's (sbi makes drolet, century, flame energy) higher-end brands, osburn is an example, they use c-cast baffles. After 2 vermiculite baffles broke within the warranty period, I asked if I could get a c-cast one instead, and they sent one! It wasn't a perfect fit, I had to cut it, but it cut like bread, so no problem. Somewhere I read that it is an insulation used on the space shuttle, but that seems like marketing to me. Does the same thing as the vermiculite, hopefully more durable.
Gotcha, thank you! I just looked it up and found a fit for my Drolet! When and if I have to replace mine I will go with this one!! C-CAST BAFFLE 20
