The Napoleon NZ3000 Build Thread

shamefully, not yet. I still have to fabricate a filter/blower box to pull the heat and distribute it through three different rooms. Hoping to get that done sometime soon, in the spring....

 

Okay, after a long delay, it's time to pick back up on the project......lol

Hanging the stone was, IMO, my favorite part of the whole job. It looks hard to do, and can be intimidating when you first try it, but once you get the hang of it, it's like riding a bike. Stonework is a lot like building a puzzle. You want the rocks to fit nicely, but you also want the fit to look natural and as "un-coerced" as possible.....



I learned the hard way to hang stone from THE TOP DOWN. I tried from the bottom up, and all I did was slop my freshly hung stones with mortar as I made my way up the wall. Each evening when I came home from work, I'd mix up a half wheelbarrow of mortar and hang stones till I ran out of mortar. Some nights I'd struggle to empty the wheelbarrow...the stones would "fight" me and not fit right. Other nights they'd fit like a glove, and I'd mix two batches and run out quickly. The stone was all hung in the weeks before Christmas 2012.



You can see above that there are small spaces that don't have rocks in them. Some of those spaces were left for mortar, others would receive a rock....

That's all a part of doing the stone. To make it look natural, you do what feels natural. My goal was to have it look like it was built over 200 years ago.



Above, you can see I'm at the 'halfway' point.....but the hardest work was yet to come. Making cut stones around the top of the fireplace....

On another note, can you guys see the "howling wolf" stone? That was EXACTLY how I found that stone on the mountain. I thought it was really cool!!






Above, you can see the stones I cut and chipped for the top of the fireplace. I liked the look of the 'coffin' keystone, so that's what I made......


Here they are, all installed.......let the fire go out so they could cure slowly.....

 

Aaaawwwesome! Is that a refractory liner in your insert Scotty Overkill ?

 

after the archway was done, it was time to run with it again.....filling in the puzzle.....

Day.....



after day....



after day.....



after day.....til finally, it was time to do the big rocks for the hearth.....
as with the veneer stone, the big hearthstones came off of the mountain as well. All of the stone is from the mountains around our house.....

Notice the holes in the chase at the top of the fireplace and on either side of it? I put those in to help ventilate the chase, and they work nice. I cut and fit stone to make slanted registers in all three of those holes, so you cannot see into the chase....kinda like stone venetian blinds.....lol






in this pic above, you can see the stones installed in the registers......as well as all the thick hearthstones. almost time to grout it.....



After several days of grouting, the finished product. It still needed cleaned with vinegar and brushed...More pics coming, don't go nowhere!!

 

it's a ZC fireplace, not an insert.....lol....
and yes, it has removable refractory bricks in it....

 

Oh man I feel dumb

From the pictures, it looked more like "cast" ZERO CLEARANCE FIREPLACE walls than refrac brick.

 

after a good cleaning and installing the 300lb hand-hewn pine mantel, you can't even hardly tell that the fireplace was just built. Has the feel and charm of a 250yr old fireplace, but heats the entire 2800 sq. ft. house pretty derned good!!





You can see my 250yr. old shovel next to the fire......





Pic above of all my antique 18th and early 19th century hand wrought iron and copper utensils....



I love seeing the snow on the flue outside, knowing that the fire is cranking inside and doesn't lose the heat!! The efficiency of this thing really is amazing.....

 

They are cast refractories, made from firebrick material.....so you're probably right.....I may have mis-understood your question. LOL..

the refractories are a whopping 350 bucks to replace, so when the time comes I'll either be making my own, or retrofitting the fireplace with brick......so far, they are in excellent condition, and we've been using it for almost 4 years now. Heavy use...

 

There are lots of "castable" refractories at 55# bags from local industrial suppliers which are both reasonably priced AND easily workable. I've used 3 different brands overall in making my rocket stove assemblies, 2 of castable which were great, and one type of "rammable" which was not cool.....at all......for real.

 

I'll probably do that, if and when the time comes to replace them. Use some metal lath for structure....

 

I've seen a hundred pics of your stove/Hearth and never noticed!!

Now I'm gonna be looking for it in every pic!

 

the stones aren't real heavy individually, on average they are 1-1.5" thick. They are a bit heavier than man made veneer.....

As for grout, I used a 3 to 1 mortar mix with pewter colored Type N mortar. I used a grout bag to put it in and pointed it with my fingers and spoons to give it a vintage look......

Turned out great!

Thanks for the compliments, brother!

 

Modified a couple pics with the new SuperPhoto app, looks like a watercolor painting!

 

Thanks buddy! As I've said many times before, I made myself learn to do this work out of the simple fact that I could have NEVER afforded to pay someone to do it for me. We always wanted a colonial style fireplace, but the only way we could afford to have one was to do the work ourselves.

Over the course of our home remodel, I did natural stone veneer several places. The garage facade, the porch, the foundation, the staircase wall in our kitchen and the wall behind the woodstove in our kitchen. It gained me experience and confidence that I'd need for the fireplace build. I had access to natural stone veneer, or else I'd been screwed there too. The real stuff is very expensive.

At any rate, I am no genius or professional, but over the course of doing my own house I learned a true passion for the stone masonry. I love doing it. I wish I'd had started out earlier in life because I'd have enjoyed a career doing it....

 

I really appreciate the kind words, papadave.
I take pride in the fact that you and many others were there when I literally was discussing the building of this monstrosity, and you were there when every stone was laid too! Thanks for the kind words, as you already know it was a labor of love for sure.