Fire, Stone and Wood

As in all good stories a title can be one of the most important things to a reader. It can either lead to someone continuing to read the following pages or doomed to be set on the shelf ignored until the next reader makes the fateful decision.

This is not a story as some of the other posts, instead it is sharing of a process and a decision that has been in the making for almost four years. It is a project that has been going on for almost eight months and has had many twists and turns. It is also one of those projects that you knew was going to be difficult so you mapped it out, planned and redid the plan. The only thing is there are always those unforeseen things that occur and this is no different. We have changed the plans, had to modify aspects and have finally reached the end or the light at the end of the tunnel as some people say.

You are probably wondering what it is I am talking about and it is the wood stove that now sits in the corner of our living room. A handmade hearth that is made from stone off our property and when it is finally complete it may be one of my favorite additions to our home (besides our master bathroom that has been completely remodeled). That will be a story for another time upon its completion.

The wood stove was something that had been a want in the home for quite some time but the expense was not justified at the time and I did not foresee extended periods of times without power and heat in the middle of winter where we live. Especially since I specifically moved south to get away from the cold. Additionally every year living here has been colder then what was considered "normal". All that aside after three years of going without heat in the winter I was on the verge of forcing the justification for the wood stove. Add on getting married and my wife (who hates the cold as well) coming to live with me, the wood stove became a need instead of a want. It is one thing to rough it out as a bachelor and have a campfire and living outside for the most part as a bachelor when it is winter. There are parts of it that make it even fun but add a wife and a family there has to be a way to get heat into the house if the power goes out.

After getting married our first major purchase together was the wood stove and the timing was perfect, we found one that was sufficient for the size of our home and it was esthetically pleasing making it an added benefit. My wife and I were able to lug the 300 lb piece of metal into the living room and so began the extended process of laying out a plan for the installation process. Yes, you may be wondering why the plan occurred after the purchase. Which I still do as well, as for the most part I do nothing without a plan. It was by no means a in the moment purchase as I do not do that. I tend to labor through decisions regarding purchases. I can somehow have a debate with myself if it is necessary to buy a pair of new jeans, even buying them is a process, I have to think on it and usually it is several days before I finally buy the jeans that were needed in the first place.

So back to the plan which started with figuring out the best place for the wood stove. We were very limited to the areas that we could put it due to the layout of our home. The layout of our living area is an open concept which leaves us with only one functional wall to put the wood stove and then the design of our roof system made the decision for us. The wood stove found its place into the corner of the living area, this way we did not lose actionable floor space that is needed. From there we had to decide how the piping would go. This is probably the most difficult aspect of the entire project. I have never done something like this before so it is a slow methodical process with a ton of research to ensure it is done correctly.

To add to the complexity, the wood stove had to be set perfectly so the pipe would come through an upstairs half cubby perfectly in the middle. This way it did not come out in the middle of our small bedroom which would not have looked right nor would have it been safe or functional. I measured over and over and found that it would work if the stove was set 16 inches away from one wall and 12 inches from the back of the wood stove to the wall. Those wondering, all of these fall over the minimum clearance for our particular stove. So check your stove for proper clearance and do not just go off what mine is at.

Another issue we came to find was to get through the ceiling to the second floor there was an 18" gap and the second floor joists were the manufactured kind and set perfectly at 16 on center. This meant that the pipe had to run perfectly though the middle as it is a 6 inch pipe that is coming from the wood stove. After getting these measurements and laying it out it was time to purchase the pipe. The purchasing of the pipe has been and continues to be one of the worst nightmares of the project. It has been a journey just to get the stove pipe here.

I first started purchasing the stove pipe from Menards because I figured they would have everything in one place. Instead I was met with an over picked area, most of the boxes were open and way more 8 inch pipe then 6 inch along with a various amounts of accessories I would never use. We bought what we could, which was not much. There was a wall thimble, a few elbows and a few anchors for the exterior pipe. In my mind it was a bust. My next thought was to look up the manufacturer and buy it directly since I could not find anything all in one place. I also wanted to use an adjustable pipe which could be 4 feet and 6 feet which I could not find anywhere. I have to take a moment to say that the ordering and delivery process was an utter disaster from start to finish. The only part that was simple was the online part and the paying for the actual pipe. They had everything that was needed. I had measured and re-measured to ensure I was ordering enough because I did not want to mess up. Also, the pipe is extremely expensive (something I did not price out appropriately and delayed the process due to budgeting). A moment of advice when budgeting for pipe, if you have never done this before, set aside a decent amount of money. I have spent almost double what I had thought with all the extras and poor budgeting. With a wood stove I would not suggest cutting corners either and ensuring you have all the necessary pipe and attachments.

So back to the order, my intention was to purchase 1 adjustable pipe, one 4 foot pipe and one 3 foot pipe. This would allow me to get my required 9 feet to my elbow piece and then my additional 3 feet to punch through the house. I paid for my order and moved on waiting for the delivery date. The delivery day came and went (shocker) it was late, it never fails with our mail system. Most things never arrive when they say they will and if you live in the country getting a package on time is near impossible. We moved on and eventually I got an email saying it had been delivered. Excited I drove out to the front of our property to get it, which to my surprise nothing was there. Now I was concerned as there was a lot of money spent and nothing here. I started the tracking process and while I did it said my address was not found. This was strange as I had a delivery email but my address was wrong. My decision was to get on the phone and call Fed Ex which was about as useful as talking to a goldfish. We got nowhere as they just kept saying it was delivered to my address and insisting there was no way they made a mistake.

While on the phone I got a call from an unknown number, when I finally got off the phone from my unhelpful customer service representative I listened to the voicemail and to my surprise a neighbor up the road had called saying they had my pipe. I quickly called back and said I would come get it. I double checked the address it had showed up at and it did not even come close to mine. Needless to say I drove over and picked up my missing pipe. When I got there I was told that it was not originally delivered there but delivered to another property 5 miles from there. Now really confused I thanked my neighbors and returned home. Confused but happy that I had the pipe I was ready to get everything out and seeing how it all went together. To my amazement when I got home and opened the box I had four 4 foot pipe inside. All I could do was laugh, my assumption was they mixed up my order with someone else. Before I could begin the process of contacting the company I got another phone call from the same neighbor that they had more pipe. We both had a nice laugh when I showed up and got my package. The couple that lived there were amazed at how much pipe "I needed" to build my stove. I did not have much to say other then say the order is not right and laugh. At this point I had four 4 foot pipe and my adjustable pipe now. I wish I could say this was the end but I got another update that I had a package but this one had the wrong address. I knew it would not be there when I drove up but I did anyways. Then I decided I would drive to the other address and see if I could save a trip for the other person who was doing Fed Ex job for them.

When I got to the address that was listed it was an open field with not a house in sight. This concerned me as to how my previous package made it, but was delivered to an open field. Regardless I was left with no choice but to return home and begin the process of unraveling this mess. Upon getting home I got another call and if your guessing it was my neighbor it sure was. My damper was delivered to their home now too. Upon driving back there for the third time she explained that the owner of the property had happened upon the gate and saw the packages and gave the boxes to them because it was the only people he knew. They also knew me and recognized the name, as they had helped me fix my truck several years back by letting me borrow their vehicle lift. That aside I got the package and headed home to call the company and explain this mess.

Calling was no less confusing, as I had to explain that I had four 4 foot pipe, the adjustable pipe I needed and the damper I ordered but was missing the 3 foot pipe. They did not seem too alarmed but said the facility that stores and ships is several states away. Sounds like an inconvenience to me and a poor business choice but who am I to judge I only have a Masters degree in business and never sat in that class before. They agreed to send me the correct pipe and when I received what I needed I agreed to send the extras back. This thankfully went without issues.

The last unforeseen issue was after installing my first ceiling mount, after doing this I decided to open the wall thimble we had purchased from Menards and realized that the opening for the pipe to go through was way too big. I thought to myself great this company cannot get anything right even the stuff sent to the big box stores. On our next trip to Menards we brought the thimble back to swap it out for the right one. The lady at the return desk took one look and told me she was sorry and to go get the right one. Which I intended to do, when I got there I now realized why all the boxes were open. Probably from other people having the same issue. I looked at the other boxes labeled 6 inches and sure enough they all were the same... way too big. I asked the first employee I saw which he had to go get his manager. When she came she told me she did not know and that they all looked wrong. At this point I was beginning to lose hope but she called one more guy and he took a look. After looking puzzled himself he realized the issue, the thimble was for a double walled pipe which I did not have so I needed a reducer to bring the pipe to the correct shape. Who would have thought that a 6 inch double wall thimble is actually 8 inches. A pamphlet included with the pieces would have solved this whole issue but instead it took two trips to Menards and a total of 5 different people included myself to figure out this problem. In the end I bought the reducer and kept the thimble and moved on. At this point I am not even frustrated just determined to get this project complete.

So now I have the stove, the correct pipe and was ready to move to the next aspect our hearth. We began looking up ideas and realized that what we needed was going to be very expensive and nothing was really standing out as something we wanted. That does not make sense to me, to buy something that is expensive that you did not really like. The decision came to try and use rock from the property to build the hearth. Let me tell you it came out beautiful and a lot better then I thought.

I started with framing out the hearth which came out to be 50"x50". I then laid 2x4 flat 16 inches on center and screwed them in. This would later come to be a mistake as there was too much weight with the rock laid in. I fixed this thankfully before I set everything and mortared it. Instead I shortened it down to 8 inches on center to hold the weight. I then laid cement board in the center and stained the outside wood American Walnut as that matches the wood theme in our house (it also happens to be my wife's favorite stain). The mission then was to find rock, which was not too hard we used a wagon and gathered rock that was between 1 1/4 inch thick to 2 inches thick. We washed and scrubbed them before bring them inside (recommend doing this to avoid tracking dirt and bugs in). The fun part was next laying the rock in to fit a pattern. We realized that finding a perfectly flat stone for the legs was unrealistic so we did by 4 12"x12" stone that was gray to lay in for the legs of the wood stove. The pattern came naturally and was a lot of fun. As there was no blueprint instead it was all based on what fit and what rock looked the coolest. Felt like a kid playing with rocks again. Once we got the pattern laid out we took several pictures before removing the rock. We tried to lay them in a pattern next to the hearth the best we could to help ease the process of setting them.

The process of setting and mortaring the hearth was labor intensive but worth it. We initially tried to use stone rated concrete for the setting of the stone which did not work. We pulled an audible quickly and changed to regular thin set and went heavy with this which was a great choice, it set the rocks perfectly. From there we then used the concrete mortar to fill the large gaps but went light on purpose to ensure that I could use a smooth finish mortar to pretty up the lines. Which we did and it came out beautiful, removing the gritty look and instead looked more natural with the stone. Once that sat for 48 hours I did enlist my father's help to lift and set the wood stove on the hearth which was much appreciated.

From there I began the process of mounting the ceiling brackets for the pipe and getting everything ready to install the pipe which requires some serious cutting into the ceiling of our first floor, the second floor and the exterior wall. The later is not done yet. It is a project that is hoped to be completed in the next month or so. Just in time to enjoy the wood stove for the winter months and reduce the cost of propane while also allowing for heat no matter the weather. I can say that I am quite excited to use this with the past 4 years doing without. I have cut enough firewood for other people it only seems natural that some would be used for ourselves. We have pictures of the hearth which we can say we are quite proud of as it is truly one of a kind.

We intend to share pictures of it when it is completed but will share the hearth pictures below. Maybe one day I will build these styles of hearth's for others and if not it will be something that my wife and I can tell our future children about. It can be a testament to who we are and a little piece of who we are will be engraved into the corner of our home because good luck to anyone who ever wants to try and move it!