# DIY - Resurface Mantle and Fireplace Insert



## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

Well the thread title is a bit misleading.  But I will get to that.  We wanted to cut our heating costs and get more production out of our fireplace.  I'll let the pictures do the talking.

*Before*  The mirror in the dining room was hideous.







*Stripped Mantle*  The glue used to install the mirror was tough to get off so we decided to resurface it with tile.  Had fun destroying the mirror with a hammer.






*Stripped Wall*  The glue was so bad on the wall I had to score the paper on the sheetrock to peel it off.  






*Patched Sheetrock, Tile Job, and Insert Install*  So all that f'ing glue led to patching the sheetrock and this lovely tile job.  My grandfather was a mason and my father pretty much renovated our entire house when I was growing up.  Fun job to work on with my Dad.  We had to build out the brick work with wonder-board to avoid cutting the tile.  We added about 3/4" on both sides.






*Close-up*  This is the misleading DIY.  I had the  fireplace insert installed professionally.  It took them just 3 hours to line the chimney and install our new Jotul 450.






*Bluestone Mantle*  Back to those masonry skills.  Dad came back to help me install the mantle.  






*After*  This stove is a beast and doing most of the work with my Dad was a blast.






BTW - I just grouted the skirt below the bluestone hearth on Sunday.  I still need to get in there with a sponge and clean up the grout lines.


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## o3jeff (Dec 15, 2008)

Great job! What were they thinking with all that mirror


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## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Great job! What were they thinking with all that mirror



It was the 80s. :lol:  We actually met the old owners who installed the mirror.  Great people, bad taste.  I also had to patch the hole/vent they cut in the floor.  You can see it in one of the pics.  They had a wood stove in the basement.  They cut a whole and installed little fans to push the floor to the main living area.


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## hardline (Dec 15, 2008)

70's porn shiek. gota love the mirror.


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## BeanoNYC (Dec 15, 2008)

Floor looks like it's in great shape.  Not bad for 2 adults, a kid and a dog.  Solid wood or pergo?


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## Marc (Dec 15, 2008)

Wow, looks great Chris.  Love the new hearth and insert.  I hope you'll be a responsible wood burner and burn only bone dry wood.  That Jotul will run best with wood around 20 percent moisture.

Big thumbs up on all the work.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

BeanoNYC said:


> Floor looks like it's in great shape.  Not bad for 2 adults, a kid and a dog.  Solid wood or pergo?



solid wood...and its 2 dogs.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

Marc said:


> Wow, looks great Chris.  Love the new hearth and insert.  I hope you'll be a responsible wood burner and burn only bone dry wood.  That Jotul will run best with wood around 20 percent moisture.
> 
> Big thumbs up on all the work.



thanks marc.  i'm about to blast through my last 1/4 cord of super dry stuff (seasoned 2 years) and then i have to bust into some of the stuff i bought in the fall.  i can also pinch some wood off of a friend until the fall delivery is just right.

but looking forward, i am going to buy a poly brush to do some regular maintenance.  i also have a line on 10 cord of rounds for free!!!!!  just need to split it at my friends, haul it home, and heat my home for the next 3 winters.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

Got wood?  This has all been stacked since October.  Just about 2 cords.


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## Marc (Dec 15, 2008)

Nice.  Two years is good.  I'm going to shoot for three, because burning any wet wood... even hit or miss is aggravating and you also don't want to smoke your neighbors out.... but most importantly it gives me an excuse to cut two+ seasons of wood in one winter.  And that's what's known as a text book win-win.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 15, 2008)

Marc said:


> Nice.  Two years is good.  I'm going to shoot for three, because burning any wet wood... even hit or miss is aggravating and you also don't want to smoke your neighbors out.... but most importantly it gives me an excuse to cut two+ seasons of wood in one winter.  And that's what's known as a text book win-win.



I had some locust that was a bit wet for my taste.  i just mixed in with some good oak.  another DIY I have scheduled for the spring is 12 - 16' long wood shed.  need to clear a few trees to make room for the shed.


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## Marc (Dec 15, 2008)

w00t!

Nothin more fun than droppin trees... outside of skiing that is.  And doin it, of course.  That's a whole other thread though.


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## Glenn (Dec 16, 2008)

Nice work! How's the heat output on that? I've kicked around getting an insert like that in our fire place. We have a raised ranch and the fire place is in the lower level. I'm not sure it could heat the entire house, but it probably would help cut the oil usage.


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## Marc (Dec 16, 2008)

Glenn said:


> Nice work! How's the heat output on that? I've kicked around getting an insert like that in our fire place. We have a raised ranch and the fire place is in the lower level. I'm not sure it could heat the entire house, but it probably would help cut the oil usage.



Glenn, my folks are in a raised ranch as well with a medium sized woodstove on the lower level (half of it is finished, the half with the stove).  The only word of caution with a stove below grade I'd offer is, make sure your walls are well insulated, otherwise having a stove down there is counter productive.

But my folks can heat almost all their house with the stove down there.  You have to be patient and let the lower level heat up before you can start expecting any volume of heat upstairs (since wood burners are mostly radiators, rather than convectors, you have to wait for the room surfaces to heat up and start convecting to get the heat to move) but my old man turns the heat off altogether and the far end of the house still stays around 63 ish.

I think in Grassi's case, an insert was the perfect solution, but if your fireplace is downstairs, more or less out of view, and you have the hearth space, I'd seriously consider just putting a woodstove in the space rather than an insert.


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## Warp Daddy (Dec 16, 2008)

Nice job . clean look 

 So was Hugh Hefner the former owner ???


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## Grassi21 (Dec 16, 2008)

Glenn said:


> Nice work! How's the heat output on that? I've kicked around getting an insert like that in our fire place. We have a raised ranch and the fire place is in the lower level. I'm not sure it could heat the entire house, but it probably would help cut the oil usage.





Marc said:


> Glenn, my folks are in a raised ranch as well with a medium sized woodstove on the lower level (half of it is finished, the half with the stove).  The only word of caution with a stove below grade I'd offer is, make sure your walls are well insulated, otherwise having a stove down there is counter productive.
> 
> But my folks can heat almost all their house with the stove down there.  You have to be patient and let the lower level heat up before you can start expecting any volume of heat upstairs (since wood burners are mostly radiators, rather than convectors, you have to wait for the room surfaces to heat up and start convecting to get the heat to move) but my old man turns the heat off altogether and the far end of the house still stays around 63 ish.
> 
> I think in Grassi's case, an insert was the perfect solution, but if your fireplace is downstairs, more or less out of view, and you have the hearth space, I'd seriously consider just putting a woodstove in the space rather than an insert.



Glenn, Marc summed it up very well.  We are in Cape style home and the insert is in the middle of the house.  The longest I have run the insert is 24 hrs straight.  I will be running 24/7 once the wife has a handle on operating the stove (she is close).  The heat output is impressive and should be able to do the lionshare of heating our home.  On the opposite side of that wall is our family room with cathedral ceilings.  It looks like there is a decommissioned flew line.  I want to get a small wood stove to play around with in that room.  It will also keep me from placing fans around the house to help move the heat.


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## Grassi21 (Dec 16, 2008)

Warp Daddy said:


> Nice job . clean look
> 
> So was Hugh Hefner the former owner ???



The people who build the house and installed the mirror are great people.  The house was sold twice after they left.  When I moved to town I volunteered to coach lacrosse.  The head coaches grew up on my street and his mom still lives here.  His best friend grew up in our house.  We have gotten to know the original owners and they are super cool people.  They were shocked that the hideous mirror was still there.


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## Glenn (Dec 16, 2008)

Thanks guys, some great info there. 

Our fireplace is on the lower level, south side of the house. The bedrooms are on the northside of the house, just above the unheated garage. I'm sure an insert or stove would heat the house, but not enough to shut the oil burner off. I guess it would be more or less "supplimental heat". 

The house was built in 1968 or 1969. In talking with the previous owner, she had insulation blown in the walls sometime in the 1980's. God only knows the the R value of that is...1.....2? 

I had not idea that putting a stove in the fireplace would be a better option than an insert. That's good to know.


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## Marc (Dec 16, 2008)

Glenn, that's exactly how my parents raised ranch is arranged... except bedrooms to the East and stove to the West.  Their house is tight, but not insulated to the extreme.  I like sleeping in cool-cold temperatures though so.

You will notice a huge reduction in oil consumption though, even if you can't turn the heat off completely.  I'm living only on the first floor of an uninsulated, rather large, very old farmhouse with the woodstove at one end and my bedroom at the other.   I keep the heat at 58 degrees and the heat cycles very infrequently, even when it's below 15 outside.  If I had to guess I'd say it comes on once every four hours, maybe.  Enough so that the radiators get cold to the touch between cycles.


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## Beetlenut (Dec 16, 2008)

Nice job Chris, I like the insert. We're stuck with a Split level raised ranch and no where to put a wood stove.


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## Glenn (Dec 16, 2008)

Marc said:


> Glenn, that's exactly how my parents raised ranch is arranged... except bedrooms to the East and stove to the West.  Their house is tight, but not insulated to the extreme.  I like sleeping in cool-cold temperatures though so.
> 
> You will notice a huge reduction in oil consumption though, even if you can't turn the heat off completely.  I'm living only on the first floor of an uninsulated, rather large, very old farmhouse with the woodstove at one end and my bedroom at the other.   I keep the heat at 58 degrees and the heat cycles very infrequently, even when it's below 15 outside.  If I had to guess I'd say it comes on once every four hours, maybe.  Enough so that the radiators get cold to the touch between cycles.




That's good to know Marc. What's a typical (decent brand) wood stove and install go for?


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## Marc (Dec 16, 2008)

Glenn said:


> That's good to know Marc. What's a typical (decent brand) wood stove and install go for?



Well, I know of, and have had experience with mostly Jotul, Vermont Castings, Woodstock Soapstone and Hearthstone.  There are several other quality brands... check out www.hearth.com for more information.  Wealth of knowledge on that site.


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## Greg (Dec 16, 2008)

Looks great Chris. I was fortunate enough to see that beautiful mirror wall in person once. Really a shame you decided to pull it down...


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## Warp Daddy (Dec 16, 2008)

Marc said:


> Well, I know of, and have had experience with mostly Jotul, Vermont Castings, Woodstock Soapstone and Hearthstone.  There are several other quality brands... check out www.hearth.com for more information.  Wealth of knowledge on that site.



 Marc you are a WEALTH of info on all things related to cutting and burning of wood --  !!!

Also glad u had a buddy from Paul Smith's . I almost took a presidency there in the mid 90's, I had a great friend who was President  @ PSCand retired then - -----such  a beautiful location ,


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## Grassi21 (Dec 16, 2008)

Greg said:


> Looks great Chris. I was fortunate enough to see that beautiful mirror wall in person once. Really a shame you decided to pull it down...



Thanks Greg.  I wanted to keep a few sections of the mirror and frame them out and place them in the dining room in homage.


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## mikes334 (Nov 23, 2009)

That sounds like a pretty cool idea.


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## Grassi21 (Nov 23, 2009)

Mike, what's your setup at home?  I see you bumped all of the wood stove related threads.  I am going to post up some picks when I get the last cord of wood stacked this week.


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