1892 Monarch Fireplace Insert

I hate that work so much I think my mental part would give out. Pauliewog,you do very nice work,i will have to remember you if we ever get enough $$ together to add onto our shop .

SWPaDon wrote:My back is hurting more just looking at that picture

Don, Every bone in my body is hurting today !!!

At least I used my coal chute to get them down stairs.

Paulie

windyhill4.2 wrote:I hate that work so much I think my mental part would give out. Pauliewog,you do very nice work,i will have to remember you if we ever get enough $$ together to add onto our shop .

I am thinking of building a new 50' x 80 'shop this summer, but after today, ........... I'm leaning towards a steel building or a pole barn.

Paulie

Pauliewog wrote:

windyhill4.2 wrote:I hate that work so much I think my mental part would give out. Pauliewog,you do very nice work,i will have to remember you if we ever get enough $$ together to add onto our shop .

I am thinking of building a new 50' x 80 'shop this summer, but after today, ........... I'm leaning towards a steel building or a pole barn.

Paulie

I hear you.

Well, the hard part is finally done. I'm not sure if my body could take another concrete block day.

Now the question is ........ Do I put the stairs back in ?

Option 1 ....Fab up a spiral staircase ? Hmmmm ....Already getting dizzy thinking about it.

Option 2. ........ How about an elevator ?
I guess we all know neither of those ideas went over to big with the boss.

I guess the stairs it is...... Ya just can't win them all.

Paulie

You really are good at block laying,very nice job.

You are too kind David. When I originally built my house in 1974, I averaged 160 block a day. My average on this project was 50.

Paulie

Many things went better 30 yrs ago.

The elevator and the spiral staircase ideas got nixed by the big boss, so enclosed stairs it is.

In order to make this insert more efficient, I plan to fab up and attach it to a double walled, insulated, steel enclosure , and incorporate a modern style, revertable flue.

Before enclosing the stairs, I ran a 6" round insulated duct, between the room housing the Alaska stoker, and the small room under my foyer that is currently my coal bin.

The insert will be used in the shoulder months to take the chill off until I fire up the base burner, or the stoker. My thoughts are to bring in cold air from a grilled register in the main room, thru an 8" pipe into the double walled enclosure, and run the heated air thru the 6" pipe into my existing ductwork. Not sure at this point which is better....... Piping it into my warm air supply plenum and relying on gravity, or pulling it thru my cold air recirculation blower and filter.

Another option might be to install a separate, smaller, blower and filter on the 8" inlet. The nice thing about this is I have the space behind it to work and experiment without tearing up the main part of the room.

As always, any input from our members is appreciated.

Paulie

Pauliewog, not only did you do fantastic block work, but it looks as tho the stairs were professionally installed too,along with the fireplace surround & mantel. Got any more surprises for us ? NICE work.

Beautiful work, but add a hand rail for the stairs.

Lookin good, Paulie

windyhill4.2 wrote:Pauliewog, not only did you do fantastic block work, but it looks as tho the stairs were professionally installed too,along with the fireplace surround & mantel. Got any more surprises for us ? NICE work.

You are too kind David, This little project is a piece of cake . I built 95% of the house by myself after work and on weekends. But then again, that was 40 years ago, and I moved a little faster.

Suprises? This is my long awaited man cave / Stove museum. I want the room to have a turn of the century Victorian look, with a mix of the new. Like I mentioned in the cooking with coal thread, I dug down, put up an I beam, punched a hole thru the wall and put in an outside entrance door. All to get the range down the basement. Then I found a sunroom in New Jersey on Craigslist that was free for the taking, and I'm going to put that up this summer, rather than a Bilco door.

Paulie

franco b wrote:Beautiful work, but add a hand rail for the stairs.

Thanks Franco, With my two bad knees, there may very well be a handrail on both sides, or a chairlift .

My next step is to put up some wire lath, and parge the walls. I'm trying to give the room a venition plaster leather look and covered my closet walls with cement board hoping with it being all masonry, the finish will be easier to match.

Paulie

SWPaDon wrote:Lookin good, Paulie

Thanks Don ! Now I have to tell you, I put a lot of thought into the layout of my man cave, and many of the ideas, and changes come from my extended family members right here on the forum.

What good is having a stoker if you can't show it off ? I was relocating a large environmental room for a powder coating facility in Michigan last year and ended up eliminating a nice 36" fire door.

I was originally going to us it for my outside entrance until one night I was reading a post on your yellow flame. I don't know if it was the picture or what but I thought.......... Don would be proud of me If I put this door with the window, further down the wall, and show off that nice warm glow .

So there it is buddy, This one's for you!

Paulie