Hearths

[Roxie]

We finished the installation and are very warm and cozy.  The only thing we did not do yet is clean the brick, which we will wait until spring for good ventilation. 

Cowboy Bob and Roxie are ready for winter:

[sprucebunny]

WOW  8)   That's REALLY nice, Roxie ;D

I like how you won't have to sweep under that stove :D

[UNCLEBUCK]

You did a fantastic job s.b. !   8) You will have free heat from all your customers who leave you with big slab piles !    You too Roxie !

[Norm]

That turned out great Roxie and Bob and just in time for cold weather snugglin time. ;)

[UNCLEBUCK]

I am still catching up on threads but here is some pics of the fireplaces I built in my dads shack or I guess now its become the family shack . I dont know exactly what a hearth is but I think its where one would set the firewood next to a fireplace ?  ??? Anyways I like Norm and Patty"s hearth too as well as everyones and especially sprucebunny because we all done did it ourselves but here is a few pics of the basement hearth and the main floor hearths and both have airtight fireplaces and the basement hearth heats the whole shack no matter how cold it gets so it costs nothing to heat a 5000sq ft shack except the ashes must be hauled out every 2 weeks. The fireplace on the main floor is chicago commans brick but the fireplace has doors on both sides so it can be used from the unfinished kitchen or the unfinished living room . My dad is a retired cement man so he sat in a chair and kept me from building the leaning tower of pizza?piza? The basement hearth was from free field stones

[Roxie]

Jumping Doggies!!  8) Look at that!!  That is absolutely beautiful, Uncle Buck!

[pigman]

Those are beautiful fireplaces Uncle Buck. After seeing Reid Crosby's table and now these fireplaces, I will not be putting any more pictures of my junk stuff on the forum. :'(

[UNCLEBUCK]

I wish I could show the shack I grew up in and the pot belly stove that use to get so hot one could see through it .No hearth ,it just stood right next to the kitchen table . The shack was so ugly I was embarassed to ride the bus just so no kids could see all the holes in the walls .I slept in the hallway. That stove without a hearth or any type of safety eventually burned that shack to the ground  8). Anyways sprucebunny asked us all for hearth pictures and when ever sprucebunny asks we all listen ! Get those pictures in them albums peoples,pigman , everyone  !  :D 

[Patty]

Wow!    Those are all very beautiful you guys.    8)

I bet Roxie & CB are already snugglin in front of the stove.

Those that you built for your dad are really awesome, UB. I love the rustic look of the stone fireplaces. Around here we call that stone river rock. Did you gather those yourself off from the farm?

[UNCLEBUCK]

Hi Patty , got the rocks 5 miles from here where their is heavier clay ground , farmers have piles of them here and there so I asked and the rocks were free for the taking . Its called river rock around here too in the fireplace stores but I kind of just call them "dumb ol rocks"  :D  My neighbor hired his rock fireplace done and all his mortar cracked after the first winter because the contractor didnt insulate behind the rocks so the heat transfered directly through the terra cotta chimney inserts,through the cement blocks and into his once beautiful field stones . I sure like yours and everyones hearths and sprucebunnys  ;D . I was always kind of suckered into my dads projects growing up but the cost savings of doing it yourself leaves no options here.  When my dad told me he bought 8 pallets of brick that just came off a building in chicago I looked at him like ok pops thats it enough is enough , but I guess its called chicago commons and many brickyards have alot of it.   If anyone ever wants to see a cool brick laying job the bank front in Valentine Nebraska. It has a wagon train picture reliefed in the brick .  I watched a video of how they carve like a clay potter would and then disassembled and into the oven . Well enough rambling from me but I missed out on sprucebunnys hearth undertaking when I came down with that DanG hermatitis this fall  :D so I am glad it turned out great for her .

[sprucebunny]

Thanks, Unclebuck ;D I really like the ones you made... they are MASSIVE  Mine is a mere suggestion of the river rock one you made.

I've always wanted to build a real, full size one like you did using full size rocks. My rocks are 'fieldstones' and had to be very thin/flat to stick up against the wall.

[UNCLEBUCK]

I got one more pic of the other side and we went to the dump and found a couple squirrel cage type fans and took a couple 1/2 horse electric motors off of junk on the farm and used that for air circulation .  The whole cost from top to bottom 37 feet was just for the cement block,old bricks and those insert liners and the cement for the footing. My dad got by cheap at the end of each day he gave me money enough for a jug and a game of pool  :D. There is no rocks around here like you and Mike V have sprucebunny , their all round . I like that flat rock , actually I hope I never see another rock but doing flat rock I have heard is quite a art form . I cant imagine Mike V building a 80 foot wall . Thats a big rock wall !  Ok thats it for reliving my time in the rockpile !

[pigman]

UNCLEBUCK, you call that a shack. The shacks in Mn must be bigger than what we call shacks down here in Ky.  That fireplace is massive and beautiful. 8)

[Norm]

Very nice UB! 

Isn't it amazing what these cold northern winters inspire us to accomplish....because it's too darn cold to go outside and do anything. ;D

[isawlogs]

 UB
 
  If ever you get the erge to ever try yourself out on a another one .... just to see if you can do it , I can suply you with the house for it to go in and can possible arrange for room and board .  ;D

   Those are very nice , better then that they are great looking , ya did a fine job there nice craftmenship , yes sir . 

[UNCLEBUCK]

Thanks everybody, I been thinking today I hope I dont get classified as a thread hijacker but I just thought when sprucebunny asked us for hearth pics that I thought I would show all my buds ! Big projects can become almost hateful but sometimes on a scratch pad things dont seem so big . I like the cozy little things like that sawblade over sprucebunnys hearth.

[iain]

 "I like the small cozy little things like that sawblade over sprucebunnys hearth"

Yeh it sure looks small and cozy :D,


why no soup for breakfast? i like lindas tomato and lentel with potato chunks, and strips of onion, nice and thick, a splash of sweet chilli sauce and a few slices of cheese on toast
keeps me full till past supper time (i wont say anything about keeping me regular) ;)



      iain

[Don P]

The mason's finished the chimney and fireplace on the timberframe job. I really like it.  They took the palletized flat veneer stone that we usually call "stuck rock" or "lick and stick" thats usually layed flat against a wall, and broke it over a piece of angle iron into ~4-5" wide pieces. Then they stacked the stone at 6" off the block chimney core in a dry stack look by mortaring the back edge to the chimney and very little mortar between the stones, mostly just a tight, coursed, fit. The timberframers gave me a oopsed 8x16 white oak timber that I'll work in for the mantle.

[UNCLEBUCK]

Don P , you take on some huge homes , look at that wood ! Very nice ! Fun to watch a professional crew of masonry people have it , not only do they fly but they make it look easy ! That is awesome