The
Structo-lite plastering
(stuccoing?) is complete and I don't mind telling you I don't know what to
think. I really really liked the bricks, but with the small and annoying smoke
leaks in the mortar, this was the option Dan went with. The second test fire
confirmed it was a good choice because thanks to better sealing of the thermal mass, the smoke by-pass, and improvement #4, the stove
worked beautifully!
Improvement #4 was to enlarge the built-in damper in the firebox door. It just
wasn't large enough for a good air flow to get the fire started.
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| Our firebox door. Photo from Masonry Heater Project |
The slots on the bottom are the damper, with the cute knob to adjust the air intake. For our particular type of stove, this air intake needs an area of 2 & 3/8 square inches. The original door damper was less than 2 square inches and so the fire had trouble catching. Dan enlarged the air slots to the required specs and that made a big difference.
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| The photo's a little dark but hopefully you can see the difference. |
For our 2nd test fire, better initial air flow made it easier to get the fire going.
My challenge now is the aesthetics of the thing. The plaster is off-white,
which looks brighter compared to my pale gold walls. Off-white is a nice
neutral color, but in my mind it needs to coordinate with it's color environment to its best advantage. I'm seriously re-thinking my living room color scheme!
That's one thing I'm contemplating. The other is the solidness of the color.
The subtle color variations in the brick gave the stove visual texture which
is gone now. So that's the other thing I'm thinking about. The thing is,
aesthetics is highly subjective. So there is no right or wrong, it's just a
matter of what one likes.
The most important thing is that the problems we had have now been addressed and the stove is functioning as it should. It burns more efficiently with very little ash left in the firebox afterward, and the thermal mass retains and radiates the heat beautifully.
While I decide how to address the visuals in the living room, Dan is in the planning stage for finishing the back of the stove and rebuilding the closet in the front bedroom.
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| Finishing the wall and remodeling the closet will be two separate projects. |
We have our indoor winter projects cut out for us.
How great that Dan was able to solve the issues.
ReplyDeleteNot sure how you'd feel about it, but couldn't you paint it a different color or add embellishments to it?
Yes, there's always another project, isn't there? ;0D
Daisy, you know, the plaster manufacturers offer color additives to mix in and we talked about it. But I was okay with off-white because color schemes can change. And I came up with some embellishments! So there will be a future post about that.
DeleteVery true about never ending projects! lol
It makes me wonder if there is a certain type of mortar that should be used in brick fireplace construction that wouldn't leak? But then, perhaps all the brick fireplaces everywhere that I've seen had the capacity to leak but just didn't because they had ample draft and were inefficient at best. Even those generally had flue liners up above within the brick. Modern day pizza ovens don't have flue liners but I suspect they are lined with a thermally compatible plaster or something or you would think they might leak. I'm learning a lot here by living vicariously through Dan's project and your writing about it.
ReplyDeleteEd, I suspect the smoke leaking had mostly to do with tiny air gaps in the mortar. These are probably more common than we think but rarely get tested like this one does. That said, there are many types of mortar, some better suited for heat applications than others.
DeleteMost of the pizza ovens I've seen are coated in cob, which would serve the same purpose as Dan's "plastering." Plus they're often outdoors, so I wonder if they have similar problems. I wouldn't mind if maybe someday Dan decides to make one of those too.
It looks good! Kind of like an adobe fireplace. Can’t wait to see the accents you choose!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, it is like adobe! A look I like but still had to get used to. :)
DeleteWhat if u painted the plaster. It is quite bright. Or they sell brick veneer. The good part y’all will be nice and toasty using far less wood this winter. I want to build me one this next year. For our two weeks of winter. lol
ReplyDeleteMr O, Dan suggested that but I'm honestly not sure what color. We could have added color to the structo-lite mix, but chose not too. I don't mind the white, it just took awhile to get used to the solidness of it.
DeleteI have to say that it's the best wood stove design out there. In spite of needing a few tweaks, we've really been happy with it, especially how it retains warmth long after the fire has gone out.
Leigh, I am forced to admit I love the stucco appearance - but can understand that it was not what was originally planned for.
ReplyDeleteThat said, so happy that it is able to do the job so well!
TB, it's growing on me. :) The main thing is the functioning of the stove, but I'll have some fun figuring out new aesthetics.
DeleteHi Leigh! So happy you have an efficient fire burner now. We both do! Yay! I would probably paint it to look like bricks lol!
ReplyDeleteRain, that's an idea. The question is, how adventuresome do I feel? Part of deciding what to do is deciding how much time and effort I want to put into it. :)
DeleteIsn't it wonderful to have someone to solve these issues! Thank you so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLinda, Dan is such an excellent problem solver and a very handy fix-it man. I have great confidence in anything he does.
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