Installing Wood Burning Stove

Jay's Folly - 2005

Here comes the fun, I am installing the woodstove we bought two years ago. The problem is that there is more to it than just punching a hole through the wall. I am framing the walls out and upgrading the electric. Turns out that this is more work than I am used now. Sure am glad that I gave up home improvements. This has really taken the "starch" out of my butt. (Can't wait to hang the sheetrock and finish it...)

This is the start. I just finished framing the walls out and will be starting to do the electrical rough-in. More to come as I progress.

The electric has been roughed in and I will be ready to insulate and sheetrock the walls and ceiling. I added a few extra outlets and put in four recessed lights for this area of the basement. Goodbye old aluminum wiring! This is all 12 gauge copper for the outlets and feeding the lights. The lights themselves are wired with 14 gauge. Here's a picture of the progress, though it may not look like much. The next picture to come should be a lot more impressive!

All ready to start hanging the sheetrock! Just bringing it home wore me out. Sure am glad that I gave up home improvements for a living! I have powered the new recessed lights, two of them are visible in this picture. My next update should be when the sheetrock is ready for finishing...

Here it is, the sheetrock is up and ready for finishing. Lost one sheet on the ceiling when the deadman slipped, and it came down on my head. I lost the whole sheet as it broke right down the middle. (Add another $10.00 to the project...) Anyway it is starting to look good and I am getting pressure from management to finish quickly. Janice found out that a by-product of this work is a LOT of dust!

Just in case you noticed that there is some insulation that isn't covered, it's because I not using sheetrock behind the stove. This is Durock, which is like a cement version of sheetrock. It is the same thickness, so the wall will look good and straight. I am getting very close to actually installing the woodstove. And none too soon with the cold weather coming in!

Time for another "Kodak moment". I am about halfway done with finishing the sheetrock. Also starting to work on punching the hole for the flue pipe. With any luck, I should be ready to start painting in about a week. So my next update won't be for awhile...

Got all of this part of the room primed and cleaned up. Going to start the ceiling in the next section while I wait for the stovepipe to come in. Had to order some parts that weren't in stock. No surprise there, figured something would hold the job up...

Starting phase two while I wait for the rest of the stovepipe to arrive. It's a little bit of a mess with having to punch another hole in the cinder block to add another outlet. It's hard to see, but there is a hole to the right of the window, and I have already roughed-in the electrical wire. I have a couple of other details to fix, then I will be ready to hang the ceiling in a day or two. Oh, the sheetrock is already "stocked", (behind the woodstove.)

Yea !!! I finally got all of the stovepipe in! Now, I can move forward again. I rented a wet saw and pre-cut the tile for the wall. I let it dry out  for a day, and have it up on the wall and ready for the grout. We should be able to use the woodstove in about a week. (As long as the weather holds out, so I can install the pipe on the outside of the house.)

All done! (Well, almost; the gaskets on the stove need to be replaced - smokes the house up like hell...) Here is how it looks. But, please remember that I am still working on the rest of the room. So there is a lot of junk in the way...

Damage done: A woodstove for $100.00 - what a bargain. Now I have to spend another $20.00 to $30.00 to replace the gaskets. The tile was $372.00, the pipe was $1,579.00, and then I had to frame the wall and put the Durock behind the stove. So let's see, one woodstove: $100.00  cost to install ~ $2,000.00  Boy, what a bargain we got! end of saga...   But...It would have cost about $2000 for  a new stove so we saved $1900.