14 x 24 Olympic Peninsula

[poppy]

Considerations. Happy to see that you have some warmth now. I had forgotten that you showed us a Franklin fireplace early in the build.

I have a Franklin to use in my cabin, so I am very interested in how it works for you.

A couple of questions.  If I recall correctly you buildt a platform for the fireplace.  I would be interested in your reasoning for raising the Franklin up off the floor that much.

I'm sure the fireplace surround and base are not final, but what are you using there?  And what's the plan for the final look?

Does the black stove pipe go all the way up to the ceiling?

No rush on the answers. 

[Jens]

I love those Franklins.  It's a fireplace-no!  It's a woodstove-no!  It's both!

[Redoverfarm]

Considerations. Happy to see that you have some warmth now. I had forgotten that you showed us a Franklin fireplace early in the build.

I have a Franklin to use in my cabin, so I am very interested in how it works for you.

A couple of questions.  If I recall correctly you buildt a platform for the fireplace.  I would be interested in your reasoning for raising the Franklin up off the floor that much.

I'm sure the fireplace surround and base are not final, but what are you using there?  And what's the plan for the final look?

Does the black stove pipe go all the way up to the ceiling?

No rush on the answers. 

Poppy With out circumventing Considerations reply I would imagine maybe for two reason.  One being that she stated she was going to utilize the space underneath for an inside woodbox.  The other maybe to raise the heigth so that you would not have to bend to the floor to load and clean.  My stove is at floor level at my home and it is a real pain to get down on your knee to load and tend it.  But I didn't really have a choice as I wanted a mantle and it would have been too close to the pipe. I wonder if the mantle was really a good trade off now and I sure it will be a mistake later in life (probably in the morning  ) when I have to bend down and my mobility gets more restrictive.

[considerations]

Redover's answers are pretty good, but there's more.

"I have a Franklin to use in my cabin, so I am very interested in how it works for you."

So far so good, but it will be better when the ceiling is insulated I'm sure. The draft is working fine, a fire is easy to start. I've been warned that Franklin stoves are wood eating monsters, but the price was right for the time being.  I'm willing take that chance for now because of the ability to cook with it.   I have a wood cook stove stored, but I don't know that I would want to build fires in it just for heating purposes, and am hoping to have a separate summer kitchen for it down the road.

If I recall correctly you built a platform for the fireplace.  I would be interested in your reasoning for raising the Franklin up off the floor that much.



1 - Less stove pipe to buy
2 - don't have to get on my knees every the fire needs tending
3 - Space saving by putting the wood box in the same place. 
4 - The stove is within a few feet of being in the exact center of the cabin, which basically puts it "in the kitchen", the kitchen and living room all pretty much being one room.
5 - I have a fair amount of cast iron - and the last "bay" of the wood box (on the left and in the back) will have a little wheeled platform that I can put that cast iron on and store it.  I've found that "modern" cookware does not fare well when stored with cast iron.
6 - If you will note in the pic below, there are two little nubs sticking out from the left side of the interior of the fire box.  There is a 3/8" vertical hole through each one. They are intended to support a pot crane.  I'm getting a piece of round stainless fabricated into a replacement pot crane and will be using it.
7 - There is a screen that can be put in front of the firebox when the stove doors are open. I'll be using it as a template for a reflector oven.
8 - So with the stove going in the winter, a lot of the cooking will happen there instead of on the propane range.  Might as well take advantage of an opportunity to save propane.



I'm sure the fireplace surround and base are not final, but what are you using there?

Its true, they are not final.  The base is that cement board.  Come spring, I'll tile it, except for right under the stove's little claw feet.  I'll get steel squares cut the same size as the tile and set them in the tile like coasters so I don't have to worry about cracked tiles.  The wood box will get a stain that matches the floor.   

The surround?.....no laughing guys.  Desperation being the mother of invention ruled here.  I got an old 50 gal steel drum, cut off the top and the bottom, split it down one side, kept stepping on it until it opened to a 90 degree curve, cut grooves in 3 old scraps of 4x4 to set it up off the base, and strapped 2 inches of rock wool on the back of it with a length of pasture fence, sort of screened it in.  Hillbilly fabrication.  Beats freezing. I was somewhat concerned about the paint on it heating up, but so far it hasn't.  So I got my insulated convecting heat shield that should see me through until I'm ready to build the real one.

And what's the plan for the final look?

The wood box will be stained to match the other wood near it like the floors and the stair posts.  On top it will be tiled, and I hope to have some sort of attractive edging for that tile.  The wood box will also have little "curbs" at the bottom of each opening to help keep wood scraps and detritus in the box, not spilling out on the floor. 

The surround will be sheet metal, I would like it to be hammered copper and it may be taller, but certainly no wider, but I haven't done the research regarding pricing, availability, etc. 

Does the black stove pipe go all the way up to the ceiling?

Almost. There's a big insulated black sheet metal box set into the ceiling the black pipe meets that box. The bottom of the box is about a foot below the ceiling line.  Inside the box is where the double walled stainless metalbestos pipe connects with the black pipe.  The black pipe is Selkirk 22ga and the double walled pipe is Selkirk also.  That double walled pipe goes through the roof and ends almost 3 feet above the roof ridge. The box in the ceiling is between the rafters and a wooden support system holds it in place.  That is what supports the weight of the rest of the chimney.

Basically, I spent the November allowance on the chimney and all the parts and pieces to put it together, so the beautification program on the wood box and surround will have to wait for a future month.   The boot on the roof, which is some kind of grossly orange hi temp silicon/plastic thing (looks like a boil to me) had to be over-sized some to accommodate the fact that it was dealing with an 8" diameter chimney sticking out of a 12/12 pitch roof.  I looked at some made of galvanized metal, but they all had flat sheet metal bases, which did not match the corrugations of the sheet metal on the roof.  So the boot, with its lead/aluminum flexible and form fitting edging really appealed to me when thinking about how to attach the darn thing.  Needless to say, I'm just glad the quantities of goop used to seal it all up is a grey very similar to the color of the sheet metal roof. 

Hope this helps. 

[considerations]

Oh, and yes I will be painting the stove.  The discoloration is the residue from spraying a solution on the surface rust to neutralize it.  It's fairly cold for painting right now, and I'm thinking about whether using a fire in the stove to help dry the high temp spray paint is a good idea or not....If anyone has an opinion about this, I'd be happy to hear it.

[Pine Cone]

Hi! We're almost neighbors.  I'm a couple of hours from Joyce but really like the area, especially the County park at Salt Creek.

I bought a used Waterford stove for cheap on Craigslist that both had some rust and had cracks in the side from someone overheating the stove, probably without the internal side plates in place. 

Naturally I bought it when it was cold and I needed heat.

I cleaned up the rust, used stove cement to patch the cracks, waited overnight for things to dry up a bit and then just fired it up.  Smelled some as the new paint heated an burned some, but that is normal no matter how long you wait.  Seems to have worked OK.

[Redoverfarm]

considerations personally I wouldn't worry about the finish on stove now.  I would use it this winter and then come spring (a long way off) you might be able to remove it to the outside and finish it better.  The cookstove in mine is also due to some restoration but I am going to use as is for now and worry about it in a couple of months.  

Would have liked to see the barrel dance.  

[considerations]

Would have liked to see the barrel dance.

I'm surprised you didn't hear it.   The neighbors did and came to see if I was alright.  Kept me warm for awhile.

   

[considerations]

"Hi! We're almost neighbors.  I'm a couple of hours from Joyce but really like the area, especially the County park at Salt Creek."

Really?  Where?

I'm about 2.5 miles from the mouth of Salt Creek, its west branch is my southern property line.

[Pine Cone]

My cabin is in Jefferson Co. south of Chimicum

[OlJarhead]

Oh how I envy you   If only I could have gotten my roof done and the stove in!  Oh the good times!

I cannot wait!  Great stuff!

[considerations]

"Oh how I envy you"

Right now its sort of like sitting next to a camp fire because the insulation isn't complete.
I don't think the "breeze" in there will really quit till I get drywall up....however, I ordered the roof insulation today!   

What's hilarious is that I envy those who are further along than I am.  Guess that's the good thing about this forum,  keeps one motivated.

[OlJarhead]

"Oh how I envy you"

Right now its sort of like sitting next to a camp fire because the insulation isn't complete.
I don't think the "breeze" in there will really quit till I get drywall up....however, I ordered the roof insulation today!   

What's hilarious is that I envy those who are further along than I am.  Guess that's the good thing about this forum,  keeps one motivated.

Amen!

I have a small wood stove to install and wish I'd had the roof done and doors and windows on -- but without them I was able to warm it to 40 degrees within 10 feet of a kerosene heater   Now if only I had windows instead of plastic and a roof instead of a tarp!

[considerations]

Lordy I hope you're not living there yet! Brrr!

[glenn kangiser]

Oh, and yes I will be painting the stove.  The discoloration is the residue from spraying a solution on the surface rust to neutralize it.  It's fairly cold for painting right now, and I'm thinking about whether using a fire in the stove to help dry the high temp spray paint is a good idea or not....If anyone has an opinion about this, I'd be happy to hear it.

I don't get to all the forum anymore everyday or sometimes for a while.

I used to build wood stoves and did paint them and allow them to air dry then when the fire was started, it dried the rest of the way.  I used high heat or barbecue black.  Be prepared for quite a bit of smoke for the first hour or so as the paint gets cooked on and the nasty eye burning stuff dries.

[considerations]

Euuuuuu!     Maybe I'll wait for warm weather and do it outside. 

[poppy]

Thanks Considerations for going above and beyond in answering my questions on the Franklin fireplace.

The reason I asked the question about raising it off the floor was because in my research on fireplaces the "experts" said that if you really wanted to get the most out of a fireplace that it should be at floor level; you know, heat rising and all that.

My original stone fireplace design (abandoned after finding the Franklin) had the hearth just the thickness of the stone above the floor.

For those who have not been following my build, I have actually notched the floor joists below the area where the Franklin goes in order for the stone base to be flush with the surrounding floor.

You have several valid reasons for raising the Franklin and that makes me rethink my design. 

I was glad to hear that you have the feet for the stove.  There's supposed to be an air space under it.

Thanks for mentioning the pot crane.  My unit is a Sears model 143 and has some differences in design.  I will definitely check on my next trip to see if mine has the crane brackets.

I too am somewhat concerned about the wood consumption and even thought about putting in a small stove in addition to the Franklin, but don't have it in the current plans.

Thanks again for your answers.

BTW, I like your surround design; maybe just slap some paint on it. 

[considerations]

"if you really wanted to get the most out of a fireplace that it should be at floor level"

They could be right, I'll keep posting about how things go. 

[MountainDon]

"if you really wanted to get the most out of a fireplace that it should be at floor level"

They could be right, I'll keep posting about how things go. 

I personally don't believe you could measure any difference in room temperatures between an installation sitting on the 6 inch legs like most stoves have or a stove on an elevated platform. Heat rises, yes, but once it's up there it falls and circulates. I believe that would be especially true in a cabin/house that's built tight ans has an exterior air inlet routed directly to the stove air inlet. Mine has a sheet metal box that surrounds the air inlet on the back of the stove. Eventually even the tile floor at the other end of the cabin gets warmed by the interior atmosphere and fine to walk on with stocking feet. Just my opinion; no research to back it up. 

[Redoverfarm]

Like Don no scientific info to back it up BUT if the air is drawing at the bottom of the fireplace or stove which is a foot above the floor it might draw air that hasn't made it to the floor yet and that 1' above the floor might "just stay stagnant".  Something at floor level might use the completed "convection cycle" for a lack of any other words to describe it.  Think of it like a cold air return on a furnace.  If you open a window then it will draw air from the window other than the floor level. Make Sense 

Anyway I am running on Gen Power now.  The grid just went down until 6PM I Hope.  Probably the wind has blown a tree across the line.  I am the last house north and about 31 miles from any major populated area so it's hard to tell where.  Sort of puts my stairway on hold. No power tools  

[considerations]

"Anyway I am running on Gen Power now." 

That's my lot most of the winter until the sun gets higher and the days get longer.

I can tell when the power around here goes out because a neighbor about 1/4 mile away has a big light over his barnyard.  If it is out, the grid is down.   Then the road starts to fill with the hum of generators, everyone has one out here.

I would love to have more PV panels, the prices right now are sure attractive....darn. 

"1' above the floor might "just stay stagnant""

Hmmm, all of these discussions seem logical, I'll just keep reporting on how it turns out.

[MountainDon]

>>>  "1' above the floor might "just stay stagnant""

I'm still a skeptic on that, based on the fact that the tile floor at the far end of the cabin warms up and there are low cabinets in between as a room divider. Warm air rises, cool air falls and gets everything mixed up. Throw a ceiling fan and insulated floor into the mix and it is comfy. To us at least

Another thing... many homes here in the desert have forced air heat with the warm air coming down out of ceiling vents. That's what we have. The air return is at floor level under the raised furnace. Once again the floors are all tile and are not cold. The air circulates and with good windows and door installations there are no cold outside air drafts to contend with. That sort of installation is not the ideal but it saved on the building costs.

That's what I see and why I think it won't really matter. I'll now be quiet. 

[Redoverfarm]

But I don't have a light in site so I will just have to go on what they say and try it at that time or intermitently before.  I'll let you know.

[Redoverfarm]

  considerations.  So much for my power.  They said 6:00 P.M. but I missed the 12/10 which means it will be off all night.  Oh well at least I have the generator for lights and the woodstove for heat. So all is well.

[considerations]

Its amazing how much our culture has changed in 100 years.  Cars, electricity, radios, TV, indoor plumbing, movies, airplanes, jets, men on the moon. 

What's a 12/10?