Hand built masonry heater core and chimney

Here are some pictures of the masonry heater core in Marshfield, Vermont, and one photo of the chimney top...

the firebox with cast refractory lintel.

a view up the 'throat'

last course before cast oven floor

firebox side. cast caps are waiting for the stainless water coil to go in. starting on the bench

oven side. and a little sample of the stonework from native stones on site

with bench lining

firebox floor, air intake, ash dump

brick chimney top

Masonry Heater and chimney top, Ripton, VT

Just a few pictures to add now that the heater's doors have been installed.

The chimney top:

Masonry Heater stone work finished and start of brick chimney.

It is always satisfying to finish some stone work. The first and only heater with a verde antique facing. The stone is very much like raw soapstone, and it will look even better once it's cleaned. It's hard to see in the photos how green these stones are but here's the latest photo. The bench and cap stones are black slate, as well as the stone forming the oven arch.

On the second floor, the chimney changes to Vermont water struck bricks. Here's the start.

Heat-Kit installation photo series.

Here is my third solo Heat-Kit installation. It has an outside air intake, with a damper installation visible in the close-ups.

Ready for the firebox floor.

Outside air intake damper, closed

and open.

Firebox Lintel.

Ready for oven parts.

Oven back.

Oven top.

Almost there.



Fin. (except for fiberglass wrap, to be done when I return to do the facing.)

Heat-Kit installation, Stone Masonry Heater (Ripton,VT), and Heater base construction(Marshfield)

OK, so I've been working every day in August except for three days: the day the roads were flooding on my way to work, one day off, and the day I got married! Now I'm working hard in hope that my lovely Canadian wife, Pascale, can be allowed to come and live here in Vermont without too much hassle. Beaurocracy is so great. Thousands of dollars to file the (hopefully) right papers, and months or years of waiting to live together with my wife who lives less than two hours away, just over the border.

Here's what I've been up to:
*Stone facing on a handbuilt masonry heater core in Ripton, VT. (Mondays-Wednesdays)

*Building a base and a first floor concrete slab for a masonry heater in Marshfield, VT. (Thursdays-Sundays whenever possible)

*Assembling a Heat-Kit in Shoreham, VT. (This past Thursday and Friday)

*Planning for more upcoming projects...

I'm posting photos of the stone heater and the base construction on this post, and I'm going to post a Heat-Kit installation series on the following post.

I really like the slate arch form, and I get to leave it in place.

The chimney takes a step back to make a ledge.

Thimble for a cookstove.

Cap stones on the heater and heading for the ceiling.

Block work can be fun.

Pooring the ash dump floor.
Reaching for another ceiling.
Starting the chimney on the first floor slab.

Masonry Heater in Ripton

It's been a while since I've updated with new photos of masonry projects. I've been working on a few: a fieldstone fireplace in Stowe with Peter Hansbury, with a chimney top faced in cultured stone (a first for me). I don't have any photos of that one yet...Also completing the second floor chimney's stone facing in Chester, VT for the masonry heater that has been featured previously here on my blog. One more visit there and that should be done.

Currently, I'm building a masonry heater in Ripton, Vermont. It is a hand built heater core, with a few refractory castings I did on site. The facing is using scraps from a local quarry, called Verde Antique, which is mostly quarried for countertops and expensive slabs. It is a dark green serpentine stone very similar to soapstone, with veins of various minerals running through it. Here's some pictures of the project...

Thanks to Masonry Mentors, Employers, Teachers...

For a while I've been wanting to send out a big THANK YOU!
to all the masonry people without whom I'd never be able to do this...
and some links to their web sites if possible.

David G. Peters, Stonemasonry, Bozeman, Montana

William Davenport, Turtlerock Masonry Heat, Masonry Heater Association V.P.,Burlington, Vermont

Norber Senf, Masonry Stove Builders, MHA Pres., Shawville, Quebec

Erik Nilsen, Thermal Mass Inc., Dalton, NH,

Masonry Heater Association of North America,
A great resource for people in the trade of building masonry heaters and for people interested in masonry heaters.