Ottertail Country

Ottertail Country
Ottertail South

November 18, 2011

We're making progress on the heater.

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Hey, we're getting a start on the face brick.  We are using reclaims, they have that nice, warm, old time look about them.



This is where I spent most of my time, mixing mud, toting bricks and making all the cuts necessary to get around doors and stuff.




We spent some time figuring out how we wanted the fire door jack arch to look.  We layed it out full scale, adjusted for mortar joints and angles, then I cut out each little section to be used on the brick.  We traced the outline of each piece on various bricks so we could saw them to shape.



And this is my good friend, Mr. Bricksaw..... I got pretty good at cutting as there were many 'opportunities' at hand.



A look at the job from atop the stairway.  Note the plastic walls that we had put up all around the project.







It's starting to look like something now.



View from the north.



And a view from the living room.  This is the side that the upper half of the stairway will cross.  Note the little black thingie near the top left.  That's a bracket that will eventually hold the stair railing.  We'll put another farther up on the right when we get up that high.  I hope they end up in the right place.......


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So this is how it's looking from the kitchen.  Hey, Dr. Bill, sorry I didn't respond to your comments on an earlier post.  As far as the outside combustion air goes, there seems to be a few differing opinions on this.  I must not have explained it well enough when you were here, as there will be air tight doors on the firebox and the bakeoven.  I questioned my mason on this before we started the project, and he and the designer of the heater felt that it was not necessary in this application.  Some builders even feel it could be a hazard in some cases in the event of a back draft.  Anyway, I appreciate your input.

The designer of this project is Alex Chernov, an accomplished heater builder/designer.  You can see his work and others here and here (Alex's site).


That's it for now, will post again when the masonry is complete.


I gotta go, Carlo

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can almost feel the warmth already from the heater! It will be super toasty to have when the weather gets even colder!
Kristi

Anonymous said...

Wow! That looks really good.
Can't wait to sit next to it with a cribbage board and a glass of jack.
Boo

Anonymous said...

Hey, Cuz...
Your new heater looks handsome and artistic...will fit in with the A-frame flavor.... Hope I can see it when it is in and done...
Happy Thanksgiving!
Barb

Carlo said...

O.K., here it is.... Kristi, you are welcome to test the bake oven once we get the hang of it. I'm looking forward to a pizza myself. Yes, Boo, your suggestion sounds great as well. Barb, count on a visit when we get it going. And anyone else is welcome to check this thing out in person. I'll keep you posted on the progress.

I gotta go, Carlo

Litzy said...

WOW! That looks gorgeous! Nice work, I'm thoroughly impressed!!!

I think I know who Boo is (UT?) and I also agree with him...except for I'd fill the glass with brandy old fashioned, like any good Sconie. And I'd wish for a teleporter so it wasn't a 4 hour trek to get up there...

Anonymous said...

this is gorgeous. I can't wait to enjoy it!!! :)

NYRB

Anonymous said...

Wow!! Very impressive!! It looks perfect in there. :) You guys have been working your butts off for months now! It will be so wonderfully cozy in there.....looking forward to family Christmas around/in front of it. :) ~Rosie