58) Sow’s ear

by Gail on May 11, 2010

garage doorThis is one-fifth of the old wooden garage door I got on Craigslist for $90. It’s pretty ugly, but I think I can turn it into a silk purse.

That's not smoke above the door - we just haven't cleaned it yet.

That's not smoke above the door - we just haven't cleaned it yet.

And the ugly smoking door is no more. We have a silk purse of a functioning fire. D put gaskets along the top of the door, in spite of Lakeshore Design’s advice to the contrary. We also got a draft going in the side chimney with a burning newspaper before lighting. We didn’t remove the chimney cap. It’s a miracle!

{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }

Joy May 11, 2010 at 6:56 pm

What a relief that the fireplace is doing its job with a little tlc from D. Did you let the supplier know how to fix the problem? Are you burning (recycling) scrap lumber?

Finally a photo of Gail in this ‘case study’. Now that you have internet on site I hope you add more update/photos.

Tess May 12, 2010 at 5:38 pm

Will you have to start the draft before every lighting?
-t

Annemarie May 13, 2010 at 10:12 am

Gail, Brendan sent me this website, it’s so neat to watch your house progressing. The fireplace looks amazing! Congrats on finally getting it up and running properly.

D May 13, 2010 at 7:29 pm

You get the draft going as you might with any fireplace; you simply toss a couple of sheets of newspaper in, light them, and let them burn up. Then lay the fire. So far it’s worked very well; the generous fresh air draft (from outside the house) really helps the fire burn fully and hot.

Norma December 30, 2010 at 12:50 pm

We at http://www.nogasbills.ca are really keen on all aspects of the masonry heater industry. Other companies copy pictures off of the nogasbills website and claim them as their own work.
Anyways, great product. We have had ours for 8 years.

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