Latest Entries
New City, NY: Thin stone veneer, double bell masonry heater.
03 January '12 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of the new home pictured below in the Hudson Valley were interested in taking advantage of their ample wooded lot by designing their floor-plan around a clean burning, efficient wood burning masonry. The masonry heater’s chimney exit can be seen exiting the center roof line.
The completed, see-thru heater seen in the photo below divides the kitchen and the main family space.
All masonry heaters start with the high temperature core. This heater has a double bell core designed by Alex Chernov, of Stovemaster. The photo below shows the kitchen side of the core underway. A white bake-oven sits above the see-thru firebox design.
Once the core is completed, the external facing of the masonry heater begins. This heater will be faced by a firebrick shell, then a natural thin stone veneer will be applied. The two photos below show the living room and kitchen side of the rough shell. A mixture of red and buff firebricks are used for the facing. The soapstone mantle and bake-oven shelf are also installed at this point in the construction.
Once the shell is completed, the thin stone field stone veneer begins. Below the living room side of the heater is nearly complete.
The veneer stone is grouted and the soapstone accent pieces are installed. All the benches, shelves, and capping stones are beautiful soapstone slabs. Below we see the kitchen side of the masonry heater ready for the door hardware installation.
A thin veneer chimney rises above the masonry heater. The final chimney connection will be a double wall insulated stainless steel chimney. The photo below shows the completed stonework from an upstairs bedroom.
Below the chimney is seen from the second floor catwalk.
The heater also has a large wood-box. The photo below shows the masonry heater from the garage entrance to the house.
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Centerville, MD: Stucco Faced, Contraflow, See-Thru Masonry Heater
04 December '11 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
Our clients in Centerville, Md were building their custom, dream home. A clean burning, efficient masonry heater was central to their desires and blueprint. The whimsical, energy efficient home was built on a scenic corner of the family’s horse farm.
The home’s interior reflects the artistic exterior. The timer frame, post and beam construction is entirely built using timbers harvested from the farm property. Structural insulated panels (SIPs) compose the walls exterior walls, providing superior insulation for the new home. To warm the new home, a Finnish contraflow masonry heater is central to the energy design and floorplan. The heater is faced with simple 4″ masonry blocks. The both the living room as well as kitchen side rough block shell is seen in the pictures below.
Once the block masonry shell is complete, a rough stucco facing is applied. The living room side of the heater includes a warm, heated bench detail. The double wall, insulated metal pipe chimney exits the fireplace to the top left in the photograph below.
Below the kitchen side of the heater is shown. The optional bake-oven is directly above the firebox doors. Below the firebox doors are two clean-out doors and the center ash clean-out door.
The final heater facing will be a mixture of American Clay stucco and tiles, applied by the homeowner and his family. The first coat of clay is applied to the kitchen side and pictured below.
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Manhatten, New York: 60″ Dome Custom Commercial Wood-Fired Brick Pizza Oven
05 November '11 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
Our latest project is the construction of a hand-built, site constructed domed wood-fried pizza oven in New York City. The Oven has a 60″ diameter floor. The oven design is based on the impeccable work of Alex Chernov of Stovemaster.
The photo below shows the completed oven firebrick core with a stucco shell exterior. The oven is ready for the chimney exhaust connection as well as final external tile detailing. The opening in the block foundation will be used for wood storage when the kitchen work is complete and the restaurant is up and running.
The large working space and completed dome for the wood-fried pizza oven are shown below. The dome construction consists of all high temperature firebricks cut for very tight, strong joints. The oven floor is constructed of 12″ by 12″ firebrick tiles. The fire will be constructed on these tiles to heat the floor of the oven as well as the dome. The restaurant’s delicious pizzas will cook directly on these heated tiles.
Below is a photo of the start of the oven construction. The oven walls and first course of the dome have been set. The oven is constructed on top of load bearing, high temperature insulation. This insulation layer supports the weight of the oven while also isolating the heat of the oven, keeping the energy of the fire inside the cooking area.
The construction of the dome continues. All the brick courses are cut with a compound miter to ensure very tight, interlocking joints. Every brick acts like a keystone, locking every course in place.
The photo below shows the oven dome closing in.
Below is a photo of the same course as above, viewed from inside the dome.
Below, the dome brick coursing and chimney transition are completed.
The completed dome viewed from the inside.
Once the firebrick core is complete, the oven is wrapped in high temperature ceramic wool insulation and metal lathe wire. The ceramic wool insulation keeps the intense heat of the fire inside the oven dome, working on cooking the pizza.
Next the oven is covered with a rough stucco coat over the lathe and insulation.
The wood-fired pizza oven is then covered with a colored stucco coat. The oven is ready for the chimney connection and final tile detailing. A soapstone transition piece is set on the oven opening, ready to receive the new restaurant’s pizzas.
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Brooklyn, NY: Wood-Fired Montreal Style Bagel Oven
22 March '11 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
Fire Works Masonry recently completed a wood-fired commercial oven in Brooklyn, New York. The large oven will crisp Montreal-style bagels for the new B&B Empire cafe located at 200 Clinton St. in downtown Brooklyn. You can learn more on their new website, B & B Empire.com.
A small curing fire starts the process of warming the oven mass in the photo below.
Below, the first flames roll over the oven vault. The spacious oven floor will toast the bagels, as well as other wood fired cuisine.
Special thanks to our associates in the Masonry Heater Association: Alex Chernov of Stove Master, the designer of the complex wood-fired oven, as well as Chris Springer of Iron Hammer Stone Works and Antoine Guerlain of Old Stone Heat for assisting with the oven construction.
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A client’s great masonry heater testimonial
31 January '11 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
Fire Works Masonry’s client in Rock Hill, NY recently posted some great praise for his masonry heater on his blog:
“Artic Air/ Nordic Heat
The weather has been pretty cold of late. Below zero for the past 4 nights. The masonry heater keeps the place around 60+ degrees with 2 good sized fires per day. This morning it was a 70 degree temperature difference between inside (60) and outside (-10)… and that was 12 hours after last night’s fire had burned out. I’m beyond impressed”.
Thanks, John! Check out his blog and custom home project, WatchTheHouseGrow.Blogspot.Com.
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King Of Prussia, PA: Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
15 November '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
Our clients in King Of Prussia, Pennsylvania have worked for years to retrofit their older home into a modern, zero net energy design. The ambitious plan began with a small addition, improved insulation, and active solar photo-voltaic panels. With these stages complete, it was time to install the clean burning masonry heater into the center of the home.
The homeowner opened the family room floor and built the masonry base to support the masonry heater in the crawl-space below. Once the concrete hearth pad is complete, the masonry heater core and block shell begin simultaneously. The photo below shows the finished high temperature core surrounded by the block heater facing.
The block masonry chimney sits to the left of the Finish fireplace. The masonry chimney transitions to a double wall metal pipe to exit the house.
The block shell is completed after the core. A brick arch spans the bake-oven opening. The travertine bake-oven shelf and mantle are also installed in the block shell. The photo below shows the completed shell and heated bench.
After the heater facing is complete, the two coats of stucco are applied to the heater. Once the stucco sets overnight, the heater door hardware is installed including the loading door, the bake-oven door, ash-box door, and soot clean out doors.
The masonry heater design also includes a large wood storage box to the right of the loading doors.
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Tunkhannock, PA: Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
15 November '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
This old farmhouse in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania has been in our client’s family for over two hundred years. Updating the home to modern standards has been a work in progress for several years. The family improved the insulation, windows, and building envelope. They also added a small addition to fit their growing family. To update the fireplace, the family decided on an efficient masonry heater in the center of their new primary living space.
The Finnish fireplace core was faced with 4″ masonry blocks. The photo below shows the completed rough shell. The blocks will be faced with a plaster coat then the client will apply natural thin stone veneer produced by a nearby local quarry.
The loading door for the firebox is on the main living room side of the new addition. The rear bake-oven opens into the kitchen space.
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Tannersville, NY: Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater Core Installation
14 November '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
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Pottsville, PA: See-Thru Brick Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
25 July '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of this new home discovered the warmth and beauty of a masonry heater while visiting a completed project of their prospective timber framer, Aaron King. They visited Fire Works Masonry’s clients near Kutztown, PA. The new owners wanted a fireplace in their home design and were excited by the prospect of installing a clean burning and efficient masonry heater.
The combination of the open floor-plan and superior insulating properties of the structurally insulated panels (SIPs) wall elements creates an ideal match for the slow and steady energy output of a masonry heater. The open floor plan is ready for the start of the Heat Kit masonry heater core in the photo below. The concrete pad provides the structural support for the heater and chimney.
The clients desired a simple, rustic brick fireplace and chimney. The bake-oven side of the heater splits the dining room and kitchen.
On the opposite side of the masonry heater is the living room. The heater is see-thru, with large clear loading doors on either side of the firebox. The fireplace is capped with local Pennsylvania bluestone.
The large open peak of the timber frame highlights the clean run of the brick chimney.
A small curing fire burns down in the firebox, viewed from the kitchen.
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Carlisle, PA: Natural Thin Stone Veneer Finnish Contraflow Masonry Heater
04 July '10 by admin, under Fire Works Masonry News.
The owners of this new home in Carlisle, Pennsylvania have dreamed and planned for years about building a net zero energy home. The design includes structural insulated panels for very high “R” value walls and ceilings, passive solar home alignment and window design, an active solar system on the roof to generate electricity, geothermal heat exchangers to lower the heating/cooling load on the active system, and a clean burning masonry heater as the warm centerpiece of their home.
The home was masterfully designed and built by Harrisburg based Bridlewood Builders. They specialize in custom, sustainable, green homes.
The masonry heater thin stone veneer is nearly complete in the photo below.
The passionate homeowners have a detailed blog of the home’s design and construction as well as the home’s performance: http://carlislegreenbuild.blogspot.com.
The masonry heater is located in the main living area for the new home. The heater also acts as a room divider, separating the family room and the master bedroom.
The heater construction starts with the high temperature core, pictured below. This heater is a Finnish contraflow design. The heater will have two down draft channels on either side of the core as well as a long heated bench wrapping around the front of the core. The exhaust gases will exit into a masonry chimney to the left of the core.
The rear wall of the masonry heater core will warm the master bedroom, pictured below.
After the completion of the high temperature core and heated bench, the masonry facing begins. This heater’s shell consists of bricks and 4″ blocks. The block shell will provide the thermal storage for the fire’s energy and act as the structural base for a natural thin stone veneer application. The shell and chimney are nearly completed in the photo below. The brick facing for the long heated bench is just getting started.
Below is a view of the nearly completed shell from the open walkway above on the second floor.
The rear wall of the heater warms the master bedroom. Below we see the completed heater shell from the bedroom doorway.
Once the masonry shell is completed, a scratch coat of plaster provides the base for the natural thin stone veneer facing.
Viewed from the second floor catwalk, the thin stone veneer is nearly complete. The limestone bench and capping stones are in place.
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