Great Room Fireplace Part 1

After basking in the glow of the finish in September, it was time to get back to work. Things were not progressing real fast with hunting season in full swing but things were to change. In early November, all 570 employees of the East Boulder Mine were cut loose. This meant I had lots more time on my hands. During the first week I spent a lot of time hunting but reality soon set in. If I did not receive a call back I would need to have things ready to sell.

While I was in Billings I picked up all of the supplies we needed to install and finish the Great Room Fireplace and set out to get it done. The fireplace is made by Vermont Castings, and it sells new for around $4000 without the fancy Roman Bronze Arch front cover, which is another $1200. This was a floor model and the company had discontinued the model so we got it for about $2900. The venting supplies cost another $400 and I think I spent another $50 or $60 on propane piping. The stone came from a company in town called All Stone. 53 total square feet of multi-colored cobble stone, mason mix, and lath cost us another $370. All together it was a considerable expense for us considering the employment situation but if we needed to sell the house, it had to be done.

Once we got the material home I started by building the platform inside the fireplace enclosure and setting the stove in place. Kevin Eberle came over one day and helped me run the propane piping and then Brandon came over on Thanksgiving and helped me install the chimney venting. Once that was complete the fireplace was functional. Time for the rock!







The stove is actually running in this picture.