Fired Up!

Yahoo! The wood stove is installed and we've got fire! I'm so excited! Took a few days since the major install to tweak a few things and finish grouting the hearth, and still need to finish off the trim around the hearth, but tonight we decided to finally fired it up. We started the fire with some fat wood and smallish logs we'd collected earlier, then held our breath..and..no problems! Didn't take long before it was feeling toasty in here. It slowly raised the heat a comfortable four degrees in 40 minutes, enough to feel the difference in the LR, kitchen and dining room (bedrooms are closed off). Nice! I did insist we purchase and install a carbon dioxide detector, at least one for now, before starting the stove, which we did.

I've so missed our fireplace from our old house, always so nice to view and sit by. And tho I will miss having a mantle for our Xmas stockings and to set items on for display, I love that we'll still be viewing a fire but also supplementing our heat..can't beat that! Besides, I already have on Pete's honey-do list (lucky him) to build two shallow book cases on either side of the stove, floor to ceiling, to look like built-ins to solve the lack of shelf space dilemma.

Still amazes me how a boy from the Bronx can know how to do this kind of stuff (outside of city life) and have things function. I love that he loves the challenges, and saving some bucks by do-it-yourself  projects...I might not be here in our newly renovated house had he not! What fun it all is, seeing these projects start to finish!