Installing Wood Stoves yourself

Wood stoves and fireplace inserts can be installed by homeowners particularly if the project does not involve significant masonry work.  Fireplace inserts may be the easiest to install and most come with fairly thorough instructions on how to do the installation. However before you attempt this make sure that it is legal in your city and county for a homeowner to do their own installation.  Some areas have prohibition against this because of concerns about fire safety and pollution.  Even if it is legal to install it yourself you will, in most cases, expect to have the installation reviewed by a local building inspector.

When it comes to building something bigger like a masonry heater you should really think twice before attempting this yourself.  Masonry heaters have to be air tight and at the same time the masonry work has to built just right to account for the expansion and contraction of the bricks as they heat and cool.  Very few homeowners have a sufficient level of skill in masonry to handle this demanding requirement.  Only the most skilled stone masons usually have the expertise to do this kind of work.

Another factor to consider with masonry stoves and with really large wood stoves is weight. Masonry stoves are extremely heavy and usually some reinforcement of the framing is required in order to properly retrofit most homes.  This requires skilled carpentry in most cases.  Since many wood stoves also use electric blowers there are some electrical considerations as well.  All in all installing a masonry stove or a wood furnace is not for the occasional do-it-yourselfer.