Prepare for Your In Home Consultation
Every great design project beings with a great plan. Whether you are starting a remodeling project or creating an entirely new space, realization of your new hearth will depend on quality preparation. If you have something in mind or are just starting to look, our Hearth Planning Guide will help us better serve you when we arrive for your in home consultation.
There is an enormous variety in choices when buying a fireplace, stove, or insert. There are many things to consider, such as: Heat vs. Ambiance, room placement, and what type of fuel to burn.
Planning the installation of a stove or fireplace can sometimes involve multiple steps. Typically, your first step involves giving us your Wish List. We will talk with you about what options are available to you. Subsequent steps will narrow down the criteria for your final design.
You will most likely have many questions and we are here to help make the design of your hearth a comfortable, efficient, and satisfying process.
Your first appointment with us usually takes about an hour. You may need one or two more shorter visits or phone/email consults before you make your final decision.
Hearth Planning Guide
Preparing for your in home consultation:
Photos (if you would like to email us prior to your appointment): whether you have an existing fireplace, or a blank space where you are thinking of adding a fireplace or stove, the more pictures you can show us, the better. A combination of close up and distance photos inside and outside, showing items such as hearth location, existing flooring, trim work, tile, fireplace facing, exterior chimney, etc.
What Type of Appliance are you looking for? Determine if you are looking for a free standing stove, a fireplace insert, or a built in fireplace
A Fireplace insert is only for existing masonry (brick) fireplaces
A built in is a fireplace that is installed within wood framing.
What are your heating needs? Can you tell us the square footage of your home, or the area you are trying to heat? What are your heating costs? With this information we can recommend the proper stove or fireplace for you.
If you wish you can email us photos with a description prior to your visit. If you have a list of photos that you have saved from Google, Pinterest, Houzz, etc., you can bring those with you via your mobile device or you can email them to us ahead of time: info@mainstove.com
What type of stove or fireplace are you interested in? Consider what type of fuel you want to burn: Wood, Pellet, or Gas are the fuel choices for the products we carry.
If this is a new construction or major remodeling project, please have the name and contact information for your contractor. We have relationships with many of the local builders and it helps us coordinate everything if we know who you are working with.
If you are considering a propane fireplace, do you have propane on the property? If so, who is your propane provider?
If you are replacing an existing stove or fireplace, it is helpful to know the make and model of the existing unit. this is not critical, but this information can make it easier for us to know what your space and heating conditions are.
If you are looking for a fireplace insert, please fill out the fireplace dimension worksheet at the bottom of this page. We will always come out and take our own measurements, but this makes it easier to guide you toward the right size display in our showroom.
If you are designing a new fireplace, an important factor will be whether you frame inwards into the room to house the fireplace, or create a bump-out, also known as a "dog house", that extends beyond the exterior wall of the house. Both scenarios have pros and cons, but it is important to at least start thinking about which way the fireplace will be framed.
Will this fireplace be framed straight on a wall, or will it be placed "kitty corner"? The available space for both can determine what size stove or fireplace can fit comfortably.
If you have blueprints, let us know! If your home is still in the planning process, we can meet with you on the job site, or other location to review your blue prints. We can help plan your fireplace correctly.
If we are installing this stove or fireplace in an existing room, a rough sketch (nothing fancy!) with basic measurements can tell us a lot about what you are looking for.
Will there be a TV installed over the fireplace? Please tell us about the size of your TV and how high up you would prefer it. Do you want the TV mounted to the wall, on a stand, or installed in a recessed box above the fireplace?
If this stove or fireplace will be vented into an existing chimney, please provide photos of the chimney inside the room, as well as the exterior.
Even if we are not doing the finish work around the stove or fireplace, feel free to show us your samples of tile, stone, flooring, etc. These samples might come in handy when choosing a stove color, hearth pad, or fireplace front.
Are you looking for a traditional or modern fireplace? Some of our fireplaces come traditional with logs and brick linings. Others come with reflective glass linings and glass or stone media options. It often helps to know what type of decor the room will be: Eclectic, Contemporary, Traditional, Country, Coastal.
What is your current flooring? Tile, hardwood, carpet?
Do you wish to have the fireplace flush with the floor level or elevated? Do you want to have a hearth in front of the fireplace or none at all?
Do you have a mantel style in mind? Are you looking for a traditional mantel with a top shelf and side legs, or a mantel shelf? Have you thought about what the finish will be, such as stain, paint color, distressed, or barn beam?
If this is a free standing stove installation, consider that pellet and wood stoves must sit on a hearth made of non combustable materials such as tile or stone.
What do you wish to see around the face of the fireplace? Most fireplaces will have a facing made of non combustible materials around the top and sides of the fireplace opening or glass. Common choices are tile, granite, stone, brick, etc.
Budget
Many people are hesitant to talk about it, but it is a vital piece of information for us to help you get the stove or fireplace you desire at a price you are comfortable with. Many of our customers do not have any idea what a stove or fireplace installation could cost, so they do not have the right expectations when they start looking for a stove or fireplace.
Also, if it is a new construction home, the builder often only sets a small allowance for the fireplace. This often leaves the customer disappointed when they start seeing the prices of what they are interested in.
We suggest that before you delve too deep into creating the fireplace of your dreams, that you sit down with your builder and/or family and determine as best you can what is a realistic budget for this installation. It will make it much easier for you to decide later on.
Project Evaluation Form
Please fill out this form as completely as possible before your visit. Let us know when you arrive that you sent it and we can print it out and use it for reference during your visit.
Fireplace Dimensions Form
If you have an existing masonry fireplace and are looking for an insert, fill out this form as best you can. It will help us determine what will fit in your fireplace the best.
