How and when do you replace firebricks?

[@ianporter619]

Excellent plain English and down to earth video. Giving the info needed to inspire me to cut and replace my own bricks from standard boards for a third of the price of buying bespoke spares from the manufacturer.

[@TheTortoise]

Excellent savings, hope it all goes well!

[@e-scooterrider7099]

bro you deserve 1 million subs , i though cutting vermiculitis was too hard and need special tool, thanks again.

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks a lot! What we’re you using to cut them, their normally quite easy to work?

[@HomerSlated]

The brick on the base of my brand new stove cracked within just a couple of days, and I was really worried I'd done something wrong, but you've reassured me this is perfectly normal, and also that it's an easy fix when it eventually crumbles completely, so many thanks :)

[@TheTortoise]

Yea, don’t worry at all. Most people never replace the base brick, as even when it crumbles the whole area is just full of ash. But yes, certainly just a break is totally irrelevant.

[@iancramer3065]

Great video and very informative. Appreciate the advice as one of our bricks cracked over winter and is in the state of needing to be replaced now but I had no idea who the manufacturer is as it was installed when we bought our house so I’ll order something close to size and cut / sand where I can

[@chrislitt5026]

Good video, simply sharing subject matter knowledge effectively. Top job

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks a lot, glad it was useful.

[@ianross04]

An excellent video. I have an almost new (10 months) log burner but a member of my family left the door slightly ajar for 45 mins which caused a flame-thrower effect. The temperature rose significantly inside resulting in cracks in the firebrick of our Brunei 2CB. I have a new one but after watching your vid I don't necessarily need to replace it just yet (as long as the extreme temperature isn't repeated)

[@TheTortoise]

Yea cracks aren’t a disaster, but useful to have a spare. I keep spares either under or behind the stove.

[@jj-ne3px]

Best video on this subject. Following

[@black5f]

One of the reasons I went for the Aspect 5 was flat bricks. Some stoves have quite intricate shaped bricks? There are bricks in the Aspect that have drilled holes but it looks simple to me to replace (I have a band saw). Excellent video!

[@TheTortoise]

The Aspect is a good one, and you can cut them really easily. I always do the holes with a normal drill or router.

[@Jean-Delalune]

Well done, thanks for informations. For a foreigner a very clear english.

[@TheTortoise]

😄 thanks a lot.

[@bluetester001]

So clear and simple! Thank you

[@danwhitaker5168]

Brilliant video 👍🏻 getting mine serviced soon, think I'll let the guy put all my new baffles in.

[@TheTortoise]

Work smart not hard 👍😆

[@IanSRutter]

Great video. Very informative and what I neeeded to know for my first log burner. And top bloke for doing DIY in the living room :-)

[@TheTortoise]

😆 We do our best!

[@nicdixon1109]

Great instruction. Thanks so much i feel confident about replacing a brick that needs it and have a much better understanding 😊 i might get onto the old Rayburn in the shed LOL

[@TheTortoise]

That’s it, good lad!

[@martinlillis1654]

Really clear and informative. Thank you

[@TheTortoise]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sebastianmoller7304]

Fantastic information! Thanks a bunch for sharing this kind of information! Made my decision easy between the Dovre 760 WD and the Jotul f500 Oslo. I was worried about the bricks breaking in the Dovre compared to the Jotul. I´ll gladly choose the Dovre wood stove now since its very easy to manufacture your own bricks. Safes me about 1200USD. lot of bricks can be bought for that money :)

[@TheTortoise]

Glad it was helpful, I’ll need to have a look at those stoves at some point 👍

[@flatout5815]

@@TheTortoise Am in the firebrick search for an old stove I just bought which needs new stones. Have seen DIY though was curious if their mix was actually as long lasting as a traditional factory made firebrick. You said "vermiculite board" my one worry was buying expensive stones and them breaking or splitting wrong wasting bricks, so DIY sounded best. Though if that vermiculite board is as good as firestones and lasts just as long that might be the best route, if the price is fair and life is long. Would hate to make my own waste all that time just to find out they only hold up for 1 year give or take, when firebrick can last a decade. How good is that vermiculite board?

[@TheTortoise]

@@flatout5815 you’ll probably find that if the stove is old, all you can get now is vermiculite? Vermiculite will tend to not last as long, but the way it reflects heat back is superior and it is vastly cheaper. The old clay firebrick material is normally cast in a shape rather than cut, so these are costly and could be hard to find. They’re also made more costly by transport and how delicate they are, but once in place there is no doubt the old bricks will outlast vermiculite.

[@flatout5815]

@@TheTortoise Plus as you have shown it is very easy to work with vermiculite board. Thank you for your time and have a great weekend.

[@BillRees]

That was SO useful!. Thank you.

[@maxinewilliams4804]

Very informative Gabriel - thank you 🙏

[@richbrett7268]

Brave man cutting and creating dust in the kitchen/ diner.. Lol. But great info cheers. I noticed the wedding ring hence my comment.. My wife was cracking up ... No way indoors.

[@TheTortoise]

My wife was filming 😆. She did have me doing the hoovering, took me a while to convince her that o needed a stove in the background for context reasons 😁.

[@triathlondude6244]

Awesome stuff. My rear firebrick has holes in it. Perhaps a dozen or so roughly the size of a hole punch. Would you suggest recreating that or is that effectively superfluous detailing? Again, awesome video.

[@wayne3078]

Brilliant vid thanks for the simple explication of the bricks.

[@TheTortoise]

No problem 👍

[@DjSkipAlexander]

Brilliant help and instruction

[@Mr_Reset]

Good video. Thanks for the tips

[@thomasadamteasdale]

Very helpful thank you 👍🏻

[@ultramaster.]

My top brick just fell as I got greedy and squeezed in a large log. The fire is so strong, I imagined the fire place exploding. Thank you so much for this video.

[@TheTortoise]

😬it’s happened to us all, don’t worry! Things getting too hot is generally best avoided, but in the future it can be worth either shutting the stove down. Or if your stove won’t close down enough, then open the doors fully and (as long as you don’t have smoke or fire leaking into the room) allow the cool air from the room to cool the chimney. You do need to watch it and be careful in this case, but most stoves will allow you to slow the stove down with the air vents.

[@edalexander7151]

Thanks for the info.

[@calummair4432]

Legend, great advice

[@TheTortoise]

Thanks a lot!

[@ronny8429]

Great video, thanks for sharing

[@bruceshearer1719]

Thank you ,Sir🇨🇦

[@davelock3166]

Great video! Thanks!

[@gee3883]

What a champ, subbed.

[@TheTortoise]

We do our best 👍😆

[@jeffthechef7206]

Brilliant thanks

[@sterobloc6645]

Not sure about cutting and sanding on what looked like the dining table . . . assume the wife was out at the time . . . Great video!

[@TheTortoise]

The wife was filming 😆

[@happyguy5414]

Fantastic tutorial video, but my goodness your wife must love you and your mess…not!😭😂

[@TheTortoise]

😬 she may of had a few things to say after that.

[@happyguy5414]

@@TheTortoise I bet 😤😡🤬😹

[@jampot20000]

My replacement Morso 06 firebricks wouldn't cut with any hand saw tried several. In the end used an angle grinder with a masonry disc and went through two. Must be different quality as your saw went through it like a knife through butter.

[@TheTortoise]

Morsø is the one of the last companies to continue using the old clay bricks. Most of their stoves use vermiculite, and you can replace those clay bricks with vermiculite (which is much cheaper). However the proper Morsø do last longer, can’t work out why you’d need to cut them though, as their bricks get sent pre cut to size?

[@GG1991]

Hi there Gabriel, a quick quesiton for you - I just took out the supposed fire bricks from my coal/wood burning Esse Montrose cast-iron stove and found that the bricks weren't fire bricks but made, also, out of cast-iron. Is this okay? Or would it be a wise idea to replace them with vermiculite bricks for a better heat transfer and more economic burn? Many thanks if you are able to respond!

[@TheTortoise]

Metal linings are rarer, but are still used. The main advantage to vermiculite bricks is you can make them yourself and they’re relatively cheap. Obviously in your case the best thing is to probably buy a proper set from Esse, but I have to admit I probably would make some out of vermiculite. As I say often the main reason behind that decision is cost.

[@GG1991]

@@TheTortoise Thank you very much for your swift reply Gabriel - it's very helpful and much appreciated. Looks like I'll be searching for an old blunt saw in the shed then!

[@Wilcko79]

Off topic I know but I've got paint starting to peel on my baffle plate. Eccosy panoramic multi fuel. Is this a problem? How do you tell when you need a new baffle plate? Many thanks. Love the channel

[@TheTortoise]

Paint and layers of metal peeling off baffle plates is very normal. You only need to replace them when they become misshaped or broken. If they are in their original position and in 1 piece them feel free to carry on!

[@Wilcko79]

@The Tortoise thank you for your time 👍🏻🙂

[@joannecraig7633]

Hi, the brick in the roof of my stove broke very much like the long one you showed in your video. The chimney sweep said he can repair it, do you know if it is repairable and if so will it last? Or is the sweep doing a bodge job? As at first he told me he would cut me a new piece, I paid him and now he is saying he will repair the old pieces

[@TheTortoise]

Replacement is obviously a good answer. In terms of repairing, the only method I can think of is putting a piece of metal underneath to hold them up. Never known this be offered as a service though 🤷‍♂️. I’d be interested to know his method?

[@MrBonio7]

If i have a thermo and hamco stove and need bricks can I just buy the board and cut or do i need to buy the set of bricks for the thorma as the bricks have indent lines on them

[@TheTortoise]

I don’t know your stove, but often bricks will have shaping, holes or grooves, and if needed I would often use a router to shape etc more accurately.

[@chloeelisabeth8213]

Hi there thanks for your video. Quick question how do you get the bricks out if they are very old have kind of melted together? Thank you

[@TheTortoise]

Ah, your only option at that point is either to buy new ready made bricks or to measure the sizes and attempt to copy them. In terms of removing the old brick, just use a flat head screw driver or chisel etc and dig them out (they’ll come out nice and easy). Cheers.

[@tylerhwillis]

Do you recommend any particular brand of vermiculite board. Seems like there's Ceramic Fiber board available online (in the US) more commonly than vermiculite board. There also appears to be a steep increase in price going from 3/4" to 1". Is it worth making sure to find a specific material type and/or paying the difference for extra thickness?

[@TheTortoise]

I’m not too worried about the brand, it’s a pretty standard thing and like stove glass there appears to be basically one main manufacturer. Ceramic fibre is something different, it may work, but basically vermiculite is what’s used in stoves. Of course the flip side is all my information is from this side of the pond, and maybe the US market uses a different material for the same purpose. I don’t think the thickness is of huge consequence. Our market uses different thicknesses for 2 reasons: Convenience and fitting everything together easily. Or To reduce the firebox size so that a big stove can have a smaller output (due to our air vent legislation).

[@tomgal7645]

Hey Gabriel, great video! I have my eyes on a stove from the most famous dutch stove maker and they use Thermotte bricks instead of Vermiculate. In your opinion does this material have any advantages? I haven't found much information about it, but here in the Netherlands this stove is the most popular one (Jacobus 6 to be precise), however, every time I went to a wood stove shop, 90% of the stoves has Vermiculate bricks in them. But the manufacturer claims thermotte is better. What do you think? Furthermore, do you think it really matters if a stove has more convection heat vs radiant heat in a circa 100m3 space? I count on your opinion! Many thanks!

[@TheTortoise]

Convection panels do have their advantages, but if you’re just heating a room then there’s nothing to panic over. You can find that heat spreads further with convection, so it can be useful in some (particularly open plan) houses. The Thermotte bricks sound great. Vermiculite is used for 3 main reasons: It’s cheap It’s lightweight so carriage is cheaper And it will reflect heat back into the stove and room. For you the user the advantages are relatively minimal, and I can well imagine that a company (who cares more about performance than cost), may choose a different material. Not to mention the fact that vermiculite board is not robust and does break with relative ease. As long as the parts are easy to come by, I would expect that the Jacobus is improved by the use of a more specialist material.

[@tomgal7645]

@@TheTortoise thanks a lot for your reply, Gabriel! We are about to heat an area of 100 cubic meters with a staircase to the second floor. Some additional facts: The Jacobus is 20 kg heavier (110 vs 90kg), and parts are easily available for both models. I just like that the Dik Geurts have more wood storage at the bottom and a larger window. And in one of your videos, you had a very good opinion about the Ivar series. Not sure how much the Jannik differs though and if I should really pay too much attention that they use different bricks... Which one would you go for? Dik Geurts Jannik Medium High or Jacobus 6? The price is about the same, and I just absolutely cannot decide. Many thanks and have a great weekend!

[@TheTortoise]

@@tomgal7645 this is tricky, I haven’t used either and a big part of what would help me decide is how established a brand is in your country. For me I’d buy the DG, but if the Jacobus is very established where you are then that would definitely instill confidence. I think the Jannik is an excellent stove, so I would be very keen to try it, but it doesn’t sound like either is a bad choice.

[@tomgal7645]

@@TheTortoise both are dutch brands and I am in the Netherlands. It seems like the DG has better marketing abroad. Thanks for all your thoughts once again!

[@TheKlink]

i read somewhere that re-burned wood ash is refractory, if you make a paste of that, could you smear that in the crack/thin bits?

[@TheTortoise]

You could but due to expansion and contraction, I would expect it to disintegrate quite quickly.

[@ofah6378]

Hi Gabriel just found your channel and enjoying your vids. Couple of questions for you I have a charnwood island 1 and have struggled to get a secondary burn and wondered if when my firebrick needs replaced would drilling additional holes into it help this or would it just increase air flow and mean I burn through wood quicker? Secondly if just burning wood a lot of sweeps etc don't seem to keen on slumbering a stove overnight as they say it increases deposits on the flue. What are your own thoughts on overnight burns?

[@TheTortoise]

What do you mean by “struggled to get secondary burn”? If it is that you are struggling with cleanness on the glass then the most common causes are: Wet fuel Not getting the stove hot enough. Drilling more holes will not have the desired affect, so let me know what you’re struggling with and I’ll come back to you. With regard to running for long periods, this can absolutely be done safely and sensibly, but for a manufacturer it makes sense to just advise against it, because historically there is not been enough knowledge or good fuel out there to not cause problems. Nowadays with dry fuel, efficient stoves, safe installations and “KZbin knowledge sharing” things can start to change.

[@ofah6378]

@@TheTortoise sorry maybe I worded it poorly! It's where the gas given off in the first burn is ignited by the air coming in. It increases the efficiency of the stove. I've no issues with the glass or wet fuel - kiln dried birch or anything like that. The stove performs well but I was wanting to eek that extra bit of heat out from the timber given the cost of fuel! Thanks for the info regarding overnight burn makes a lot of sense with the extra push on in recent years for drier wood and availability of kiln dried logs.

[@TheTortoise]

@@ofah6378 you will normally only see that happen when the stove is very hot and running at peek efficiency. This is good in some ways because you get lots of heat, the flip side is fuel will be burning away faster.

[@davidbaldwyn709]

My parent have an old Hunter MiDi 14 Multifuel with back boiler(or maybe thats just part of the stove). Doesnt look the best after 30years, wondered if there are any modern alternatives with the back boiler to replace the current stove.

[@TheTortoise]

Hunter replaced that stove with the Herald 14, but it was then Discontinued. However I think Parkray (hunter owns Parkray) have just released a new boiler stove. It is relatively untested, but they have a long history of making boiler appliances.

[@davidbaldwyn709]

@@TheTortoise Thanks for the reply. The Hunter stove works but looks abit of a pig, & i've already cleaned the stove glass & ropes a year ago. On the same stack upstairs they have a gas fire too, which they want to replace too. I wondered if they could link two stoves like this onto the heating system in sequence. That way no matter which room they are in it always runs the heating? Big open plan barn with a large gallery linking the spaces.

[@TheTortoise]

@@davidbaldwyn709 this will be a very difficult thing to have done at the moment due to how completely overrun the industry is. I think that the cost of getting these 2 systems to work together will probably also be very expensive, and I would suggest sticking to the same set up as this from a practical and economic point of view this will be far better. There is also an issue with solid fuel boilers connected to a cylinder that isn’t directly above them (they tend to run via gravity pushing the water around in a loop). Hopefully that new Parkray is worth a look, but I would suggest just a room heater for the upstairs.

[@TheAndyMaan]

Interesting video, I had no idea you can make your own fire bricks and always assumed you have to buy them from the manufacturer. One has broken on my parents stove which has been getting a lot of use this winter since their central heating is playing up and local plumbers aren't particularly interested in trying to sort the issue out. I'll let them know that they could make one instead of having to get one from Stovax 👍

[@TheTortoise]

Don’t forget that a broken brick doesn’t necessarily need replacing. It’ll be fine until it’s crumbling.

[@psisky]

When I got my stove in the back cracked within a week. Got it replaced and three days later it cracked. What did I do wrong? Also, are there tougher bricks out there?

[@TheTortoise]

Bricks will break from a bump typically. They definitely shouldn’t be replaced when they break, as this is completely normal. You only replace them when they keep falling down or begin disintegrating. Otherwise you end up replacing them all the time.

[@liesiangkho8961]

Can u show how to refit the brick in stove please

[@TheTortoise]

Every stove I test we produce a “servicing video” which shows me pulling all the bricks out and fitting them again.

[@dominic6055]

U remind me a lot of Jeremy from the Peep Show (Robert Webb) 😅

[@TheTortoise]

That’s a new one to me 😆

[@dominic6055]

@@TheTortoise LOL the way u talk and if u cut ur hair very short u remind me of him(the younger version) 😅

[@TheTortoise]

Honestly never seen it, I’ll need to look it up.

[@Buckeye_4_Life_]

Shouldn't protecting the metal stove from cracking be more than an after thought..? 🤔

[@TheTortoise]

Stoves won’t crack, in fact some stoves use metal plates rather than fire bricks. It’s just about increasing efficiency and longevity, but they’re not something to panic over.

[@peter6782]

your missus is going to kill you when she see,s that table ! lol

[@TheTortoise]

It’s alright I haven’t shown her this video😆

[@brucecunningham360]

Did your wife tell you off for the mess on the table😂

[@TheTortoise]

She was filming😆. I was on clear up after though!

[@nowherebrain]

you're sick? apologies. How do you attach them? that's what I am trying to figure out.

[@TheTortoise]

I’m confused, what are you trying to do?

[@nowherebrain]

@@TheTortoise I have a brick at the back of my stove that has all but completely disintegrated, I simply want to replace it...but I can't just stick it in there, I assume I need some sort of adhesive to ensure it stays in place.

[@TheTortoise]

@@nowherebrain some stoves use adhesive, but it’s generally just to stop it falling out for delivery. The moment you heat the stove up the adhesive fails, and the brick will just stand there. 99% of stoves have no adhesive on bricks at all, but sometimes if you look you may find that the side bricks are holding it in place, or some other part that stops it from falling over. I would replace it, and see whether there is an issue, I doubt you’ll have a problem with it falling down.

[@nowherebrain]

@@TheTortoise ok, odd, but now I know...thanks.

[@stephenjose1472]

Hope you don`t sweep chimneys , you cut scomolex in doors no mask/ ppe

[@rachelkerr4976]

i need to.clean behind waffle

[@rachelkerr4976]

my bricks are so good they are wedged in... help please!

[@TheTortoise]

Not sure what to suggest other than trying to wiggle things free. You could call a chimney sweep round or if it is a stove I reviewed then I’ve probably made a brick removal video.

[@rayglover8697]

Sorry - I am having trouble concentrating with that music playing !

[@marshalluploads3875]

Didn’t really do what the title said did it?

[@TheTortoise]

What did you need instead?

[@marshalluploads3875]

@@TheTortoise thank you for the response, I didn’t expect that 👍. I was looking for what it said in the title ‘how’. So what parts of my log burner do I need to remove etc. but I do understand that will differ between models, so a big ask. Maybe you should re-title the video to ‘what is a fire brick & how do I cut it’

[@TheTortoise]

@@marshalluploads3875 I do produce individual shorts of every stove I review. These show how to disassemble and reassemble every stove. Generally with bricks it’s fairly simple, but it does rely slightly on whether I’ve tested your stove.