Winners of the 2018 MHA Contest

By Richard Smith, Executive Director, Masonry Heater Association of North America Below are the results from this year's MHA Design Contest. All the entries were great making it very difficult for the judges. However, independent judges without knowing who submitted what have chosen the following winners. Judges: Doug Hren, Masonry Heater Design House; Gene Padgitt, HearthMasters, Inc.; Eric Mosier, Solid Rock Masonry  Winners: The MHA office will be contacting you next week to discuss shipping trophies. A reminder, make sure you promote yourself and contact your local newspaper. You are an award winning mason, use it In a few weeks, winners will be able to be viewed on the MHA website

Masonry Heater Category First Place: Jeff Owens  JTO Masonry Second Place: Jessica Steinhauser  Stonehouse Pottery & Kachelofen  Third Place: Derrick Kowalchuck  Fiddlerock Masonry, LTD

Jeff Owens - First Place Jessica Steinhauser- Second Place Derrick Kowalchuck - Third Place

Bake Oven Category First Place: John Rousseau Red Clay Construction, Inc. Second Place: Max Edleson and Jeremiah Church  Firespeaking and Boreal Heat (one project) Third Place: Albie Barden  Maine Wood Heat Co.  Masonry Category First Place: John Rousseau Red Clay Construction, Inc. Second Place: Albie Barden  Maine Wood Heat Co.  Third Place: Ryan McCutchan Humboldt Hearthstones

John Rousseau - First Place Max Edleson & Jeremiah Church - Second Place Albie Barden - Third Place John Rousseau - First Place Albie Barden - Second Place Ryan McCutchan - Third Place

Masonry Heater Workshop in North Carolina

The Masonry Heater Association of North America will host the annual meeting and workshop in North Carolina in April of 2016. Members will construct masonry heaters and brick ovens at this event. For more information visit www.mha-net.org. 

Masonry Heater Contest April, 2015

The Masonry Heater Association of North America is hosting a contest at their annual meeting in April of 2015 at Little Switzerland, North Carolina. The contest categories are Masonry Heater, Masonry, and Bake Oven. To be eligible to enter the contestant must be a member of the MHA and submit a portfolio of the project at the annual meeting. First, second, and third place winners receive a trophy and their project is featured on the MHA website. The entrant does not need to be present to win. To see the complete rules and entry form and past contest winners visit www.mha-net.org.

Masonry heater workshop April 13-19, 2015

Masonry heater workshop April 13-19, 2015

The Masonry Heater Association of North America will present a masonry heater, bake oven, and masonry skills workshop at their annual meeting at Wildacres Retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Asheville, North Carolina April 13 – 19, 2015. 

Masonry heaters are site-built wood-burning appliances that radiantly heat a home with wood.  They are very efficient and use relatively small amounts of wood heat without the use of electricity, gas, fans, or ducts. Wood is burned in a firebox, which connects to channels inside a large thermal mass.  After the fire is out the appliance gradually radiates heat to the living space for many hours without causing large temperature fluctuations or drafts.

Brick masonry heater with
brick oven by Gene Padgitt

The annual meeting and workshop will include hands-on building a Rocket Heater Incorporated in a Masonry Bell, Five Run Masonry Heater with testing demo, Finnish ContraflowHheater for Beginner masons, Bake/pizza oven with vaulted arch, Grundofen Cabin Stove with a Cooktop, a bricklaying clinic, and Building a Masonry Smoker.

Classroom seminars include Google Sketch-up Clinic with Boris Kukolj, My Masonry Heater Smokes - Yikes!, Masonry Heater Challenges in Australia, and Untold Stories and Oops that Confront a Masonry Heater Builder. The Heater Mason Education and Development class will be held throughout the week.

The annual Design/Build Contest for masonry heaters, bake ovens and masonry will be judged during the week and trophies will be awarded at the final meeting.

An auction and pizza party are held every year.

For more information on how to join the MHA or attend the workshop contact Richard Smith, Executive Director, at 520-883-0191, e-mail execdir@mha-net.org or visit www.mha-net.org.

Masonry Heater Workshop April 18-24, 2014

The Masonry Heater Association of North America will present a masonry heater, bake oven, and masonry skills workshop at Wildacres Retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains north of Asheville, North Carolina April 14 – 20, 2014. 

Masonry heaters are site-built wood-burning appliances that radiantly heat a home with wood.  They are very efficient and use relatively small amounts of wood heat without the use of electricity, gas, fans, or ducts. Wood is burned in a firebox, which connects to channels inside a large thermal mass.  After the fire is out the appliance gradually radiate heat to the living space for many hours without causing large temperature fluctuations or drafts.

The annual meeting and workshop will include hands-on training for a Kachelofen (tile) heater with Jessica Steinhauser and Mario Zauner; A Five Run Masonry Heater with Testing Demo by Doug Hargrave and Norbert Senf; A Finnish Heater for Beginner Masons by Marty Pearson and Jeff Owens; A Bake/Pizza Oven by Pat Manley; a Small Guastavino Vault Demo by Tony Bioundo, a Bricklaying Clinic by Tom Trout and Pat Jenkins, a Grundofen J Loop Masonry Heater with Domestic Hot Water by Eric Moshier, Dan Givens, and Joe Copeland; and A Brick Hammer and Trowel Only: 36” Diameter Clay Brick Dome Oven by Alex Chernov and David Moore. 

Classroom seminars include Google Sketch-up Clinic with Boris Kukolj; What Does it Mean? By the Technical Committee; A Unique and Challenging Heater Built by Jerry Frisch, Masons on a Mission Presentation by Pat Manley, and Untold Stories and Ooops that Confront a Masonry Heater Builder.  The Heater Mason Education and Development class will be held throughout the week.

The annual Design/Build Contest for masonry heaters, bake ovens and masonry will be judged during the week and trophies will be awarded at the final meeting.

An auction will be held on Thursday night, and the Pizza Party, where participants can sample pizza from the wood-fired ovens is held on Friday afternoon.

For more information on how to join the MHA or attend the workshop contact Richard Smith, Executive Director, at 520-883-0191, e-mail execdir@mha-net.org or visit www.mha-net.org.

Free and easy way to keep glass door clean on heater

One of the best things about having a cozy warm fire is watching the flames dance around, but if the glass doors are not clean it takes away from the experience. Glass doors on masonry heaters and wood ovens get blackened with soot, and need to be cleaned periodically.

An old tried and true method that my grandfather used can solve the problem, allowing homeowners to once again enjoy their fire.

There are stove glass cleaners on the market that work well, but if you want to save some money and a trip to the hearth store left over wood ashes work fine.

To clean glass doors with ashes:

• Wait until the glass is cool before cleaning
• Get a damp paper towel or soft cloth
• Dip the cloth into cold fireplace ashes and scrub the cold glass thoroughly
• Wipe with a clean damp cloth

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Marge Padgitt is the president of HearthMasters, Inc. in Kansas City, Missouri.  She is a CSIA Certified Chimney Sweep and NFI Wood-burning Specialist, and writes articles for national magazines and blogs. 

Brick ovens to be introduced at World of Masonry

Marge Padgitt Kansas City Alternative Energy Examiner

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January 6, 2014

The Masonry Heater Association of North America is hosting an introductory wood-fired brick oven building workshop at the World of Concrete/World of Masonry Conference in Las Vegas, NV January 20-24, 2014.

Then workshop is for masons who wish to learn more about brick oven building techniques and methods. Site-built brick ovens are increasingly popular among professional chefs and home cooks, who find that wood-fired cooking imparts a unique flavor to breads, pizza, and gourmet foods. The addition of oven building to a portfolio can greatly increase income for professional masons.

The workshop will be presented by the MHA Wood-Fired Bake Oven Committee, whose members are professional masons specializing in residential and commercial brick oven building. The committee is currently working on changes in codes and standards, professional oven building training, public awareness, and an oven portfolio focusing on dome and arch brick ovens, squirrel tail ovens, and cob ovens. The portfolio will be available to professional masons.

The World of Concrete Conference is the largest international event dedicated to professional contractors. The event will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center, 3150 Paradise Road, Las Vegas, Nevada 89109. To register for the World of Concrete Conference visit www.worldofconcrete.com.

For more information about the MHA Bake Oven Committee contact chair Marge Padgitt at 816-461-3665 or ympadgitt@yahoo.com.
The media is invited to attend and take photos of the event.

The Masonry Heater Association of North America is a non-profit organization with members worldwide. The MHA sponsors workshops throughout the year. The next annual meeting and workshop will be held April 14-20, 2014 in Little Switzerland, North Carolina.
For more information on how to join the Masonry Heater Association of North America, or media scheduling contact Richard Smith, MHA Executive Director, at 520-883-0191 or e-mail execdir@mha-net.org or visit www.mha-net.org.

MHA Design/Build Contest 2013 Winners Announced

The following are the winners of the MHA Design/Build Contest 2013

Members of the Masonry Heater Association of North America competed in the annual Design/Build Contest, which has been hosted by the MHA since 2008.  Categories are Masonry, Masonry Heater, and Bake Oven.  All projects must be designed and built by the entrant. 

Judges were veteran masonry specialists and past board members Pat Manley, Glen Overk, and Gary Hart. The judges did not know who did the work – they looked at photos and descriptions only. The entries were judged on the following: Skill in Craftsmanship, Aesthetics, Creativity, and Overall Design.  The scoring was very close, and in some cases only one point separated a winning entry from a non-winning entry.  All of the contest projects are posted.

Masonry Heater Contest
First place: Chris Prior
Adirondack Chimney Co.
Middle Grove NY
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Second place: Matthew Helicke
Lefthand Masonry, LLC
Fort Collins CO

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Third place: Jean-David Moreau
L’Esprit d Lieu / Spirit of Place Masonry Heaters
Val-David, QC J0T 2N0 Canada

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Bake Oven Contest
First place: Western Masonry, Inc.
Western Masonry Inc.
Woodinville, WA
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Second place: Jessica Steinhauser
Stonehouse Pottery
Guelph, ON N1H 3V2  Canada
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Second Place (tie): Hendrick Lepel
http://www.bakehus.com/index.html
Coolibah, Belgooly Co. Cork Ireland
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Third place: Dan French
French Masonry
Imperial, MO
dfrenchy47@yahoo.com
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Masonry Contest
First place: Jeffrey Owens
JTO Masonry
Allen Park, MI
jtomasonry@comcast.net
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Second place: Jon Santiago
Argentina

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Third place: Dan French
French Masonry
Imperial, MO
dfrenchy47@yahoo.com

* Note: contest entrants without websites have their e-mail links above.
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The following are the rest of the contest entries:
Albie Barden
Maine Wood Heat Co.
Skowhegan, ME

And

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Marty Pearson
Stone Comfort Fireplace Gallery
Plainville, MA
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Western Masonry, Inc.Western Masonry Inc.
Woodinville, WA

and

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Gene Padgitt
HearthMasters, Inc.
Kansas City, MO

Ira Glick/Mike Wurzbacher
Squirrel Tail Ovens
Red Lion PA