Chimney Installation Questions

[dieselscout80]

We want to install a wood stove or a built in fire place in our basement.

I have a couple of installation questions.

How hard is this do yourself?

With double wall pipe how much clearance is required between the double wall pipe and vinyl siding?

Is our soffit wide/deep enough to run double wall pipe through?



I've been watching this thread closely.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/191845-reduce-heating-bill-wood-stove-12.html

 

[grsthegreat]

We want to install a wood stove or a built in fire place in our basement.

I have a couple of installation questions.

How hard is this do yourself?

With double wall pipe how much clearance is required between the double wall pipe and vinyl siding?

Is our soffit wide/deep enough to run double wall pipe through?



I've been watching this thread closely.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/191845-reduce-heating-bill-wood-stove-12.html

Fireplace stores sell the kits to do this. Including the soffit kits and all mounting hardware to maintain the clearances. We have alot of those setup here in Idaho. Most have a cleanout door at the start of the rise section also.

 

[forgeblast]

There are kits but what you are looking at is a pain. Is there anyway to run it through the house up through the roof? I had a chimney guy hook up our stove. Its an lp and he said if he had to go out the wall, and then run the chimney up the side and then up through the soffit it was going to be big $$. remember too hot gases are going to be going up that chimney next to your siding. Call a pro, see what they say and then you know what types of kits you would need....Chimney is not a place you want to make a mistake on.
Too small of a chimney and you will have smoke pushed back down it(what happened to us) so we went with lp upstairs and wood stove in the basement, along with extending our chimeny from the basement so we didnt have the same problem with smoke getting pushed back down. It cost us about 1600 to get it all hooked up with supplies and cleaned.

 

[Dave5264]

Dont know what the "Rules" are in your area but here in Ontario Canada, while you can install it yourself, you must have it WET (Wood Energy Technician) Inspected/certified or the Insurance companies wont cover you any more.

May want to check that out

 

[Rustyiron]

It's not hard to do at all, but the class "A" pipe that you'll proly need is pricey and "partsy", that is a lot of diff parts. I would check with the local gov people for specs and clearaneces. I think the class A has only a few inch to combustables req. Either way it would look much better to build a "chase" around the pipe, but this pretty much doubles the job. If it's doable budget wise, you might check with a local realtor to see if a masonry chimney would at least cover its self in (resale) value. That's allways the best chim to have.
Go online and search prices for the class "A" flue pipe.
Have you considered a Pellet stove? I think that they can exit without a vert. stack, not sure on that but something to check out. It may be a simpler solution, or at least another option to think about.

 

[MarkV]

I will bet that long of run will require triple wall pipe. Very pricey. Remember that if the pipe cools down too much you lose your draw and have a bunch of problems. Creosote, back drafting, smoke, hard to start fires, ect. That is the reason for triple wall on long runs and especially with it being an exterior run.

Might also want to check with your homeowners insurance. Some of them have gotten pretty funny about wood heating and homeowner installs.

MarkV

 

[Mousefield]

I installed one in 1980 on a two story house I was building. Not hard to do but made sure it was to code. Where we live now I installed one in my shop, thru a flat roof, just made sure to follow instructions and that it was to code. Up our way you can it install yourself but as Dave5265 mentioned you must have it WET (Wood Energy Technician) Inspected/certified or the Insurance companies wont cover you any more. I would suggest the chimney be on the inside of the house, it you run it outside it does not usually work as well. Before you start I strongly urge you to find out what the code is to install it safely, some area's will have different distances from walls, etc.

 

[KennyG]

Good advice on potential problems with a long external pipe. We set up similar installation years ago but we build a freestanding brick (double brick with chimney liner) chimney adjacent to the house. We put a clean out at grade level where the furnace pipe entered the chimney. It worked very well and had minimal ash and creosote buildup. We also put some stabilizer steel straps just under the soffit.

It may sound extreme, but if you really don't want an internal chimney, and you've ever done any masonry work, it's not that hard of a job.

Another caution: If you are installing an airtight stove (with outside combustion air intake) in the basement, be sure it's very well sealed and that you add a tight seal shutoff damper in the outside air intake. The gravity flow from the outside air intake will push down into the stove and potentially result in an ash smell in the basement when the stove is not in operation.

 

[bearcreek paul]

Good advice on potential problems with a long external pipe. We set up similar installation years ago but we build a freestanding brick (double brick with chimney liner) chimney adjacent to the house. We put a clean out at grade level where the furnace pipe entered the chimney. It worked very well and had minimal ash and creosote buildup. We also put some stabilizer steel straps just under the soffit.

It may sound extreme, but if you really don't want an internal chimney, and you've ever done any masonry work, it's not that hard of a job.

Another caution: If you are installing an airtight stove (with outside combustion air intake) in the basement, be sure it's very well sealed and that you add a tight seal shutoff damper in the outside air intake. The gravity flow from the outside air intake will push down into the stove and potentially result in an ash smell in the basement when the stove is not in operation.

What Kenny G said it's not that hard and you can do it for about 1/3 of the price.

 

[mrmikey]

Last year I installed a woodsove, hearth, s/s Selkirk chimney in my daughters mobile home, it wasn't a bad job at all. The quoted price was around a $1000 for installation alone not counting material.
As was said, watch your clearances, ( when I did theirs I went on the theory if they want 10" clearance they're gonna get 12"), and have it inspected when you're done.
Hard to tell if your soffitt is wide enough for clearance and still have the fascia left. I've seen chimneys where the fascia was removed so you ended up with basically a slot cut in the roof, didn't look too bad if done correctly. Clearances for the siding is dictated by the mounts/supports for the flue which have to be secured to the studs, not just into the sheathing. Be sure to use a guy support for the section above the roof, you don't want it blowing over in the wind.
I can't rememebr the exat measurements but there is a spec'd minimum hight over anything within a 15' radius, 3' I think but I'm not sure....Mike

 

[dieselscout80]

Good advice on potential problems with a long external pipe. We set up similar installation years ago but we build a freestanding brick (double brick with chimney liner) chimney adjacent to the house. We put a clean out at grade level where the furnace pipe entered the chimney. It worked very well and had minimal ash and creosote buildup. We also put some stabilizer steel straps just under the soffit.

It may sound extreme, but if you really don't want an internal chimney, and you've ever done any masonry work, it's not that hard of a job.

Another caution: If you are installing an airtight stove (with outside combustion air intake) in the basement, be sure it's very well sealed and that you add a tight seal shutoff damper in the outside air intake. The gravity flow from the outside air intake will push down into the stove and potentially result in an ash smell in the basement when the stove is not in operation.

Kenny,

This free standing chimney is a space away from the exterior wall or does that mean it has its own foundation?

Do you have a pic of it?

I don't think running the chimney up through the house is an option. The stove pipe or the a 3" drain pipe would have snake around the other one.

 

[KennyG]

The chimney is separated from the house by about 6 inches, as I recall. A substantial foundation was poured for the chimney, tied into the basement wall. It's close enough to the house that there is a notch in the soffit where it passes through. The roof edge slopes at this point (i.e., it's on a gable). This was my Dad's house. He had previously had a house burn down from a chimney fire. He wanted a central heating wood stove but refused to have a chimney inside the house. The system he installed has been the primary source of heat for the house for over 30 years now and has been trouble free. We sweep the chimney every year (very easy to do with the cleanout at ground level) but get almost nothing out of it.

Sorry, don't have any pictures now.

 

[sal64]

We want to install a wood stove or a built in fire place in our basement.

I have a couple of installation questions.

How hard is this do yourself?

With double wall pipe how much clearance is required between the double wall pipe and vinyl siding?

Is our soffit wide/deep enough to run double wall pipe through?



I've been watching this thread closely.
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/projects/191845-reduce-heating-bill-wood-stove-12.html

its not so hard you can buy the kit, the clearance from the vinyl is mantained by the clamps i think its 2-3 inches the main thing is make sure the bottom support it bolted strong enough, then just stack clamp the pipes and put your wall support brackets.

 

[dieselscout80]

The chimney is separated from the house by about 6 inches, as I recall. A substantial foundation was poured for the chimney, tied into the basement wall. It's close enough to the house that there is a notch in the soffit where it passes through. The roof edge slopes at this point (i.e., it's on a gable). This was my Dad's house. He had previously had a house burn down from a chimney fire. He wanted a central heating wood stove but refused to have a chimney inside the house. The system he installed has been the primary source of heat for the house for over 30 years now and has been trouble free. We sweep the chimney every year (very easy to do with the cleanout at ground level) but get almost nothing out of it.

Sorry, don't have any pictures now.

Ok I understand what you meant now. Thanks

 

[mrmikey]

Here's Selkirks site with thir installation guides Selkirk: Selkirk Installation Guides .....Mike

 

[dieselscout80]

Here are a couple of pics that show the inside of the wall and the obstacles.

 

[mrmikey]

So you're going to go thru the cinderblock and up the outside of the house, it doesn't look so bad. At least you have no concerns about any combustable wall material being close to the flue
At least the wall's not finished so you can see what you're working with, do you plan on finishing it eventually?.....Mike

 

[dieselscout80]

So you're going to go thru the cinderblock and up the outside of the house, it doesn't look so bad. At least you have no concerns about any combustable wall material being close to the flue
At least the wall's not finished so you can see what you're working with, do you plan on finishing it eventually?.....Mike

Mike, yes we plan on finishing the wall when we do the stove/fireplace.

I wonder if a non brick chimney around a double wall system would be best.

My soffit is about 15 1/2" deep/wide.

 

[mrmikey]

I wonder if a non brick chimney around a double wall system would be best.

Don't quite catch your drift I'm 'fraid

My soffit is about 15 1/2" deep/wide.

A 6" Selkirk (what I use for a generic name for a s/s chimney) is about 10" O/D, allow 3" ( I think it was minimum to any combustable material) so that's 16", not gonna happen so you're going to have to leave it open like I had thought, a 'slot' in the roof, open on the outside edge. I've seem them done like that and if done right, doesn't look bad at all. IMHO think it's better and easier as you don't have to flash around the chimney/roof pass thru.
However you do it, find out where the rafters are in your roof so you can go up between them. I'd hate to have to see you cut a tail off a rafter to run the flue up when you could have moved the stove one way or the other with no problem....Mike

 

[dieselscout80]

Don't quite catch your drift I'm 'fraid


A 6" Selkirk (what I use for a generic name for a s/s chimney) is about 10" O/D, allow 3" ( I think it was minimum to any combustable material) so that's 16", not gonna happen so you're going to have to leave it open like I had thought, a 'slot' in the roof, open on the outside edge. I've seem them done like that and if done right, doesn't look bad at all. IMHO think it's better and easier as you don't have to flash around the chimney/roof pass thru.
However you do it, find out where the rafters are in your roof so you can go up between them. I'd hate to have to see you cut a tail off a rafter to run the flue up when you could have moved the stove one way or the other with no problem....Mike

You gave me a bunch of good info for not knowing what I meant.

Earlier in this thread some one mentioned that my chimney might be to tall for a outside chimney and cause the chimney to cool off and not draft well.

I had a house that had a chiomney that had siding on on rather than bricks. I was thinking that a chimney of wood around a 6" Selkirk type chimney might keep it warmer and help it draft better.