Major issue with wood-stove - Need advice!

[MossRoad]

My roof is 4/4.

There is a very rustic looking clean out under the deck where the chimney pipe goes into the ground...
A bolt and compression strap holds it in place, looks rusty.

Thanks,
David

Glad you found that. Its probably the clean out. Good for you! :thumbsup:

 

[buickanddeere]

Given the stove and chimney installation. It would be worth looking around to see what other electrical, plumbing and carpentry fixes the previous owner invented.

 

[tcreeley]

-Roughly - 12-14' chimney would seem appropriate for a 4:4 roof (from roof intersection - 10' rise for a 10' run. 2-4 ft additional clearance.

I am thinking that your steel chimney looks better every minute!

Have a good day.

 

[mbohuntr]

Please people, I'm not an idiot, nor do I have a death wish for myself or my children, please minimize the histrionics.
As they said in my youth, save the drama for your mama...

#1 - I bought an infrared space heater last night at Lowe's to use in the basement and maybe other places for supplemental heat.

#2 - I found wood stove repair products at Lowe's also, a silicone caulk good up to 600 degrees that should allow me to make the loading door airtight, and a cement & mortar product good over 1000 degrees (suitable to fix fire bricks) which SHOULD fill the cracked & missing weld spots that prevent the unit from being airtight. I will not use it again until I can make it airtight, and then only under test conditions until I can safely starve a fire and properly control the burn by controlling airflow. No more smoldering embers stinking up (and poisoning) the house. OK?

#2b - Yes, when I am working again, I will call a chimney sweep, but it is flowing fine for now. when it dries out I will attempt to open the cleanout and check the pipe with a mirror and flashlight...

#3 - There was some sort of an inspection in the past.The widow told me specifically the metal plate above the horizontal pipe was mandated in some inspection, after which they got a clean bill of health.

This thread has been VERY helpful, I have learned MANY things, I hope to learn many more as well.

Please lets keep to the engineering side of this.

Thank you all again
David

No insults intended or histrionics directed at you. Apologies if you took it that way. The internet is a difficult place to gauge a persons abilities.

I have worked with engineers all my life, some very good, some shouldn't be allowed out of the cubicle. A degree does not automatically infer common sense...

Last summer we went camping with several couples. After one of us asked for advice on changing out his battery, we gave him advice and assured him it was very simple. Don't let yourself or the tool go to ground or between the posts.

Several hours after we got back, he and his wife returned with his hand bandaged up from the hospital.

Short story... we assumed he had enough knowledge to safely perform this common task. As a result of him putting a wrench from one post, thru his wedding ring and finger to the other post, he lost a chunk of his ring, and severe flash burns on his hand. I felt like a piece of crap, and learned an important lesson that day. You cannot foresee all the possibilities, that's why they call them ACCIDENTS.


You can use these for cleaning... Imperial BR0305 Flexible Lot of 5 6' Chimney Cleaning Brush Extension Rod Poles | eBay

and this... Rutland 16906 Poly Chimney Cleaning Brush 6" | eBay Size to your chimney....

If you don't trim the brush slightly smaller than the flue, you won't be able to pull it back down until it clears the top of the chimney. I've also installed a pulley under the cap and put the brush on a long loop of cable extending down to the cleanout door, use just like a long clothes line that can be reeled back and forth from the house.

From my experience, air tight stoves cause the worst creosote as the owner shuts them down too tight. Causes the wood to smolder.

 

[charlz]

Please lets keep to the engineering side of this.

Thank you all again
David

I think if you want to heat with wood long term you will want to install a more modern chimney that goes up through the house. This helps the chimney get warm and stay warm. That may or may not correct all drafting issues but would ultimately be safer in terms of less creosote build up and easier to clean. My parents have that kind of set up with a stove in the basement and they still need to crack a basement window to get good draft.

As I mentioned in another post on the TV show "Alaska: The Last Frontier" showed a similar situation. They had an almost identical setup with the outside steel pipe chimney. He also had poor draft issues and they showed a brief clip of the stove leaking smoke back into the house. His solution was to go to an internal chimney. However I don't believe they have building or fire codes since they 'homestead' and he used steel pipe inside as well versus double or triple wall stove pipe. Generally a major fire hazard.

The correct pipe for an internal chimney is expensive and it may be difficult to find a location to go up through the house. Given you stated the original plan was to demo the house it may not be worth the cost/effort.

The current setup may work OK in colder situations where you need/want lots of heat and a big fire will warm the chimney helping the draft. Also, in that situation leaving a window cracked for draft is a non-issue as the room is bound to be pretty hot anyway.

 

[rswyan]

-Roughly - 12-14' chimney would seem appropriate for a 4:4 roof (from roof intersection - 10' rise for a 10' run. 2-4 ft additional clearance.

I am thinking that your steel chimney looks better every minute! ...

Yeah ... if it's something like 1/4" wall (or better) steel pipe that would be fairly impressive ...

The 1/2" plate in the stove is pretty impressive in itself.

 

[MossflowerWoods]

Yeah ... if it's something like 1/4" wall (or better) steel pipe that would be fairly impressive ...

The 1/2" plate in the stove is pretty impressive in itself.

Please forgive, the stove is made of 3/8" throughout, not 1/2". I just measured...

I do not know yet, but I'd almost bet the chimney pipe is 1/4" or more, it is S O L I D...

You should see the I-Beams in the basement... I have over 1400 square feet of basement with not a single post, and the main floor does not sag, nor bounce... WAY OVER-ENGINEERED... But the plumbing, electric, etc is such that rube goldberg would be insulted if I compared it... Such a mess... Sigh...

Be well,
David

 

[dave1949]

I have heard of people using well casing or pipeline pipe for a chimney. Not in the past 20 years, but back a ways.

 

[bcp]

If you replace the house and/or stove, don't scrap it. Use it for a welding table with tool storage.

Bruce

 

[ultrarunner]

The shop at the home I bought had one of the those double barrel wood heaters and well casing chimney with T connected to the it.

The well casing actually rusted at the bottom... maybe 25 years in the damp/wet climate of Western Washington.