fred bergman
ArboristSite Operative
above the brick fireplace , to use a woodstove.
anyone add a stove pipe to a chimney
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zogger
Tree Freak
Ours was remodelled to do this before we moved in. The bottom open fireplace was bricked up, and a six inch flue put in around where the top of the mantle used to be. It draws good, but no clean out and no liner. I'm putting in a stainless steel liner this summer.
I put a rigid stainless steel liner inside a masonry chimney to convert it to a wood stove works great keeps the flue nice and warm. Drafts well and stays clean.
Major major mistake I should've run it all the way down into the basement to be able to clean it out from the basement I didn't I just went into the wall, elbow and up. mudded pipes into the bricks so i can't change it.
Major major mistake I should've run it all the way down into the basement to be able to clean it out from the basement I didn't I just went into the wall, elbow and up. mudded pipes into the bricks so i can't change it.
It was done hundreds of times over the years. I've seen it in a hundred houses that we have remodeled. I think as long as the chimney is in decent shape you should be able to do it no problem.
There are also stainless flex liners.
T-adapters that allow for a clean-out plug.
Just do a web search "flex liner"
They make aluminum for gas appliances, make sure you use STAINLESS for wood stoves
Rigid stainless will brush out easier than this corrugated liner
Just thought I'd mention this product because short lengths install fast and easy.
If you've got a clean-out down low you can pull it up through w/ a rope and 1-helper to feed from below.
T-adapters that allow for a clean-out plug.
Just do a web search "flex liner"
They make aluminum for gas appliances, make sure you use STAINLESS for wood stoves
Rigid stainless will brush out easier than this corrugated liner
Just thought I'd mention this product because short lengths install fast and easy.
If you've got a clean-out down low you can pull it up through w/ a rope and 1-helper to feed from below.
Insulated flex stainless liner system is the way to go. It will fit through the smokebox and damper and provide a good seal and draft.
Hillbilly method of routing a stovepipe up into the smokebox will work but you need to seal around it or you will have draft problems. This is also somewhat dangerous and insurance Cos will frown on it. You will also have the issue of the fireplace flue being oversize for most any woodstove.
Hillbilly method of routing a stovepipe up into the smokebox will work but you need to seal around it or you will have draft problems. This is also somewhat dangerous and insurance Cos will frown on it. You will also have the issue of the fireplace flue being oversize for most any woodstove.
This was one of the first install videos that I found. maybe not the best but it shows the T and clean-out plug
taskswap
ArboristSite Operative
This year I installed my second stainless liner and don't have enough good things to say about them. I'm not shilling for them but if anybody is curious I got everything from Rockford Chimney Supply and had really good support on both orders.
Both installs were 6" duct. The first install was in a narrow 8"x13" flue to the basement, for my boiler. It sounds like enough room, but that one was a cast-iron-b**** to install. It's flexible, but only compared to steel well casing. My flue must have been laid by drunks because the tile liners were all mis-aligned and there were thick gobs of mortar hanging all over the place. It would have been a creosote-picnic if anybody had ever actually used it. I had an incredibly hard time getting the liner all the way down (I was doing it alone) and ended up using a pulling cone, ropes, long 1" steel black pipes shoved down the side - anything I could do to get it to budge around. At one point I ended up actually having to remove a brick near the bottom of the chimney and punch through the tile liner (but it doesn't serve a purpose anymore anyway) to get some sideways force on the liner to get it all the way down.
I do not want to repeat that - but I'm glad I did it in the first place. Because of the tight fit I didn't use an insulation blanket - I bought that pour-down stuff. That was pretty easy to put in although it took a lot of time. It was a 30' chimney.
The second flue I relined was an old fireplace so the flue was huge - I had to take out the damper plate and notch the cast-iron rim below the smoke shelf a bit, but nothing a Sawzall couldn't do in a few minutes. That one dropped straight down, easy-peasey. I did go with an insulation blanket on that one - the huge square flue would have needed a dozen bags of pour-down insulation anyway so that made sense. I don't like how fragile the stuff is though. I'm pretty sure I tore through a few spots on those mortar gobs while dropping it down, which is probably slightly lowering the efficiency. Still works great, though.
Both installs were cheap and should last a long time. I think I paid like $800 for the first one, including the pour-down insulation, nose cone puller, and a longer "Tee snout" to get through to my boiler in the basement. The second one was shorter and didn't require the snout so it was like $600, shipped, IIRC. The second was like $450. They have a "Lifetime Warranty", transferable to the new owner if you sell a house. Again, not pitching Rockford specifically (although I was very happy with them) but I TOTALLY recommend the liner option. It's easy, it's cheap, and it's worth it.
Both installs were 6" duct. The first install was in a narrow 8"x13" flue to the basement, for my boiler. It sounds like enough room, but that one was a cast-iron-b**** to install. It's flexible, but only compared to steel well casing. My flue must have been laid by drunks because the tile liners were all mis-aligned and there were thick gobs of mortar hanging all over the place. It would have been a creosote-picnic if anybody had ever actually used it. I had an incredibly hard time getting the liner all the way down (I was doing it alone) and ended up using a pulling cone, ropes, long 1" steel black pipes shoved down the side - anything I could do to get it to budge around. At one point I ended up actually having to remove a brick near the bottom of the chimney and punch through the tile liner (but it doesn't serve a purpose anymore anyway) to get some sideways force on the liner to get it all the way down.
I do not want to repeat that - but I'm glad I did it in the first place. Because of the tight fit I didn't use an insulation blanket - I bought that pour-down stuff. That was pretty easy to put in although it took a lot of time. It was a 30' chimney.
The second flue I relined was an old fireplace so the flue was huge - I had to take out the damper plate and notch the cast-iron rim below the smoke shelf a bit, but nothing a Sawzall couldn't do in a few minutes. That one dropped straight down, easy-peasey. I did go with an insulation blanket on that one - the huge square flue would have needed a dozen bags of pour-down insulation anyway so that made sense. I don't like how fragile the stuff is though. I'm pretty sure I tore through a few spots on those mortar gobs while dropping it down, which is probably slightly lowering the efficiency. Still works great, though.
Both installs were cheap and should last a long time. I think I paid like $800 for the first one, including the pour-down insulation, nose cone puller, and a longer "Tee snout" to get through to my boiler in the basement. The second one was shorter and didn't require the snout so it was like $600, shipped, IIRC. The second was like $450. They have a "Lifetime Warranty", transferable to the new owner if you sell a house. Again, not pitching Rockford specifically (although I was very happy with them) but I TOTALLY recommend the liner option. It's easy, it's cheap, and it's worth it.
zogger
Tree Freak
OK, I have a question with that pour in insulation. What is it, and what happens if you want to replace the stainless steel pipe?
I want to do mine (laid brick, no liner or tile) this year sometime, but was going to skip any insulation. Runs just fine as is, good draft, just want peace of mind of a separate true pipe.
taskswap
ArboristSite Operative
The insulation just adds some performance. You don't HAVE to have it, but it's cheap and while you're up there... An interior chimney may not need it at all, but mine was exterior and not in a great spot so it was definitely recommended. It not only increases the draft, it also reduces creosote buildup because it keeps the gases from cooling as quickly in the chimney. I have an ancient boiler on one of my flues - no secondaries, so plenty of creosote if I'm not careful or it's damped too much. I wanted all the safety I could get.
My insert on my second flue probably didn't need any at all - it's new, EPA-rated, and barely produces a cup or two of soot a year... but I didn't go through all that effort to reline and install a nice insert just to skimp out on a few hundred bucks of insulation at the last minute... Not when this thing is going to be in there for 50 years or more...
The pour-down stuff is basically vermiculite, like what you might add to a garden to improve drainage (a super light "filler") and portland cement. You don't turn it into liquid, either, like concrete. You "dampen it" just to give the portland cement enough moisture to do its thing. This is a pain to do by hand, BTW - it's light, but only compared to concrete. I used a drill with a mixing paddle. When you pour it down the chimney it's still "loose", like ground corn or oatmeal.
Once in there it takes a day or so to "set" but there's nothing more to do with it than that. And I can confirm what the manufacturer says - if you ever want to remove it, it's super easy to break up. You just whack it a little with a rod or chain and it loosens right up again. It's not meant to be structural, just filler. Then, believe it or not, you just VACUUM it out. It comes right out (I expect you can't re-use it after this). I know this because I had overfilled my chimney not knowing if it would settle or not (it doesn't), so I had to take a few inches off the top to put the chimney cap on. I can't imagine ever wanting to remove/replace the liner - it's meant to last decades (or longer) - but if I had to, I imagine getting the pour-down insulation out would be the easy part of the job.
IMO, pour-down was a lot nicer to deal with than the blanket I used on the second flue. If you have a helper mixing, it's way faster than dealing with the blanket, and the blanket was fiddly because I kept catching it on mortar chunks and ripping it. But it's also more expensive, especially if your flue is bigger. For my second flue it would have tripled the price because the flue is a huge 13x13 beastie. But for my 8x13 it was literally my only option because with the bends and kinks, there was no clearance for an insulation blanket in some spots, and it would have just shredded in the process of getting it down there.
If I had unlimited money I'd go with the pour-down every time. But unless my budget was super-tight, I'd personally always insulate the liner. Maybe I'm just one of those "do it right, do it once" guys but it's also one of those things - you may not NEED it, but putting it on is never WRONG so why not have the peace of mind that you don't even have to guess about it?
My insert on my second flue probably didn't need any at all - it's new, EPA-rated, and barely produces a cup or two of soot a year... but I didn't go through all that effort to reline and install a nice insert just to skimp out on a few hundred bucks of insulation at the last minute... Not when this thing is going to be in there for 50 years or more...
The pour-down stuff is basically vermiculite, like what you might add to a garden to improve drainage (a super light "filler") and portland cement. You don't turn it into liquid, either, like concrete. You "dampen it" just to give the portland cement enough moisture to do its thing. This is a pain to do by hand, BTW - it's light, but only compared to concrete. I used a drill with a mixing paddle. When you pour it down the chimney it's still "loose", like ground corn or oatmeal.
Once in there it takes a day or so to "set" but there's nothing more to do with it than that. And I can confirm what the manufacturer says - if you ever want to remove it, it's super easy to break up. You just whack it a little with a rod or chain and it loosens right up again. It's not meant to be structural, just filler. Then, believe it or not, you just VACUUM it out. It comes right out (I expect you can't re-use it after this). I know this because I had overfilled my chimney not knowing if it would settle or not (it doesn't), so I had to take a few inches off the top to put the chimney cap on. I can't imagine ever wanting to remove/replace the liner - it's meant to last decades (or longer) - but if I had to, I imagine getting the pour-down insulation out would be the easy part of the job.
IMO, pour-down was a lot nicer to deal with than the blanket I used on the second flue. If you have a helper mixing, it's way faster than dealing with the blanket, and the blanket was fiddly because I kept catching it on mortar chunks and ripping it. But it's also more expensive, especially if your flue is bigger. For my second flue it would have tripled the price because the flue is a huge 13x13 beastie. But for my 8x13 it was literally my only option because with the bends and kinks, there was no clearance for an insulation blanket in some spots, and it would have just shredded in the process of getting it down there.
If I had unlimited money I'd go with the pour-down every time. But unless my budget was super-tight, I'd personally always insulate the liner. Maybe I'm just one of those "do it right, do it once" guys but it's also one of those things - you may not NEED it, but putting it on is never WRONG so why not have the peace of mind that you don't even have to guess about it?
If your flue is not a mess a properly sized liner from Rockford will drop right in with the insulated blanket. For the 8 X 13 flue an ovalized liner would be a better fit. The ovalized liners also will often fit past a fireplace damper frame by just removing the door
zogger
Tree Freak
Thanks for the nice reply! I figured it was something like vermiculite. Ours is smack dab in the middle of the cabin, two flues really but so far only using one. It started as back to back fireplaces in ye aulden daze. Most likely skip it at least the first year.
The other thing I was thinking of was actual concrete and rebar once the pipe was in. sure would be a heavy sucker though, but it does go right down to the ground under the house.
Or just cardboard sonotube and the rebar and concrete (backwards, around, not in the sonotube), install a stainless section through the wall into the sonotube, then just burn it out. I have a cement mixer and it is a short run, so probably wouldn't take much crete. < How's that for a goofy liner idea? HAHAHA, I think of the strangest cobjobs sometimes
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