Chimney woes… at the wrong time of year

+1 for knocking out the tiles and installing an insulated liner. One of the tasks on my to do list. At this point I don’t see myself getting it done this year.

 

Thank you all for the advice and expertise. The other reason I was thinking about the double wall stainless was so I could clean from the bottom up. Then I wouldn’t have to take apart the old wood window To clamber my way out onto the roof to clean the chimney. I’ve got a bit of an issue being near the edge of the roof

 

After some careful consideration of what I’ve learned here and talking with people
that have had it done I believe I’m going to go with a stainless steel liner

 

Good choice! Like brenndatomu pointed out, insulated stainless liner is the way to go. Your appliance will function better as well.

 

Had the fella out from the local stove shop that also does installations here. We looked at the chimney itself and he pointed out 2 broken block then I found another one. So the chimney itself is bad not just the flue… Well I guess I’ll either have to parge the block or rebuild. In 2 weeks time. Oh mylanta

 

Without pics it’s hard to guess but I might suggest if your installing a flex liner maybe go a little taller than normal with it. If the masonry chimney is to be replaced next spring It may need to go higher and you wouldn’t want to short yourself on liner now. Just a thought. It’s just one of the options your considering.
12’ is mighty short for a chimney

 

Regular single wall black stove pipe and it’s a Fisher mama bear. Surprisingly it drafts really well. If I get smoke back into the house when I open the door I knew it was time for a cleaning

 

When I lived in the blue shack that only was about 6’ of rise in the chimney. That could get interesting on a rainy day

 

Well it’s done only took 20 Miller lites and a sixer of Sammy Adams Oktoberfest

 

We had a similar incident. 15-20 years ago, I cleaned our exterior masonry chimney with an extension ladder in September. While carrying the ladder away, "oh darn", I forgot to inspect the chimney. Back went the ladder, up went the flash light, and "oh d***". The liner was severely cracked from top to bottom. After researching my choices, I settled on triple wall stainless which had the highest chimney fire rating at that time. Rented scaffolding for a week and the sledge hammer converted the chimney to rubble in half a day (excluding the footing). One more day had the new chimney up and another day to trim the roof.

The biggest difference between the masonry and insulated stainless steel: a LOT less creosote, one cleaning per year instead of 3 or 4. The insulated stainless steel chimney heats up quicker and so stays cleaner.

The biggest problem with the exterior stainless steel: Carbon Monoxide. The masonry chimney stayed warmer longer and was less likely to back draft and push CO from coals into the house. Cold air in a chimney is heavier and can flow down. We completely extinguish our furnace, including coals, every night and restart every morning from kindling. The chimney maker recommends building an insulated wall around the exterior stainless steel chimney to keep it warm.

The stainless steel chimney is coming up on 20 years now and is in as good a condition as the day installed.

Another interesting story, when demolishing the masonry chimney, I found creosote had migrated through the liner cracks in to the supporting concrete blocks where mice had built grass nests. Mice were climbing the chimney and going through the cracks in the liner into the blocks to build nests. Just think of what a chimney fire would do to a chimney filled with creosote and grass nests.

Why did the liner crack? My best guess is rapid heating in the morning created uneven expansion. We have two stack thermometers and never over fired but on a cold morning we would do (and still do) everything possible to quickly reach stack operating temperature. Exterior chimneys start at colder temperatures than interior.

Always use a CO detector.

 

Your guess is correct. An outdoor masonry chimney allowed to get low temps in the teens will crack like a shot if you fire it up too fast.
Why you would shut down a furnace at night when it’s needed most is another story

 

Double wall insulated is the preferred class A SS chimney for wood burning these days for this reason...stays warmer than air cooled triple wall.

 

This is the answer. Easy to do, and you've got a little time to do it.

 

I <3 tearing down old broken worn out masonry chimneys and replacing them with safer stainless steel manufactured chimneys.
Not enough to do any more than I already have though.

 

yuck!!! the new stuff looks good!!! i got the DuraVent Dura Pluse and love it .

 

Our furnace is DIRECTLY under our bed and any heat in the furnace is TOO hot for a good nights sleep.

 

This is Olympia brand. Harry’s use to carry Duravent but they recommended the screwed together. Plus the Olympia is made somewhere up towards Scranton so faster delivery times.