Replies

1. 
   Piffin | Dec 19, 2004 06:17am | #1

   either way works. I like to frame the openning first and then just cut sheathing when he is close.
   For new work, it is pretty easy to get it lined out right as you frame. Just check with mason and with codes locally on sizing.
   you can always close it in closer but making it larger is total rebuild time.

   but not to fear if you are off plumb by a bit too. A good mason can corbel over. I would say that better than half the old ones I have taken down were corbeled and a third of the new ones we build need corbelling to work around spatial constraints of one kind or another.

    

    

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2. 
   Hubedube | Dec 19, 2004 11:55pm | #2

   Wait until its near the roof line, youll be glad you did. Besides, whats the big deal, after all its only a chimney opening.

   Your a qualified trades person, aren't you?

1. 
   dm | Dec 20, 2004 12:13am | #4

   Owner-builder; not in the building trades but some building experience.   I'm not planning to do the masonry; but will do the framing if I can't find someone to quote me a reasonable price.    Construction costs have gone up so much in the last few years that to get the house I want, I'm going to have to do a lot of the work myself.

    

3. 
   Framer | Dec 20, 2004 12:05am | #3

   Get the right rough opening and frame the opening in the center of the house that's all there is to it. How could the mason possibly go wrong unless you put the opening in the wrong spot. I always frame the openings and the masons drop lines from my framing. It's a simple as that. If the mason can't follow that he'd better go find a new job. Run the ridge straight through to and tie everything together and put all your doubles in and then he can cut it out later with a sawzall or you can.

   Even if they didn't drop lines from your opening the mason should be able to put the chimney in the center of the house.

   Joe Carola
4. 
   dieselpig | Dec 23, 2004 04:12am | #5

   Maybe I'm missing something, wouldn't be the first time.... but, you're going to have to frame this same opening up through the first floor, then the second floor, then the ceiling joists, and then the roof, right?  Or is the fireplace room open all the way from the first floor to the roof?  Regardless, it's the center of the house.  Not too hard to find the center of a house is it?  Frame that opening right through the first floor joists off the plans, and then just carry it on up.  We frame houses all the time and leave openings for the masons.  Way too much overhead sawzall work to try and do it later.

   That's the whole trick to framing...... do it right now, cuz it's gonna take twice as long and be twice as difficult to do it later. 

   Don't forget to leave the necessary code required clearance between framing and masonry.  It's 2" here in MA.

1. 
   dm | Dec 23, 2004 04:26pm | #6

   Its not dead center but the plans do locate it.  The main issue I was concerned about was the small inaccuracies that build up as the chimney goes up 35 feet through the core of the house.  Say the chimney is off by 1/4" every 10 feet of rise, then we are off by nearly an inch by the time its at the peak of the roof.  So the fire code wouldn't be met if I only gave it a 2" box around the where I expected the chimney to be.   Maybe these inaccuracies don't really happen with masonry.   I guess hanging plumb lines from the corners of the box in the roof will be their guide.  

1. 
   rvillaume | Dec 23, 2004 06:03pm | #7

   As the others said, frame it as your plans call for it. The mason will (or should) drop the lines from each floor. As long as your holes are plumb to each other there won't be any problems.

2. 
   BossHog | Dec 23, 2004 06:03pm | #8

   Like Piffin said, the mason can always adjust the chimney to make it "lean" a bit and hit the hole. I once lived in a house where the chiney was adjusted 6 or 8" to make the roof opening. One minor point I would add - Make the rough opening a bit oversized. It's a lot easier to make an opening bigger than smaller if there are structural members around it. I once did trusses for a building that housed a crematorium. The plans called for some very specific sizes and locations of openings in the roof system for the chimneys. I suggested making the openings bigger "just in case". But the GC said it wasn't necessary. Two weeks later I get a call saying the specs for the furnace thingies wasnt quite right, and they need to make the openings bigger. We had to bring in an engineer and make extensive repairs to the trusses. It ended up costing several thousand dollars. Your situation probably wouldn't be that big of a deal. But it still may be better to have a slightly larger opening...
   It is not the function of our Government to keep the citizen from falling into error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the Government from falling into error. [Robert H. Jackson]

1. 
   dm | Dec 23, 2004 07:10pm | #9

   Yeah.  I'm not planning any living room cremations.  

   I wonder if the people living downwind from crematoriums have a distaste for baked chicken?

1. 
   BossHog | Dec 23, 2004 07:41pm | #10

   I've wondered about that smell thing too. This particular one is right in the middle of town in Springfield Illinois.
   When I'm waiting in line or brushing my teeth, I'll contract my butt muscles [Heidi Klum]