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I promised ages and ages ago that I’d post my experiences with relining my chimney for a wood burner when I got to it. Planned for August, finished it yesterday, of course. I now have a great drawing completely up to code chimney (sorry to the pro’s, it’s true) for a wood burning furnace.
Short synopsis: Big pain in the ass, though doable.
Long view: Had a two flue masonry chimney, only one flue taken, used by the hot water heater and furnace. The masonry was in pretty good shape, and I’m a genetic cheapskate, so a wood burner seemed to make sense. The chimney was designed for gas fireplaces (the original heat for the house, would you believe) and as such had no liner of any condition. Also the flue ended at the first floor and I wanted to put the furnace in the basement. Used a small demolition hammer to break a hole in the floor of the fireplace into the basement.
Planning was probably the longest stage. I read al the available materials on the web, certainly not enough to do the job properly but complete enough to know that the work was doable by me. Got hold of the code book. I’d recommend this to anyone contemplating such an installation. There are more variables involved than I can get into here to make sure that the installation can be done safely. Installation instructions are available in PDF format at Copperfield’s website.
Next step was to get the materials. I decided to go with Copperfield supply (they have a website. The liner itself is too large to UPS and I don’t live too far from their warehouse in Cleveland, so I picked it up. They are wholesale only, but this wasn’t a problem as I’m a contractor. The service was excellent, better than any I’ve dealt with.
Having the stuff in hand, I decided to install. The liner is a flexible 304 alloy stainless steel tube. It gets wrapped in 2 wraps of foil covered ceramic wool insulation that is then covered with a stainless steel mesh sock to keep it from snagging on installation. A T with a removable takeoff is mounted on the bottom to accept the stove pipe. Then I fitted a pulling eye to the bottom end co it can be pulled down the chimney with a tout rope.
So far so good, but doing all this, the line weighs a ton and is like wrestling with a bag full of oatmeal. With my 8/12 pitch roof, and my 60 year old helper (thanks dad) some roof brackets and decent scaffolding around the stack was in order. Doing that , we pulled it down the chimney. The offset that I was sure would clear the liner failed to (insert swearing). Of course when something gets stuck, the appropriate course of action is to pull really hard so it gets really stuck. (insert more swearing) I had to punch out (and later rebuild) the chimney at the offset. It then pulled down freely.
So, stuff I learned. One helper is needed, two are better. Ditto with scaffolding and roof brackets. Cut a section of the stuff fully insulated and lower it down the chimney to make sure it will clear.
This really isn’t enough info to do the job, and I’m so tied in with the process that there is probably lots of stuff I’m forgetting that would be of interest, so I’ll happily answer any questions. Hope this helps.
Mike
Replies
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I promised ages and ages ago that I'd post my experiences with relining my chimney for a wood burner when I got to it. Planned for August, finished it yesterday, of course. I now have a great drawing completely up to code chimney (sorry to the pro's, it's true) for a wood burning furnace.
Short synopsis: Big pain in the ass, though doable.
Long view: Had a two flue masonry chimney, only one flue taken, used by the hot water heater and furnace. The masonry was in pretty good shape, and Im a genetic cheapskate, so a wood burner seemed to make sense. The chimney was designed for gas fireplaces (the original heat for the house, would you believe) and as such had no liner of any condition. Also the flue ended at the first floor and I wanted to put the furnace in the basement. Used a small demolition hammer to break a hole in the floor of the fireplace into the basement.
Planning was probably the longest stage. I read al the available materials on the web, certainly not enough to do the job properly but complete enough to know that the work was doable by me. Got hold of the code book. Id recommend this to anyone contemplating such an installation. There are more variables involved than I can get into here to make sure that the installation can be done safely. Installation instructions are available in PDF format at Copperfields website.
Next step was to get the materials. I decided to go with Copperfield supply (they have a website. The liner itself is too large to UPS and I dont live too far from their warehouse in Cleveland, so I picked it up. They are wholesale only, but this wasnt a problem as Im a contractor. The service was excellent, better than any Ive dealt with.
Having the stuff in hand, I decided to install. The liner is a flexible 304 alloy stainless steel tube. It gets wrapped in 2 wraps of foil covered ceramic wool insulation that is then covered with a stainless steel mesh sock to keep it from snagging on installation. A T with a removable takeoff is mounted on the bottom to accept the stove pipe. Then I fitted a pulling eye to the bottom end co it can be pulled down the chimney with a tout rope.
So far so good, but doing all this, the line weighs a ton and is like wrestling with a bag full of oatmeal. With my 8/12 pitch roof, and my 60 year old helper (thanks dad) some roof brackets and decent scaffolding around the stack was in order. Doing that , we pulled it down the chimney. The offset that I was sure would clear the liner failed to (insert swearing). Of course when something gets stuck, the appropriate course of action is to pull really hard so it gets really stuck. (insert more swearing) I had to punch out (and later rebuild) the chimney at the offset. It then pulled down freely.
So, stuff I learned. One helper is needed, two are better. Ditto with scaffolding and roof brackets. Cut a section of the stuff fully insulated and lower it down the chimney to make sure it will clear.
This really isnt enough info to do the job, and Im so tied in with the process that there is probably lots of stuff Im forgetting that would be of interest, so Ill happily answer any questions. Hope this helps.
Mike