I bought a house n July 2017. The previous owners converted their fireplace into a wood stove years ago, a Garrison Stove in 1987 to be exact. My home inspector did not inspect the wood stove, but also did not say much about the installation. When I look up in the chimney, I see the wood stove pipe goes up the chimney and it's surrounded by a lot of fiberglass insulation where the flue damper is, at least that is what it looks like to me. We recently had some strong rain storms and I noticed water dripping from the wood stove pipe and the insulation and covering the bottom of the fireplace. This doesn't seem normal and I feel the install was done wrong, but what else could be causing the leak? How can I fix this? Or is it best to just get rid of the wood stove and revert back to a wood burning chimney?
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The water was on the floor of the fireplace where the wood stove is sitting? Was the water dripping down the inside of the pipe or the outside of the pipe?– Jean-Paul CalderoneJan 15, 2018 at 18:38
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2Water drips down the inside of chiminies all the time, if the wind is blowing the rain horizonaly water will get inside. A photo of the top of the chiminey and the cap would provide a clue if it was done correctly. I have used rock wool at the old damper to seal wood stoves but insulation packed in the flue sounds "different" to me. Wood stoves are usually much more efficient than an open hearth. If you want any real heat keep the wood stove or upgrade to a high effency model.– Ed BealJan 15, 2018 at 20:14
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@Jean-PaulCalderone - Water was sitting and dripping down from both inside the pipe and the insulation.– Carlos MendezJan 16, 2018 at 19:49
2 Answers
There should not be anything dripping from your liner's insulation.
Your local chimney sweep should know how to inspect your liner and its top termination to determine if it was properly installed to conform to local code, including the installation instructions for that liner product. The space surrounding the liner should be covered (metal or masonry) to prevent entry of rain, snow, birds or other small animals, whether or not the liner itself has a rain cap or spark arrester. If your liner was required to be insulated (e.g., for purpose of helping induce a draft more quickly), it won't work very well if the insulation layer is soaking wet and then freezes.
You might browse through NFPA 211, a national standard for "Chimneys, Fireplaces, Vents and Solid-fuel Burning Appliances", and the installation manual for the stove and for the chimney (if it's a factory-built liner).
When we recently had a liner installed for a gas-fired log (not the same, I know, but offered as illustration), the chimney kit included a cap device to support the new pipes (exhaust and combustion air) and to block off the top of the old flue. It was simply fastened to the top of the old chimney and the rain cap added to the new pipes.
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Thank you for the response! I will start calling around for inspectors and check out the NFPA 211. Jan 16, 2018 at 19:52
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You're welcome. It probably goes without saying that not all jurisdictions have adopted NFPA 211 into their code, with or without amendments, but may have something similar.– UpnorthJan 17, 2018 at 21:42
Cap on chimney helps a lot. Unsure about insulation, I have seen were water weeps through brick and joints sealant was put on couple coats stopped leak.Also check flashing ect. may be small roof leak .