Questions tagged [chimney]
For questions specifically relating to structures that ventilate combustion byproducts of fuel burned in an interior space, such as a fireplace, stove, or furnace.
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Why type of drywall-like material to use on a gas fireplace?
Context
I am remodeling an addition with a gas fireplace. The gas fireplace manufacturer recommends to not use drywall as high as 12in above the firebox. I am looking for a material that is similar to ...
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Need high temperature edge-grip seal for flue
Part of the seal came off of my chimney cap. I would like to replace it, however I can't find anything that is rated at a high temperature. The closest I found was this edge grip seal. However, ...
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Chimney base full of 'soot'?
House is c 1920, semi-rural at that time. I think it originally had a coal furnace - there's what looks like the renment of a coal bin. Currently gas forced-air furnace, c 1969.
When I replaced the ...
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How is the baffle board of this stove able to heat up without combusting?
I'm not sure if this question is right for this site, but since it is home improvement-related I thought I'd ask.
I recently helped my family acquire this stove from a local distributor, and whilst ...
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How do I prevent a water heater pilot light from blowing out on windy days?
My in-garage 50 gallon gas-fueled water heater stops working once a month or so when there’s a big wind storm. Once I observe the hot water isn’t working I need to turn it off for ten minutes then ...
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Osburn Matrix wood stove insert making a horrible noise
I just bought a brand new Osburn Matrix wood stove insert and the blower is making an awful buzzing/rattling noise and is basically unusable because it is so loud. Here is a YouTube video I uploaded ...
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Unclog walls of triple-wall insulated chimney flue
Debris from birds and squirrels nesting in my chimney cap is clogging the walls of my flue. Airflow in the walls of the flue is necessary for proper cooling. I put an endoscope camera down the walls ...
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Can I retuckpoint my chimney or will it have to be rebuilt?
Can I retuckpoint my chimney or will it have to be rebuilt? The bricks seem solid, but the mortar is in rough shape. Thanks.
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Wood burning stove chimney leaking
A house we bought a few years ago has a newly fitted wood burning stove and chimney. During combined heavy rain and high winds we will get water leaking down our inside wall near the stove.
I’m went ...
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Fibreboard in Chimney entrance, what can I do?
We get a significant draft down the chimney of our Victorian house. I'd like to put some sort of temporary insulation in there, such as a "chimney sheep" product.
However, the entrance to ...
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Pouring a new concrete chimney crown...should I DIY? [closed]
Just bought a home in Maryland with two brick masonry chimneys that both need crown repairs (and some repointing work). In my non-expert opinion, they're probably too far gone too patch or seal coat, ...
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Can I use a chimney exhaust fan as a whole house fan? [closed]
I would like to install a whole-house fan in my house but want to avoid putting an unsightly fan in my living room (the only place it could reasonably be installed). I have a traditional brick ...
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What is the best way to drill anchor holes in a chimney?
A structural engineer who designed our earthquake retrofit instructed us to put 3/4 all-threaded-rod (ATR) through the chimney at the rafter line on either side of the chimney, back them with Simpson ...
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Sealing siding around a chimney
I have water coming in from around my chimney. The roofers didn’t finish it, unfortunately I just bought the house so I need to fix it myself. What’s the easiest and best solution to sealing off the ...
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Replace rotted plywood sheathing behind stucco
I have a chimney chase where water was leaking down the side for years. I had the fireplace and flue removed. In the chase, the plywood sheathing has all rotted away from the stucco. I can remove ...
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Mould and Discoloration of roof tiles near chimney
What could be the possible reason(s) for building up of mould / discoloration of the roof tiles near the chimney? What are the DIY / expert solutions to fix this? I am attaching an image of the roof ...
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Smoke smell in basement stairwell, possibly associated with upstairs fireplace
I have two fireplaces on different floors that share a chimney. I do not know whether they share a flue. This season, we burned some wood logs in the upstairs fireplace which were sold to us by a ...
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Chimney Questions
Noob home owner here. We just tried to get our fireplace cleaned for the winter. The guy that came out said we have an old double flue system that's dangerous and can't be used...
He said we need to ...
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Should a shear wall be strapped to a chimney?
We are seismically retrofitting our 1951 home. The chimney is in one corner of the garage and both walls abut into the chimney, but neither wall appears to be fastened to the chimney.
The wall on ...
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Water Heater (Tankless), Furnace, Chimney? What order of work? Different contractors?
PRIORITY 1: I have a 21 (yes 21) year old water heater (go AO Smith!) that I want to replace with a tankless water heater (live in MD).
WANT 1: I have a chimney that needs to be lined and a fireplace ...
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How to install a stainless steel chimney safely with a metal tube and a concrete foundation?
I have a stainless steel chimney which I want to connect with the oven inside of my mongolian yurt.
Going through the wall is easy, the hard part is to deploy it safely on the ground so the chimney ...
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What's the best way how to seal a removed chimney top?
I want to remove a brick chimney down to the roof line because it's unused and also because it's a hazard from earthquakes in the SF bay area. This chimney came down in the 1989 quake but was rebuilt.
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How can I tell whether I'm drilling into the chimney brick or a joint?
The chimney runs up the center of the house which is through my kitchen. I want to hang a pot rack on the plaster wall surrounding the chimney but have read on this site to be sure not to drill into ...
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Can I put a box fan in a chimney to help circulate out hot summer air?
I have a classic brick chimney for a wood fireplace only (i.e. no hot water tank or other things sharing the stack).
In peak summer heat, the interior of the upstairs is well above the exterior ...
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How should I seal a flexible flue liner passing through large clay thimble?
I'm replacing my atmospheric venting natural gas water heater and I'd like to clean up the type B venting solution while I'm at it. I've had a high efficiency furnace put in so now only my gas water ...
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What is the correct way to seal off a fireplace chimney?
I've seen people say cap it at the top, I've seen people say stuff insulation in the bottom, I've seen people say brick it off at the bottom and seal it at the top. I've also seen all of these ...
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Chimney damper does not open
My chimney damper does not open. I bought the house last year so have never used it before. Any suggestions on how to get it unstuck? Note that the damper cable DOES move from one side to the other ...
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Remove fireplace leave metal chimney on roof
I removed a wood-burning stove and cut through the double-lined metal chimney flue in the attic. In the short term I jammed some insulation in the metal liner and left the rest of the chimney with the ...
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Wiring in false chimney breast
I am installing a wood burner with a false chimney breast around a double skinned flue. The chimney breast will be metal stud (or do you only call it a stud if it's wood?) with fire board as per regs ...
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Install outlet above fire place in 70's era stone wall
I'd like to install an outlet above my wood burning fireplace so that I can mount a tv. Problem is the entire wall is a 70's era stone wall. I thought I had a slick solution. There is a smaller ...
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Issue with chimney and wood burning insert
We are interested in adding a wood burning insert to an existing fireplace.
Our issue is that our chimney is already lined: but not with the typical liner. At the top are terracotta tile liners, and ...
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How would you frame this chimney chase?
FYI: No inspections or permits, I live in the middle of mostly nowhere. But, of course want to do this "right".
Details:
While face on the right is 9/12, face on chimney side is 11/12. This ...
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Exposing brick chimney in kitchen
My 1916 house has a brick chimney (no fireplace) that runs through the corner of my kitchen and I was considering removing paneling/plaster to expose the brick.
I chiseled away a small test square and ...
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Why are some bricks crooked in my attic wall?
I live in a victorian terraced house, and one of the chimney breasts has been removed at some point in the distant past. However they didn't remove the part in the roof, which was poorly supported. I'...
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Gas Combustion Air Duct Re-Route Considerations
What are the safety/legal considerations for safely re-routing gas combustion ducts?
I have a two-story house with two gas combustion air ducts. The left duct serves a fireplace that is not in use and ...
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Chimney with adjacent brick shafts into attic
I have dual fireplaces back-to-back on either side of a wall. They are separate fireplaces; there is clearly a solid barrier at the back of each fireplace. They and the whole chimney are brick. We ...
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Can I use an old chimney as a electrical chase
TLDR:
Are there any code/cost reasons we couldn't run BX/romex to our attic through an old disconnected chimney?
Long Question:
I will be closing on a house shortly and there is a hole in the attic ...
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What's going on with this chimney?
Tore the walls off and found the chimney looking like this:
It's seen a lot of leaking as you can see from the streaks. The exterior portion was rebuilt last year. That horizontal crack running ...
user116817
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How to ventilate a chimney taken down to attic (roof line) level?
I had a leak in my chimney flashing, so the roofer recommended taking the chimney down to attic level. He repaired the roof where the chimney was (board, felt and roof tiles).
All was good, but a few ...
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What happens if range hood is smaller than cooktop?
If the range hood is 70% size of cooktop, shouldn't the smoke from sides of cooktop still get sucked towards middle hence getting sucked inside?
So why people recommend range hood bigger than cooktop?
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How to maintain an old brick wall
we have a small section of exposed brick from an old chimney in the kitchen. The chimney is now used as an exhaust for the furnaces in the basement (and maybe for the kitchen exhaust in a different ...
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Unused chimney sweats when it rains
I have a chimney in my dining room that leaks or sweats. The chimney ends here because I can't find it in the basement. I am assuming that it was sealed at this location. The roof is new, and I also ...
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How does a water heater flue work?
Two years ago I had my roof re-shingled and the chimney bricks re-pointed.
There was heavy snow this year. I was in the basement when I noticed black liquid on the floor in the utility room. I know my ...
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How tight a fit for a chimney liner?
We are evaluating what size flexible chimney liner to use for a new fireplace (masonry heater). The liner will pass through an existing concrete flue.
The flue is constructed out of 16" square ...
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chimney leak black liquid
2 years ago I had my roof re shingled and chimney re grouted. This year I noticed a black liquid leaking into my basement where my water heater is located. The water heater I know is vented out the ...
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Placement of a 5" hole in foundation
I have some concerns over where to place a 5" hole for a pellet stove chimney. The stove is in our basement, and I'd like to have the chimney exit through the exposed part of the foundation.
I have ...
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Closing a fireplace to the inside but opening it to the outside
We are buying a house that has a fireplace in the den. I want to turn the den into the kitchen. It’s the perfect space for it in the house. The laundry room is on the other side of the wall, so we ...
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How should I arrange artificial logs, and should they become sooty?
There is a chimney powered by natural gas:
I'm using fake woodchops which are made of some sort of cooked clay. I have two problems:
I don't know what is the proper way to arrange fake woodchops on ...
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How to fix chimney hole in roof?
I've starting insulating the roof and that got me looking at the "old" hole where a (useless) chimney used to be. That chimney got removed for a solar panel setup.
As I'm insulating, this needs to be ...
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Install a hardened glass in front of chimney
There is a chimney like this:
I have ordered a hardened glass with four holes to be installed in front of chimney with dimensions like this:
There is a 2 cm empty space below glass to allow fresh ...
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