Given the choice, would you prefer to have a chimney penetrate the peak of a gable roof or would you rather see it offset 5-8′ away from the ridge and use a cricket?
Details: Exposed GlueLam ridge beam, exposed joists 4′ on center, 3/4″ T&G, 8″ SIP (Structural Insulated Panel), standing seam metal roofing, and no venting. The chimney serves a masonry Russian heater/stove/fireplace so flue temperature should be fairly low at the peak. The main mass of the stove/fireplace would be near the center of the space. The thinking is the structure that houses the flue could support the ridge beams. The distance between where the smoke enters the flue and the ridge beam would be around 14′.
Replies
which one looks best ?
what is the roof pitch ?
depends , don't it ?
Mike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Roof pitch is 4.5/12. Appearance is not a factor since the chimney is so close to the center of the structure. I am more concerned about structural, construction, and flashing tradeoffs.
the location will not affect those concerns... either case can be correctly framed and flashed...
more important is the chimney material... if it is stone or similar... be sure to use a thru-flashMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
A friend pointed out an unusual fireplace chimney on a house in the mountains near here. Instead of the chimney being "square to the roof" so to speak, it was turned at a 45 degree angle so that one corner was pointed up towards the roof ridge, thereby splitting the water and snow flow off the roof. It sounds kind of cockeyed I know, but it looked nice. I've filed it away in my memory bank of options for "just in case that situation ever comes up" files.
kinda like this.... i built this one on our first house in '73...thisis a dutch gamrel with a salt-box rearMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
Is it my eyes, or did you open the door and step immediately into the fireplace?"There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning."--???
it's yur eyes, woman !
the fireplace is a corner fireplace in the room to the left..you step into an overhang, go into a hall way.. turn to the left and you are in the living room / dining rm
the fireplace is catty-corner in the living roomMike Smith Rhode Island : Design / Build / Repair / Restore
There is a concern that Mike hasn't mentioned here. A masonry stack is best not used structurally in several instances. For one, framing should not be in direct contact with a chimney because of code concerns for fire. Various codes require one or two inches of separation. The latest makes allowance when a full 12" of masonry separates between the wood framing and the fire path in the chimney.
Another concern is for the connection between the two elements. Gravity alone has been used in places for hundreds of years but in seismic zones, you really don't want the beam sliding out of that pocket. Another concern is for type of mortar. Let's say you are trying to suppport a load on round river rock veneer stone face with poor lime based mortar. I wouldn't necessaryily expect it to handle the thousands of pounds you might be putting on it. Having an engineer design a pocket flange for the amt of weight it will bear with tie that beam to the chimney right.
But the first thing that went through my mind on this question is that since you have a gluelam supporting as a structural ridge, the placement of the chimney will affect that sizing, making it smaller if the chimney penetrates the ridge, and possible saving some bucks, but it might complicate things from the design, engineering, and labor viewpoint.
Personally, I favor the ridge'centered chimney.
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