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Disassemble a woodstove chimney?

geoffhazel | Posted in Construction Techniques on April 23, 2009 04:51am

Another “first” for me coming up soon. Client has a woodstove in a family room that’s 3 stories tall, and the pipe goes all the way up to the ceiling. Black pipe, 8″ or so in diameter. Our plan is to get some scaffolding, and take it apart a piece at a time. Not sure how it goes through the roof — I figure once we get the top piece off, the rest should be clear sailing. Once the pipe and stove are gone, I’ll patch the sheetrock, texture to match and then ready for paint. The roof-side is on a metal roof, all flashed in, so I’m proposing we just cap it off and call it good. It doesn’t show from the front of the house, and I don’t relish trying to patch a metal roof.

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Replies

  1. DanH | Apr 23, 2009 05:03am | #1

    You'll be singing in a minstrel show by the time you're done.

    The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith
  2. [email protected] | Apr 23, 2009 05:12am | #2

    Get it swept first, if you don't want the house full of soot.

    Even after a good sweeping, you will still have some soot to deal with, but it will be far less.

    If they are like most home owners, it will be the first time it has been swept, and there could be 1/4-inch or more of soot on the inside.

  3. joeh | Apr 23, 2009 06:24am | #3

    I would sweep it till I was tired, then drill into it and tin snip a hole until I could cut a section out.

    Trying to twist it apart is a SOB, cutting it will get it apart easier.

    Assuming it's single wall pipe.............

    Joe H

    1. geoffhazel | Apr 26, 2009 06:54am | #4

      Well, as it turned out, the inside pipe was pretty easy. Since it had an angle to the roof with 2 90 degree turns, we were able to disconnect the horizontal run and then lift the whole vertical pipe and remove it from the house in one go (with a plastic bag taped to the bottom).The actual challenge turned out to be the 12' of triplewall pipe sticking up on the roof. That sucker was heavy, and now we are 25' off the ground to boot. Didn't want to just push it over the edge for risking it kicking back and hitting the house or breaking a window, so we managed to lean it into the roof ridge and get it horizontal enough to disassemble.It was quite clean inside. Apparently the owners haven't had a fire in the wood stove for years, as the creosote leaks out the seams.And speaking of that: if you were putting a woodstove pipe up to the ceiling, would you put the sections little-end-up or down? Theirs was little end up, which makes sense to me for smoke going up, but they said it was backwards b/c the creosote coming down was dripping out the seams.

      1. Scott | Apr 26, 2009 07:28am | #5

        >>>but they said it was backwards b/c the creosote coming down was dripping out the seams.Exactly. Piffin's the stove expert around here, but my understanding is that you always point the tapers down with chimneys. It seems counter-intuitive for smoke purposes, but makes sense for creosote drips.Scott.

      2. splintergroupie | Apr 26, 2009 09:13am | #6

        Scott has it right on the smaller end on the bottom. If the pipe is in good shape, you can sell it. Triple wall is VERY expensive stuff.

      3. User avater
        Megunticook | Apr 26, 2009 02:16pm | #7

        Most definitely, metal chimney connectors on a wood burning appliance should have male ends pointing down toward the stove. As your clients said, this prevents creosote from dripping out the seams and down the outside of the pipe. Smoke will not leak out of the seams if there's a proper draft.Also, make sure each one of those connections is secured with 3 sheet metal screws.Hard to picture exactly what the setup looks like from your description, but it sounds awfully long with a horizontal run up near the top...a good recipe for fast creosote buildup (if they actually used the stove, that is). The smoke cools in the higher sections of pipes you get more deposits on pipe. Any horizontal run will exacerbate this...especially way up high like that.

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        1. geoffhazel | Apr 26, 2009 07:44pm | #9

          Here's a slideshow of the whole day -- with a glaring omission of the 12 foot outdoor chimney removal.http://www.flickr.com/photos/jcalnan/sets/72157617344297954/PS: I'm the one in the orange t-shirt. HO is in blue.

          1. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 02:07am | #12

            I see from photos that is was a pair of 45s rather than 90s. From tjhe way things were set up, I would not be surprised if the original builder put in the roof chimney install and then the residents did the stove later on. This because th roof flue was centered in space and under the skylight same framing bay. Maybe not, given glass locations. But that upsize piece shows lack of advance planning or a change of stove at some point in historyThat roof curb flashing nigh the skylight was quite an eye opener!I don't know if I'd want to be on a job with a bull's eye on the back of my T-shirt, now. I mean I trust people, but common now! If you had gotten soot on the drapes, his wife would have something easy to aim at as you ran away!;)From OP, I had the impression this was 30' tall IN the house, but looks like that was total with the Metalbestos exterior. How old di d you say this was? Before early/mid seventies, the mineral pack insulation that makes it so heavy might have been asbestos. Thickness of wall and the label if still legible will have hints as to that.
            Finally, I think i had that model stove myself once. My first with an ash drawer. Was a very good unit, tho I forget which brand now. 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          2. geoffhazel | Apr 27, 2009 02:44am | #13

            Regarding the total height, we had 3 6' sections of scaffolding, plus the wheels, and I was reaching overhead, so the ceiling was about 24 feet above the floor. Subtracting the stove, etc. I'd say we had 19-20 feet of pipe inside the house, and another 12 feet outside.I've done quite a bit of work for/with these folks and they're pretty easy going. There was hardly any soot anywhere, just two small piles less than the size of your palm on the top platform of the scaffold.The stove sold used on Craigslist for somewhere around $150 with all the pipe.Oh, and it was NEVER cleaned. They couldn't find anyone willing to do it, which was one of the reasons they quit using it.

            Edited 4/26/2009 7:46 pm ET by geoffhazel

          3. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 02:49am | #14

            THAT was one heck of a good price for either the strove OR the pipe! Somebody is thanking their lucky stars 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

        2. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 01:36am | #11

          That is all correct. 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

      4. joeh | Apr 26, 2009 06:35pm | #8

        I was thinking straight pipe, with a bend or two no reason to cut it.

        Tapers down, big end up.

        Joe H

      5. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 01:31am | #10

        They had it put together upside down at seams. Creosote or other condensate or rain should stay inside the pipe. Sometimes it can seem easier to put together that way if they are missing a fitting for top of bottom. Also the pair of 90° elbows is a giveaway that this was an amature installation. two 45s is far better, or even a pair of 15° if they had to sidestep a rafter. The nineties made the draft worse and caused even greater creosote buildup, though with such a tall stack, that may not have mattered. Height provides better draft up to a certain limit. But those two 90s also made cleaning harder for them. Since they did have a clean pipe but reported creosote dripping, I'd wager that they had it cleaned and then quit using it. 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

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