# Good idea or bad idea:Cutting hole in ceiling and floor upstairs



## lightyear (Nov 15, 2013)

I'm thinking about cutting a hole in the ceiling and also in the bedroom above on the floor. Is this a bad idea or a good idea?

I know it would be great to have the air flow from downstairs to upstairs but is this a fire hazard?


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## bmblank (Nov 15, 2013)

It will act as a chimney if there ever is a fire. I believe it is against most every building code. That being said, I've seen it done many times.


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## reallyte (Nov 15, 2013)

Check code officer. If u have to use fire damper and alarms.


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## Dgopetactical (Nov 15, 2013)

I installed a register in my fire room ceiling 12"x6 with and electric fan register in upstairs hallway the 2 registers are connected with a 6" duct pipe, there is a big difference with and without.

It's not a fire hazard but the vent can be a conduit to spread fire ( smoke) to that room a little quicker if a fire starts on your first floor.
My home is ballon construction from the 40's if fire gets in my walls I have more to worry about then a vent in my hallway.


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## BoerBoelAmari (Nov 15, 2013)

Ah, balloon frame. Send a hoseline to the basement and another to the attic.


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## Charles1981 (Nov 15, 2013)

I bought a house where the previous owner did this by just cutting registry holes in the subfloor and placing vents in. It is a fire-hazard that way it is and I am supposed to eventually fix it. That being said the previous owner didn't do anything to code. And I haven't screwed around with it either yet...

The vents are cut through the plywood floor right above the stove in the basement. The hear pours up through the vents however and you can feel the breeze of the hot air column. We also have a circular stair case about 6 feet from the stove blowing downward into the basement. Turn this ceiling fan off above the staircase and the draft through the vents in the floor stop and the upstairs does not heat well at all.

Without ceiling fan upstairs struggles to get to 69-70. With ceiling fan on and strong draft through floor vents the upstairs easily reaches 76 degrees.

Can't say you should do it by just cutting registers into the floor. And its on my to do list to do to code, but for right now it does make a huge difference but you need proper airflow.

I don't think without the properly placed ceiling fan over the staircase the register would be worth while.


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## Stevekng (Nov 15, 2013)

lightyear said:


> I'm thinking about cutting a hole in the ceiling and also in the bedroom above on the floor. Is this a bad idea or a good idea?
> 
> I know it would be great to have the air flow from downstairs to upstairs but is this a fire hazard?


 
The houses built many years ago had floor registers, some round, some rectangular. We have two in our 1850 farmhouse. I think they are probably  not good for being fire retardant but in a house as old as mine, the risk is equal with all the other construction issues in a house this old. You could put a small pellet stove in your upstairs. I think, with a thermostat, it wouldn't burn that many pellets. It would be a pricey way for you to have peace of mind and no code issues. You could also put a small Rinnai gas wall unit upstairs. It would cost less than a pellet stove and be fairly economic ,especially with natural gas rather than bottled gas. You also wouldn't have to carry pellets up the stairs.


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## Tim_M (Nov 16, 2013)

My house was originally built to heat mainly with a large woodstove located in the basement, so it has several large registers placed in the floors on the first and second stories. A few years ago I replaced that basement woodstove with my old Harman. Since this stove blows heated air from 2 vents at the top front, on one side of it I have connected one end of an 8' length of 4" flexible steel duct. The other end goes to a register in the ceiling above the stove, so that the warm air is directed to the living room above. Similarly, the vent on the opposite side of the stove has a steel duct that directs air to a register located low on the near wall, where it blows into a basement bedroom. For that one I can regulate the amount of heat I want in the bedroom by sliding the duct sideways a few inches. It all looks a bit weird (hey it's in the basement) but it's fairly effective at getting the heat from the stove to where we want it.


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## My Oslo heats my home (Nov 16, 2013)

As some have said, I also have a couple of gravity fed ducts in the my second floor from the first. Totally a no no in today's building and firecode as is. I installed a fire damper in both of mine and have hardwired smokes. Inspector passed and have letter for Ins co.


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## Easternshore Bob (Nov 16, 2013)

When I was a kid I used to sleep ontop of the floor register. No heat up stairs.


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## Harman Lover 007 (Nov 16, 2013)

Dgopetactical said:


> I installed a register in my fire room ceiling 12"x6 with and electric fan register in upstairs hallway the 2 registers are connected with a 6" duct pipe, there is a big difference with and without.
> 
> It's not a fire hazard but the vent can be a conduit to spread fire ( smoke) to that room a little quicker if a fire starts on your first floor.
> My home is ballon construction from the 40's if fire gets in my walls I have more to worry about then a vent in my hallway.


I have one in my kitchen ceiling to upstairs hallway. It really works well. Although I have completely renovated this house built in 1871, the balloon frame construction makes this power register the least of my worries.....


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## moey (Nov 16, 2013)

I never did it not because of my concern of fire or code but sound traveling between floors was what stopped me.


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## MCPO (Nov 17, 2013)

I cut two floor registers  (one for heat , and one cold air return ) in nearly 30 yrs ago and they are staying .That is unless I`m somehow forced to do otherwise.
My P-38 is in the finished basement and I`m heating more than  2400sq ft with it, with minimal help from the oil furnace .
I think it`s still the best way to get the heat up into the house where it`s needed most regardless of the code violation. It`s your house to do with as you please , as long as the insurance co. doesn`t mind.


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## simple.serf (Nov 17, 2013)

The previous owner of my house did this. It isn’t OK by today's fire codes, but it does work.


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## DBCOOPER (Nov 17, 2013)

Does anyone have a reference of where in the fire code this is addressed?


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## moey (Nov 17, 2013)

DBCOOPER said:


> Does anyone have a reference of where in the fire code this is addressed?



I suspect its mostly a local ordinance, although I could be wrong. I spoke with our fire chief about it said there was nothing wrong with it. I mentioned putting a fire damper in and he thought that was a great idea and wanted to see it if I did. I do live in a podunk town though.


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## DBCOOPER (Nov 17, 2013)

The only place that I have seen anything close is in the mechanical code where you are using a crawl space as a pressurized plenum with a furnace. Beginning to believe its one of those urban myths that get repeated enough times that it must be true....


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## MCPO (Nov 17, 2013)

You might be surprised to find it`s in the state building code .(Ma)


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## DBCOOPER (Nov 17, 2013)

MCPO said:


> You might be surprised to find it`s in the state building code .(Ma)


 

I'd be suprised if somebody could provide an exact reference. Ma state building code is just an adoption of the 2009 international building codes. Here's a link to the fire code. http://publicecodes.cyberregs.com/icod/ifc/2012/ Can't seem to find it. Could you help me out?


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## Seasoned Oak (Nov 17, 2013)

Doesnt make much sense to me as the first thing the fire fighters do when they arrive at a fire is smash all the windows and doors then chop holes in the roof for  "ventilation " i assume to cut smoke so they can see and identify the fire source. You would think a few vents INSIDE the structure would not cause a problem. IF that were the case whole house ventilation ducts(very common) would be illegal.


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## pell it (Nov 17, 2013)

Our raised ranch has a wide open staircase from the lower level to the upper. It must be a huge fire hazard!!


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## DOLLARBILL (Nov 17, 2013)

Back in the day growning up all upstairs rooms had a register for heat rising ! my staircase allows plenty of heat to reach my upstairs bedrooms if it didnt Id be cutting holes NP


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## My Oslo heats my home (Nov 20, 2013)

It's more along the lines of fire prevention than it actually being on fire.


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## chriscarl (Nov 20, 2013)

I have a supply and return from my CAC right above my stove (in a raised ranch) and it still does not move that much heat when I turn on the air handler in the attic. That is why I went ahead and got the Cumberland 3800 for upstairs. I just got my permit and vent kit today, so I plan to start the install by Sunday. Should be done in time for Turkey Day. Even though it got up to about 68 upstairs on the main floor, the bedrooms would still be fairly chilly. I think that issue should be gone by next week.


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## Snowy Rivers (Nov 21, 2013)

The house has a stair well, and this is gonna cause far more draft than a small vent hole.

A vent will let the heat come up, and as mentioned, a little fan will help.

Snowy


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## Runi Brantas (Nov 21, 2013)

lightyear said:


> I'm thinking about cutting a hole in the ceiling and also in the bedroom above on the floor. Is this a bad idea or a good idea?
> 
> I know it would be great to have the air flow from downstairs to upstairs but is this a fire hazard?


They're called registers. I have two right above the stove. Home Depot carries a thermostat controlled fan that sits on top of the register. WORKS GREAT!!


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## BrotherBart (Nov 21, 2013)

If you don't care about chimney effect spreading smoke and fire faster, and I am tired of arguing it every year here and won't this year, just be sure everybody upstairs likes listening to the same TV shows and listening to each others conversations, music, farting, talking on the phone etc.


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## lightyear (Nov 21, 2013)

BrotherBart said:


> If you don't care about chimney effect spreading smoke and fire faster, and I am tired of arguing it every year here and won't this year, just be sure everybody upstairs likes listening to the same TV shows and listening to each others conversations, music, farting, talking on the phone etc.


 
Well, right now it is just the 2 of us, so no worries there. I also would probably put some insulation between the 2 cut out sections to lessen the noise (in warmer months) if I did cut the sections.


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