Here was my summer project for chimney redo (pic heavy)

[struggle]

We were having the roof torn down and sky lights replaced and I knew something was a miss with the chimney and we did not really know for sure until I started air hammering brick off. Chimney had precast stone installed without a water wicking system installed.

Water was penetrating the faux brick and going around the mortar areas and seeping behind allowing moisture to go behind the roof flashing. There was at present time no water damage to sheet etc but every spring it looked like someone spread gravel around the chimney from all the pieces of material popping off the chimney from the freeze thaw cycles it goes through over the past 25 years that it has been built.

A had a few contractors come over and look at it and all agreed there was no simple solution so I decided to knock off the precast stones and go from there. Siding became my choice as nova brick was very costly and it is my understanding it also readily absorbs a lot of water as well.

After the brick was off we wrapped the chimney in ice and water barrier but it still is set up so that the chimney will be able to breath still.

We think it looks much better than it did before. Also I decided to remove the outside access door to put wood into the area to the left of the upstairs fireplace (right side from the outside)as it was proving another place for water to in and we have not used it for years as it is much easier to grab wood off a trailer in the attached garage than to haul it around behind the house in the winter.

It took me three days to get the brick off and a couple to put the siding on.

 

[BrotherBart]

Heck of a good job. Looks great.

 

[Skier76]

Wow! Nice job! I bet you're glad you had that air chisel....vs. doing that with a hammer and hand chisel.

 

[gzecc]

How much did you charge yourself?

 

[struggle]

Wow! Nice job! I bet you're glad you had that air chisel....vs. doing that with a hammer and hand chisel.

I actually went and bought a Big Bosh drill/ hammer drill/ hammer and it did not work to well and the fastest thing to use was 3/4" wide chisel on the air hammer. I have to say Mac tools makes an incredible air hammer as it never gave up. It was built for auto use on ball joints and exhaust but works well for that. The bosh was just to much to work with as well being up on a ladder.

Using the air hammer was like firing a 9 mm all day long for 8 plus hours.

Thanks for the comments we are very happy with how it turned out.

 

[struggle]

How much did you charge yourself?

I shudder to think what it would have cost to hire this out to be done. The total cost for material was around $700. Doing it myself was priceless :lol:

 

[stejus]

Sweet! I wish I had that kind of DIY talent! Looks like a professional contractor did the work!

 

[dvellone]

I'll bet it feels good to look up and see that protected chimney knowing the dirty work is behind and what you would've paid if you'd hired it out. Piece of mind all-around - you know it's done right, and it's done! Nice work.

 

[daryl]

I thought there is a 1" clearence to combustibles for a outside chimney. It looks great though.

 

[struggle]

The liners are clay with block around them and centered in the structure. In no way does the walls of the chimney get even close to warm. The whole structure is cement block. The siding is on furring strips 3/4" thick. There probably good be some type of code concern but I can cannot see how it could ever catch fire.

If code dictated the need for that type of clearance how could one ever have the framing of the house itself get near any chimney?

 

[struggle]

It never fails the critics come in. If the house catches fire I will post it for you to gloat on. Chimneys have been covered in sheeting with wood framing for years and years like this without problems.

The distance from the outside of the block supporting the clay liners is substantially away from the inside wall of the block chimney. And the thickness of the block is not factored in plus the fact that is an exterior chimney which is a cool by temperature in design. With the wood stove or fireplace going in the winter there can often be snow on the chimney top and it does not melt away. Everywhere the furring strips run the bottom ends are open below and a screen mesh is in that space to allow for breathing if moisture was to get in there.

I am positive it will be alright. I understand the concerns for fire potential but it is not a concern in this set up. The wood stove in the basements liner is also lined in the clay liner with a 5.5" flex liner.

I could see a concern if this was just a clay liner with block around tight and nothing else but siding, although this is clearly not the case here.

 

[daryl]

I didn't mean to put your work down at all. I deal with inspectors all the time and that would be something they would catch.When my crew does a job it needs to be right the first time.But as a homeowner you can do as you like.

 

[struggle]

I am over reacting a little bit but over the couple of years I have been on this board people often get critical about some things that are not an issue. I understand the initial concern it just does not fit here as most know every install is different and code has to be over the top for safety.
Safety should not be taken lightly.

Part of my bone to pick is the other poster on this issue also made a comment about the picture post thread in a not so positive way that I started. Instead of saying nothing or something nice some people on this board will jump in to put negative spin on anything they can.

It is part of being on any forum though.

 

[Rudyjr]

I thought I was the only one who had ever used an air chisel to do masonry work, works great !! Nice job with everything especially lining up the siding with the house, looks like it has always been that way. To me that is the bigest plus on any remodeling project, make it look like was built that way originally. Nice work and workmanship. P.S. air chisels work great for removing brick for windows and doors too!!

 

[Slow1]

Very nice. As others pointed out, I'd never even know it was not original which is as good a compliment as it gets. I'm amazed you were able to find siding that matches so well - had you recently sided the rest of the house or are you just lucky?

 

[Ratman]

First off, nice job.
Second I think the crew here loved it too and as I read the thread I took it as concern rather than a critque.
Either way it looks top notch total pro job.

To be honest with you I was speed reading and sometimes (because I'm 1/2 French Canadian) I start at the bottom of the thread and read up; well I thought you were putting on the stone and the before pic was the sideing and I sez to myself; "Self I sez, I love that stone. I wish I had that cool stone look next to that cool stone bordered door to my man-cave." I'm not joshing ya, I love both looks but really like the stone and give you total respect for the pro sideing job, and who cares what I think anyhow, you love it and that's all that counts!
Congrats again.

 

[struggle]

The house was sided 10 years ago and now is discontinued but I found just enough at a local siding company had left over. Of course it became they were helping me out rather than me helping them by depleting there old stock that they could never otherwise sell.

It matched very well.

Thanks for the positive comments again. The main goal I had was to make it look like the house was built this way.

 

[jtp10181]

It does looks good, a lot better than original I think.

With what Daryl said, he is correct, a exterior masonry chimney structure is supposed to have 1" clearance to combustibles. You asked how would you attach it the building? Good question, I am not a mason so I do not know for sure. I would bet many masons do not even know. I think I remember seeing something about using those metal bands to attach framing with a 1" air gap (2" for interior chimneys). It is outlined in the NFPA 211 code book which most local codes follow fairly close possibly with their own modifications. As you said, they have been sheeting and putting studs right up to chimneys for many many years. Only a small number of houses ever catch fire from these issues. The consensus is that very few masonry chimney structures ever built would meet current codes (not sure how long the current code has been code, but its nothing brand new I know).

In fast just earlier this year a new house was built and we were requested to dump a wood stove into the masonry flue. I saw some pictures from the sales rep... is that plywood attached right to the bricks I asked? Sure looked like it, builder confirmed it was, all the way up two stories the chimney was resting right against the house sheeting. "This mason has been building chimneys for XX years, he always does it this way, never had a problem, inspector already passed it.... blah blah". I faxed him over excerpts from the state building code as well as NFPA 211 showing this was not correct. Stated the only way we could put in a wood stove was with a fully insulated 6" liner dropped down his brand new never used flue. Needless to say, we did not get the job. I suspect he bought his own stove and hooked it up himself.

Not trying to bash you or your efforts. Just sharing some knowledge and a little story.

 

[branchburner]

The main goal I had was to make it look like the house was built this way.

You succeeded perfectly in my eyes, because that was the first thought I had in looking at the final photo. Truly fine!

 

[Yagminas Masonry and Wood-heat]

It does looks good, a lot better than original I think.

With what Daryl said, he is correct, a exterior masonry chimney structure is supposed to have 1" clearance to combustibles. You asked how would you attach it the building? Good question, I am not a mason so I do not know for sure. I would bet many masons do not even know. I think I remember seeing something about using those metal bands to attach framing with a 1" air gap (2" for interior chimneys). It is outlined in the NFPA 211 code book which most local codes follow fairly close possibly with their own modifications. As you said, they have been sheeting and putting studs right up to chimneys for many many years. Only a small number of houses ever catch fire from these issues. The consensus is that very few masonry chimney structures ever built would meet current codes (not sure how long the current code has been code, but its nothing brand new I know).

In fast just earlier this year a new house was built and we were requested to dump a wood stove into the masonry flue. I saw some pictures from the sales rep... is that plywood attached right to the bricks I asked? Sure looked like it, builder confirmed it was, all the way up two stories the chimney was resting right against the house sheeting. "This mason has been building chimneys for XX years, he always does it this way, never had a problem, inspector already passed it.... blah blah". I faxed him over excerpts from the state building code as well as NFPA 211 showing this was not correct. Stated the only way we could put in a wood stove was with a fully insulated 6" liner dropped down his brand new never used flue. Needless to say, we did not get the job. I suspect he bought his own stove and hooked it up himself.

Not trying to bash you or your efforts. Just sharing some knowledge and a little story.

You can frame to a masonry chimney provided that there is 12" of solid masonry between the flue and the framing.-Ontario Code. But yeah, rarely do I see a masonry chimney built 100% to code. Unless I build it.

 

[struggle]

What strikes me odd about that code is it is my understanding that single wall pipe inside the house does not need a heat shield if at least 18" from a combustible wall but a concrete built chimney that exceeds that distance needs a 1" airspace between the outside of the structure and its facing of choice.

Maybe the inside pipe spacing has changed now too. It seems to me that 18" from a single wall pipe would pose a much greater risk of fire than the chimney itself would ever pose. As the pipe coming out of the stove is much hotter there than it would be any other place and is inside the interior space of the home.

 

[Yagminas Masonry and Wood-heat]

What strikes me odd about that code is it is my understanding that single wall pipe inside the house does not need a heat shield if at least 18" from a combustible wall but a concrete built chimney that exceeds that distance needs a 1" airspace between the outside of the structure and its facing of choice.

Maybe the inside pipe spacing has changed now too. It seems to me that 18" from a single wall pipe would pose a much greater risk of fire than the chimney itself would ever pose. As the pipe coming out of the stove is much hotter there than it would be any other place and is inside the interior space of the home.

Think about it this way -an average chimney has a clay flue, one inch of space around that flue(sometimes) then 3-1/2" brick. In the event of a chimney fire, the clay flues usually don't survive. Leaves you with 3-1/2" of shell which will get damned hot! And if the chimney has existing damage or missing mortar joints, you can see that a masonry chimney is not the safest structure for wood-burning.

If it was up to me, I would not permit clay tiles at all and instead use a liner which gives true zero clearance.

 

[jtp10181]

Also... lets say someone has a prolonged power outage during an ice storm (happened not too long ago). They are sticking out in their house. The are burning their wood stove/furnace/whatever for days on end as hot as they can get it. That chimney is going to be damned hot. Now... what if they have not cleaned their chimney in years and their wood is total crap. So... they have a chimney fire. It was already super hot, now there is a blazing chimney fire.

 

[struggle]

I completely agree on going with a stainless rigid liner system. We are second owners to this house and if I were to build a home it would be that way.