Hello all! First time home owner, poster, and I'm anxious to be using my fireplace/wood burning stove - but I'm either too anal when it comes to the home, or my gut is right on the money.
When the home inspector walked through, before we bough the house, he noticed the insert was wobbly, and said "Hey, have a chimney sweep check this whole system out." The sellers did, and, the chimney sweep said "Everything is fine. Level 1 inspection conducted, no creosote buildup, etc..." Well........
When we move into the house, I smelled the fireplace.....on windy days...with the stove's doors closed (new gasket too). The air was coming from around the insert. Of course, this was during the summer, so I didn't pay it any mind. Makeshift solution: stuff paper towels in between the insert and the brick to stop airflow. It worked very well.
So, now Autumn is upon Virginia, and I'd like to get the stove going....but my gut is telling my something's not kosher. So, I started searching the internet on resources, and how things are supposed to be installed, etc. I wanted to see if their was a pipe coming from the stove to the chimney...or if it was just shoved into the fireplace (which I understand to be a big no-no). Well, the only damper is the one in the stove, and there's no pipe attached to the stove, and as far as I can tell, no lining in the chimney either.
So the sellers - who told me they LOVED their wood burning stove, had it just sitting in the fireplace without a block-off and/or a reline. I thought code required at least a partial, up to the first smoke block or something like that (not familiar with lingo yet...sorry)
So, I'm looking for advice, help, resources, etc...because I really don't trust the company who did the initial inspection, and well, if/when I call someone else...I want to be prepared so I know how the job is supposed to be done. OR, if it's a possible DIY project, I'm all for that.
Thanks in advance
When the home inspector walked through, before we bough the house, he noticed the insert was wobbly, and said "Hey, have a chimney sweep check this whole system out." The sellers did, and, the chimney sweep said "Everything is fine. Level 1 inspection conducted, no creosote buildup, etc..." Well........
When we move into the house, I smelled the fireplace.....on windy days...with the stove's doors closed (new gasket too). The air was coming from around the insert. Of course, this was during the summer, so I didn't pay it any mind. Makeshift solution: stuff paper towels in between the insert and the brick to stop airflow. It worked very well.
So, now Autumn is upon Virginia, and I'd like to get the stove going....but my gut is telling my something's not kosher. So, I started searching the internet on resources, and how things are supposed to be installed, etc. I wanted to see if their was a pipe coming from the stove to the chimney...or if it was just shoved into the fireplace (which I understand to be a big no-no). Well, the only damper is the one in the stove, and there's no pipe attached to the stove, and as far as I can tell, no lining in the chimney either.
So the sellers - who told me they LOVED their wood burning stove, had it just sitting in the fireplace without a block-off and/or a reline. I thought code required at least a partial, up to the first smoke block or something like that (not familiar with lingo yet...sorry)
So, I'm looking for advice, help, resources, etc...because I really don't trust the company who did the initial inspection, and well, if/when I call someone else...I want to be prepared so I know how the job is supposed to be done. OR, if it's a possible DIY project, I'm all for that.
Thanks in advance