Hey all.

[begreen]

It looks like the Dawson Bros., Chicago, made a lot of artistic inserts around the turn on the 19th-20th century. They were excellent craftsmen.

This site has several examples of their work. Your's stands right up there with the very best.
(broken link removed to http://www.urbanremainschicago.com/default.aspx?pageID=40)

Here's an ad placed in the Chicago Architectural Handbook of 1908.

 

[bwellmy]

Your best bet may be to have a poured chimney liner put in the safest bet may be to keep it a non working firplace the mantel looks to be rather close but is hard to tell from the pics i would say the whole chimney and fireplace needs alot of work and to try and connect a oval ss liner to that unit does not look like it will work well with the damper doors fliping to the back.

What he said.

I was thinking about this overnight and came to the same conclusion. Bring in some poured chimney liner companies to take a look and give an appraisal.

Does anyone know what an average cost estimate would be for a poured lining? I assume the one you are refferring to would be the one where they drop the inflatable down and pour around it?

 

[Danno77]

See, Bwellmy, I told you the people here would help you out! I hope you get this thing going. Now that I see the back of that inert I'm with the crowd that hooking that up to a liner would be a PITA. I'm not sure what your budget is on a poured liner, but with that chimney and all it's turns and shape changes I think you are looking at a very large sum.

I'll make this suggestion. Call THIS insert in THIS chimney a lost cause. Place one of those cute little stoves I told you about right in that spot with an insulated liner. and then intentionally BUILD a faux hearth and place for that insert and keep the fake fire (does it actually heat too?), someplace like the bedroom would be super neat, I imagine.

 

[madrone]

I'm sure I'll catch hell for this, but what about a gas log?

 

[stoveguy13]

Your best bet may be to have a poured chimney liner put in the safest bet may be to keep it a non working firplace the mantel looks to be rather close but is hard to tell from the pics i would say the whole chimney and fireplace needs alot of work and to try and connect a oval ss liner to that unit does not look like it will work well with the damper doors fliping to the back.

What he said.

I was thinking about this overnight and came to the same conclusion. Bring in some poured chimney liner companies to take a look and give an appraisal.

Does anyone know what an average cost estimate would be for a poured lining? I assume the one you are refferring to would be the one where they drop the inflatable down and pour around it?

prices can vary so much from state to state it is not a cheap way of going my guess would be in 3000 range but just a guess. and yes that is what i am refering to.

 

[joann5]

..

 

[drdoct]

I'm not sure if you even have enough clearance for an oval liner. 4.5 X 10.5 (8") is probably what is needed. In your picture of the chimney you show a width of 4-5". I would think it would be tough to get the oval through that opening even if it was a straight shot. When you throw in everything else it seems somewhat impossible. I throw something else out. To me, it would be a travesty to start cutting and fitting boots and things to this stove. I realize that it was made to burn, but I would venture to guess you could buy more than a couple of new stoves for what you could sell this piece of history for. If it were me, I'd make a blockoff plate complete with just regular insulation stuffed in the chimney and block it off completely. Use the stove for it's beauty and never burn a thing in it. If you really want to burn with wood, then I would research and build a hearth somewhere else that was easier to get a chimney out of and buy a new efficient stove. It would probably put out much more heat than the other one anyway.

 

[bwellmy]

I'm thinking it might be a lost cause. Even if the money were reasonable, would a poured liner going through that small of space give you enough volume to draw good?


Other thing is..........are you saying that coal would be able to be burned with the existing chimney? I REALLY want wood, but I think any kind of fire burning on a snowy day would be nice....

 

[fabguy01]

is the rear of that insert on an exterior wall? if so you could have a boot made for the back of the insert at any good sheet metal shop then you could put a hole through the back of the chimney space and run some triple wall to a new exterior stove pipe or whole new chimney. Nate

 

[begreen]

I like the idea of preserving it's antiquity and keeping it electric. Then you can put in a proper stove with a proper flue and be happy.