While house sitting for an eccentric relative, I noticed that he was stacking his kindling right next to the stove on one side. On the other side of his stove he stacked logs to dry. His wood stove is set into the fireplace and the space between the stove sides and the fireplace walls make a highly dangerous storage spot. That he hasn't yet burned his house down is apparently due to the fact that his wood stove barely gets warm. While cleaning the ashes, I noticed what appears to be an air inlet on the stove floor below the door. It was clogged with hardened ash. I had to drill it out. Not sure if the air inlet at the back of the stove is open. The door takes a window, which he refused to replace because it cost too much. I bought one and installed it.
Here's the question: although I can warn him of the danger of putting his wood in these spots, he will do what he damn well pleases. If I block off these areas, he will rip out what I've done and go back to his old ways. My thought is to install a vertical cement board on each side of the stove. The boards would be about 6 inches away from the stove sides. They would prevent direct contact between the wood and the stove sides. He could stack kindling and logs between the cement board "walls" and the fireplace walls. I'm afraid that if I get his stove to operate in a normal fashion, the cement board temperature might ignite the wood anyway.
As an indication of his grasp of reality, he had paper and cardboard swept under the stove, because it was easier than cleaning it up.
Suggestions?
Here's the question: although I can warn him of the danger of putting his wood in these spots, he will do what he damn well pleases. If I block off these areas, he will rip out what I've done and go back to his old ways. My thought is to install a vertical cement board on each side of the stove. The boards would be about 6 inches away from the stove sides. They would prevent direct contact between the wood and the stove sides. He could stack kindling and logs between the cement board "walls" and the fireplace walls. I'm afraid that if I get his stove to operate in a normal fashion, the cement board temperature might ignite the wood anyway.
As an indication of his grasp of reality, he had paper and cardboard swept under the stove, because it was easier than cleaning it up.
Suggestions?