Installing a used Jotul 550 this weekend (hopefully)

With proper draft and liner installation, there will be no smoke leakage. I don't think there is any cement on my connection.
Use screws. Screws allow for disassembly, rivets have to be drilled out. Rivets can also pull out if not installed with a back up washer.

You didn't mention having or planning to fabricate a block off plate as part of your installation. Now is the time to put on in since it has to be done before the stove is placed inside the fireplace opening. Most everyone here at the forum will tell you this is a critical feature with the installation of inserts in most instances. There are numerous posts detailing how to make and install a block off plate. Good luck with your installation.

When you install a block off plate one of the tricky parts is figuring out exactly where you need to make the hole for the liner to drop down through it. Ideally, you would have your insert slid into its final placement and then take some careful measurements to figure out where to cut your hole for the liner so that it hooks up properly to your insert. However, inserts tend to be heavy and people aren't always keen on moving one in and out of the fireplace opening to do this calculating. What I did when I made my block off plate to deal with this situation was to cut an 8" square hole for my 6" round liner. This gave me some wiggle room to align my liner with the T-connector I used to hook up to my stove flue collar (I installed a free standing stove in front of my fireplace as opposed to an insert). I then used a standard 13"square chimney cap plate with the 6" round hole in its center to close off the rest of the opening around the flue liner. Once I had the liner where it needed to be I slid the cap over the end of the ss flex liner hanging down inside my fireplace and pushed it up tight to the block off plate and then secured it with four sheet metal screws through the holes in the corners of the cap plate. This gave a nice tight fit around the liner and a good seal to the block off plate. The 8" square hole in the block off plate also made it easy for me to push up some bats of insulation on top of the block off plate.

You can put a block off plate in after the insert is installed, that's how I did mine but its a little harder and you have to make two pieces. Take your time and try and do it right, if you run into some snags just post here someone will be able to help you through it, it's not that hard but snags do pop up.

newcomtd said:

Thanks for the tips guys. I'll keep them in mind as I do my install. One more question, should the liner's insulation wrap come all the way down to the appliance adapter, or can I remove any that ends up below the block off plate?

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To the block off plate is fine.

newcomtd said:

Just hit my first snag. My reciprocating saw cannot cut the cast iron damper. I'm going to home depot right now to get a carbide grit blade.

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An angle grinder works well too. Did you get it installed?

I think it's better to work up the bottom connection before you finish off your top connection so you have some extra liner to work with in case your fit down below comes out a bit short. Once you have the bottom connected you can go back on the roof and then cut off any excess liner without worrying about coming up short. Since you said you couldn't finish the bottom due to the liner not fitting your adapter you could still go up on the roof and shove some of the excess liner you have hanging down inside your fireplace back up the chimney (pull it up from the top) and temporarily lock it in place with the band clamp on the cap connector. Then when you get the parts you need for finishing the connection to your insert you can fine tune your liner and then cut off the excess on the roof and finish the top connection. When I did my liner I found that by connecting the ss flex liner at the bottom I was able to pull a bit of slack out from the top as I tightened the top clamp and that straightened out the flex liner so that it wasn't touching the sides of my chimney clay tile flue.