Question about old factory built fireplace and new wood insert.....

You or he is welcome to their oppinions I gave mine. I am limited to looking at a few small pictures The information concerning
"The charring is often referred to as pyrophoric carbon," Is factual and documented. Not something I made up. This condition is explained and actual investigations have proved this information or the contributing factor to a fire or fires have been enhanced by this process
This is not a new find but this knowledge has existed for 100 years. Are all the investigators and scientist full of beans? What Phd does this guy posess? What is his credentials? Is he an MIT grad? Has this expert actually seen your setup? What does your local inspector say? Remember this is my oppinion based of limited view of pictures you supplied. Not from an actual inspection. I can be wrong. So Iam full of sh** for alering you of potential dangers or I might have said what you or he did not want to hear. I did this as a service to you. I did it in a professional manner. I did not call anybody names or extend inuendo to that extent. You e-mailed me for my oppinion that's what I gave. In this world it is ok to have different oppinions, personal attacks have nothing to do with the oppinion. That guy you claim is a Pro, Nothing professional about his response. Sure makes me want to side with his oppinions. Makes me wonder what course he took at MIT, to express himself so eleoquently?

Incompetent Statement? Dude, you need to chill out. You asked for help, he gave it as best he could, without asking for pay. Ok, Elk was a bit defensive in his last post, but ASH and CHAR indicate smoke is coming out somewhere. Ok? Otherwise known as "leaking exhaust".

If you're sorry you solicited help, vote with your time. Leave the forum. Remove your inflammatory remarks from this space.

But when more than the air between us is blistering, remember this place, and the advice it gave you.

Good day, sir.

To Elk... Wow, it's amazing how you provided a good deal of science facts and from a few pictures. That guy isn't likely to take your advise that you offered free of charge, based on years of experience, and in a completely professional manner. Well, my advise to you is that it's time to ignore this jabony and move on.


To the originator of this thread...Elk provided you free advise. Choose not to take it, thank him for his opinion and his free time. He does this for a living, and he does not have to help you, but you asked. If you didn't want to hear the answer, then don't ask the question.

My reply was directed to the poster who originated the threat Sknooper. My observation Were of the pictures he supplied.
Ekwiatek you did not supply the pictures and no my reply was not addressed to you. Unless ekwiatek and sknooper are in fact the same person using two different identities, Flip flopping posting in the same thread. God knows the reason why?

I reviewed the pictures numerous times, Not to prove I was right but to see if I was wrong. I stand by my original opinion. This prefab fireplace looks unsuitable unsafe for use or for an insert installation. Please review it and your own pictures. What’s with the HVAC duct tape sealing leaks? Did you know that the adhesive melts at temps over 175 degrees? Absolutely useless. This reinforces my first conclusions that the fireplace is leaking exhaust gasses. Why would someone try to patch it with aluminum foil tape? And from the pictures, the tape is in more than one location. I know I would want a little more safety and protection, than aluminum foil protecting my life, family, and home

sknooper said:

Hey guys chill out... I am just passing along what a guy with 22 years experience said about your post...... Given that he (and his crew) crawled inside and looked over every square inch with a halogen, and given that he has a well known and established company name to protect --
One thing I really would be interested in is all of your true credentials.....seems to me that this web site is running a horrible legal gamble by letting fireplace wanna-bees give advice...
K.

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Advice of the type you asked for - inspection from afar - is a very difficult, if not impossible thing. Elk is a building official who goes out and inspects these things every day and I have installed thousands of stoves personally.

The reason you saw no opinion from me was that I saw the pictures and realized I could not make any valid judgement - so the old maxim "better to remain silent" came into play.

Zero clearance fireplaces are generally cheap piece of "you know what". However, if the basic integrity of the box and chimney has held up- AND, you are installing a new double wall insert and full liner in it, it would seem in most cases that you are making the fireplace much safer.

The folks here are only trying to help...but I understand your point. We should not pass judgement so quickly on things we cannot see or inspect. Better to just say "Hey, you have to get a pro to look at that", than say "looks bad, I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole".

Being an open forum, I pretty much let folks do what they do, unless they get mean or nasty. However, I do not want to fourm to degrade into a "one trick poney" on which the answer is usually no. We need real experiences from real people. This is not an "experts" forum, it is a public forum. Some of the posters consider themselves schooled in certain parts of the whole picture, which may be true.

You have to take the advice given here in the spirit in which it is presented....and hopefully that is with a reasonable explanation of the opinion given.

sknooper said:

How is my mind "made up"??....
Not only that but the insert maker (Quadrafire) certifies a safe clearance to combustibles of 2 inches.... I have 4 or more inches... AND this very unit I have is certified for use in mobile homes!

I noticed how none of you posted your certifications and experience....very telling..... I bet some of you are masonary guys afraid of going the path of the blacksmith after the model T game out.......

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Dear Friend,

You came into the forum and asked some questions, although I don't know why if you had three inspections. People answered you based on what they could see from some fuzzy pictures. They took their time to help you with no benefit to themselves.

Now you come here and try to belittle the combined experience of the regulars here, very few (if any) of whom are masons.

Please try to be nice when people help you.

I've been sweeping installing and servicing hearth products for six years. I have my wood and gas NFI certifications. Am going to have pellet as soon as they let me take the test. I have completed several factory training and Hearth Education Foundation courses. To be honest none of those certifications mean anything without experience. I gave you my advice based on the pictures you provided. The only advice I provided was strictly about the smoke guard. If you've had a professional chimney sweep come in and inspect from top to bottom then I wouldn't worry about it.

Don't let the door hit you in the arse on the way out...

That's America. Any idiot can get up on his soapbox, it's up to the rest of us idiots to decide which idiot (if any) to listen to. I guess it's American too to sue any idiot stupid enough to get on that soap box. Well then sue me.

Wasn't the advice given on this website being too safe?? UHHH since when do people get sued for being too safe?? These guys sometimes annoy me at how safety oriented they are. So who cares if they gave you too safe for you advice? Go crawl back under the rock you came from you low life