Darn neighbors

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surfflyfish4stripers

surfflyfish4stripers

New Member
Dec 22, 2010
38
Hartford, Connecticut
i'm so pixxed, today inspector knocked on my door to inspect my woodstove installation because one of my haters neighbor complaint about the smell of wood burning.gotta be kidding me.i didn't have the papers on hand and he told me don't light the stove until he see the owners manual which i didn't have on hand.he'll come by monday.
i know everything is good i just need the rear heat shield for my heritage.i replaced it with a piece of sheet metal and spacers but he didn't want that,he wants the one the brand says.is ok with me,i'm ordering it tomorrow,and now i'll burn wood all the way til spring.theres a lot going on around us for these slackers to be walking around trying to give hard time to those who are trying to save the buck.
Dave
 
Yes, that's too bad. What is really crazy is that with the newer, efficient stoves and good fuel, what's to smell? There is usually nothing visible from my burns and I can only faintly smell the smoke when I'm outside. Shoulder season might be a little different, but all in all, not much to complain about. Burn on! Cheers!
 
surfflyfish4stripers said:
i'm so pixxed, today inspector knocked on my door to inspect my woodstove installation because one of my haters neighbor complaint about the smell of wood burning.gotta be kidding me.i didn't have the papers on hand and he told me don't light the stove until he see the owners manual which i didn't have on hand.he'll come by monday.
i know everything is good i just need the rear heat shield for my heritage.i replaced it with a piece of sheet metal and spacers but he didn't want that,he wants the one the brand says.is ok with me,i'm ordering it tomorrow,and now i'll burn wood all the way til spring.theres a lot going on around us for these slackers to be walking around trying to give hard time to those who are trying to save the buck.
Dave
Click to expand...

Good 'ol overbearing government. Just be thankful you only live on the East coast where they're only "pretty bad". Imagine what folks in Commiefornia have to live with as far as regulations on stuff like this.
 
Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that with that particular stove, there would even be smoke to smell. I have the heritage and you would never know it's on even if you were standing outside next to the chimney. Maybe in the initial startup period, but after it's up to temp, no way. Most communities have a 15 minute or so grace period before a neighbor can complain to account for startup time. Those laws are supposed to protect people who's neighbors stink up the air all day burning green wood. Hopefully once you show the guy how clean that stove burns, he'll realize your neighbors are over-reacting.
 
If its smoking or "smelly"?? Whats your wood situation?

How long has your wood seasoned? What type of wood? Whats you Chimney set-up? (Masonry, Class A, Internal/External?)

Also, they may have called and helped you out... Have you notified your Ins Co.? They should also know.. Having the inspectors approval will go a long way with the Ins Co. IMHO...

Sounds like you have a heck of a heater.. But dont know about the Smoke/Smell thing. Hope its just a cold start or re-load situation...
 
Why not tell inspector that you don't have a wood stove and get off your property! Just burn responsibly so there is no smoke! My fear is what else is the inspector going to find that he can give you a ticket or tax! These people have balls thinking that he can come in your home and snoop around! Gov. Is looking to raise funds so they can spend it more wisely then you!
 
I have the 2008 hearthstone heritage and i bought it basically new.here in my town the houses are kind of on top of each other.we just waiting another upswing in the market to sell it and taking my stove with me.i love it. i cut and split by hand 6 cords last year,you guys knows the amount of work this is and then to have some miserable basturd whining about me.but like the inspector said:eek:nce you put the heat shield they can't say anything,what if you had a fireplace?they can't do nothing.and he is a wood burner guy,so he knows.
Dave
 
Even with an EPA stove you will have smoke at start up and reloads no matter what the wood is like. If the neighbor is smelling/seeing that there isn't much you're going to do. The fun will start when the inspector allows you to burn, the neighbor will probably be complaining all the time.

Moral of the story for people waiting to install a new stove would be to pull the proper permits and have the stove inspected to start with to avoid these types of issues.
 
Relax, it's jealously.
Just smile & say "Hi" when you see them.
Causally drop the line "It sure is nice to have a low heat bill with the new EPA wood stoves."
 
well i had a great proffessional installer but after he was done he told me to get it inspected but i completely forgot.
its my bad in one end but yes,once the inspector give me the ok,its all good.
Question;
Can i put stone veneer on the wall instead the heat shield?or i have to have the shield regardles?i know it requires 1.1/2 inch thick stone but i just wonder if i still need the shield.i rather buy the stones.
 
surfflyfish4stripers said:
I have the 2008 hearthstone heritage and i bought it basically new.here in my town the houses are kind of on top of each other.we just waiting another upswing in the market to sell it and taking my stove with me.i love it. i cut and split by hand 6 cords last year,you guys knows the amount of work this is and then to have some miserable basturd whining about me.but like the inspector said:eek:nce you put the heat shield they can't say anything,what if you had a fireplace?they can't do nothing.and he is a wood burner guy,so he knows.
Dave
Click to expand...


You do know you can download the manual online at any time. Should have given him a cup of coffee and got the printer going. Would have taken 5 minutes.
 
surfflyfish4stripers said:
well i had a great proffessional installer but after he was done he told me to get it inspected but i completely forgot.
its my bad in one end but yes,once the inspector give me the ok,its all good.
Question;
Can i put stone veneer on the wall instead the heat shield?or i have to have the shield regardles?i know it requires 1.1/2 inch thick stone but i just wonder if i still need the shield.i rather buy the stones.
Click to expand...


The heat shield reduces rear clearances to 7". The heat shield blends well into the stove an is barely noticeable. Seems easier and safer than the fake stone, which I think, would still be listed as a combustible wall.

Even if it isn't, the heat shield seems like the easier and cheaper solution.
 
shoulda just said "Man they just noticing I have a stove I have had it since the house was built." But I do like the way mhrischuk thinks. LOL
Have a buddy come over with his race car and crank it a few times!
 
And it's threads like these that make me thankful that a) my neighbors are spaced apart by at least 2 acres and b) three of my neighbors are wood burners.
 
+1. All my neighbors are woodburners. I even have some smoke dragons around that I gently try to educate.
 
allhandsworking said:
Why not tell inspector that you don't have a wood stove and get off your property! Just burn responsibly so there is no smoke! My fear is what else is the inspector going to find that he can give you a ticket or tax! These people have balls thinking that he can come in your home and snoop around! Gov. Is looking to raise funds so they can spend it more wisely then you!
Click to expand...

Not to put a wrench in the works here but word of mouth travels fast when it comes to official business items like this. If he was to step on the inspectors toes like that he would have more than just the neighbors pissed at him. Better to be cooperative than to make trouble, IMHO.
 
surfflyfish4stripers said:
i'm so pixxed, today inspector knocked on my door to inspect my woodstove installation because one of my haters neighbor complaint about the smell of wood burning.gotta be kidding me.i didn't have the papers on hand and he told me don't light the stove until he see the owners manual which i didn't have on hand.he'll come by monday.
i know everything is good i just need the rear heat shield for my heritage.i replaced it with a piece of sheet metal and spacers but he didn't want that,he wants the one the brand says.is ok with me,i'm ordering it tomorrow,and now i'll burn wood all the way til spring.theres a lot going on around us for these slackers to be walking around trying to give hard time to those who are trying to save the buck.
Dave
Click to expand...
Dave, sign your neighbors up for loads of magazines, that's what my buddy does when people like that piss him off. They won't have time to worry about what your doing, they'll be reading :lol:
 
BeGreen said:
+1. All my neighbors are woodburners. I even have some smoke dragons around that I gently try to educate.
Click to expand...


My neighbors are surprising good burners. All are at least a year ahead in wood seasoning.

My one neighbor has an on site forge shop (he makes some great stuff) and in the shop he has this HUGE old pot bell styled stove that is more of a furnace than anything. I never see smoke coming out of the pipe and he burns through 8 cords in that stove a winter. Seriously, the damn thing is huge.

He also has a Fireview.
 
Most metropolitan areas run complaint based systems for everything, so it's all reactionary. I've had major complaints and arguments with the city before and it's usually just an exercise in futility. My crowning achievement was back in 2001 when I compiled four huge volumes of all the 'violations' that existed in my neighborhood that the city turned a blind eye to. This came after they complained about some pieces of wood in my yard that were salvaged from a victorian house that was torn down a few blocks away. The city ended up seizing the brackets salvaged from the house in a 'cleaning' operation to correct what they classified as a 'public nuisance.' Following that cleaning I photographed and created the four volumes of violations that they seemed to be able to ignore. It kept the city inspectors busy for a long time but it solved a lot of neighborhood issues and finally got rid of that mattress that had been laying in the alley north of me for six months that they seemed to ignore!

At any rate, I would be surprised if your city has forbidden wood burning, and the one thing you can tell your neighbors is that the smoke and smell would be a lot worse if you were using an old antiquated fireplace like the one I have.

Fortunately I have decent neighbors who would never complain about the smell, after all, I never complain about their overgrown yard!

for what it's worth...

steve
 
surfflyfish4stripers said:
i know everything is good i just need the rear heat shield for my heritage. Dave
Click to expand...

Ummm, I hate to tell you, but it's not "good". If you had the correct heat shield installed, then it would be "good". Your wood stove is unsafe in its current condition (assuming the heat shield is required.) I don't mean to sound like an a**hole, but I hear that all the time. I inspect homes for a living and get complaining homeowners telling me that kind of stuff almost daily. Another comment that I hear often is, "it was that way when I bought the house 5 years ago". Sorry, that doesn't make it OK. There is a reason that heat shields are required, clearance to combustibles have to be adhered to, and electrical systems have to be installed correctly. All of those things can burn your house down if they're not done correctly. It sounds like yours isn't done correctly.

In your case, I would just get the heat shield installed. Adding faux stone on the wall is a pain. A heat shield will cost about $100 and be easy to install. Get 'er done and call the inspector back.
 
glenlloyd said:
Most metropolitan areas run complaint based systems for everything, so it's all reactionary. I've had major complaints and arguments with the city before and it's usually just an exercise in futility. My crowning achievement was back in 2001 when I compiled four huge volumes of all the 'violations' that existed in my neighborhood that the city turned a blind eye to. This came after they complained about some pieces of wood in my yard that were salvaged from a victorian house that was torn down a few blocks away. The city ended up seizing the brackets salvaged from the house in a 'cleaning' operation to correct what they classified as a 'public nuisance.' Following that cleaning I photographed and created the four volumes of violations that they seemed to be able to ignore. It kept the city inspectors busy for a long time but it solved a lot of neighborhood issues and finally got rid of that mattress that had been laying in the alley north of me for six months that they seemed to ignore!

At any rate, I would be surprised if your city has forbidden wood burning, and the one thing you can tell your neighbors is that the smoke and smell would be a lot worse if you were using an old antiquated fireplace like the one I have.

Fortunately I have decent neighbors who would never complain about the smell, after all, I never complain about their overgrown yard!

for what it's worth...

steve
Click to expand...


I can't live like that. Once I get angry over something I tend to focus a lot of time on it. I don't want to associate being home with being angry. One of the main reasons I avoided home owner associations. I keep my property looking good, but all it takes is one clownish neighbor with too much time on his hands...
 
Only a non-woodburner would complain about the smell of smoke. Along with my odd 'smelling fresh green splits' behavior, I love the smell of woodstove smoke.
 
jdinspector said:
surfflyfish4stripers said:
i know everything is good i just need the rear heat shield for my heritage. Dave
Click to expand...

Ummm, I hate to tell you, but it's not "good". If you had the correct heat shield installed, then it would be "good". Your wood stove is unsafe in its current condition (assuming the heat shield is required. I don't mean to sound like an a**hole, but I hear that all the time. I inspect homes for a living and get complaining homeowners telling me that kind of stuff almost daily. Another comment that I hear often is, "it was that way when I bought the house 5 years ago". Sorry, that doesn't make it OK. There is a reason that heat shields are required, clearance to combustibles have to be adhered to, and electrical systems have to be installed correctly. All of those things can burn your house down if they're not done correctly. It sounds like yours isn't done correctly.

In your case, I would just get the heat shield installed. Adding faux stone on the wall is a pain. A heat shield will cost about $100 and be easy to install. Get 'er done and call the inspector back.
Click to expand...
Right on Inspector. i really was honest with the guy he was cool,he just wants the shield and the installation manual,which i printed after he was gone.
to the reply above: all the wood is perfectly seasoned i do get smoke at reload,but not much.
my next move is a big land no neighbors,lots of wood to burn.Thank you guys for the replies and advice and more are welcome.
 
I'm not sure how it works down there, but up here a warrant is required to enter your property. They might ask to come in, but you can nicely say "come back with an officer and a warrant and I'd be happy to let you in - have great day".
 
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