Advice about an estimate...

[Finnley]

Hello!

My husband and I recently bought a home. It has a woodburning stove in the living room area that we'd love to use, however we wanted to have it inspected first. The chimney service people came to do the inspection and they came up with an estimate for what they thought needed to be done. I don't know anything about woodstoves or chimneys, but I know I dont want my house to catch on fire...

Here is the estimate and the word they want to do:

-Disassemble the Class-A chimney and flashing
- Cut out roof to get the 2” minimum clearance requirements for the Class-A chimney
- Install an attic insulation shield, re-install the Class-A chimney and flashing, and install a roof brace for the chimney
- Install a slip connector from the Class - A to the single wall connector
- Install an 18”x48” stove board

Cost: - - $1,105.00

Does this seem reasonable? I know its hard to say since you're not looking at the setup, but I know NOTHING about requirements or how this stuff is done so I'm just trying to make sure they aren't taking advantage of us...

Thanks for any input!!

 

[SlyFerret]

The previous owners obviously never had the install permitted or inspected when they put the stove in, because it would have never passed without the proper 2" clearance or insulation shield. Glad they caught that now!! Both of those things are potentially huge safety issues.

If they have to take the chimney apart and there isn't already a slip connector in there, this is certainly the time to do it. The slip connector will not only make it easier for them to re-assemble everything, but also make it easier in the future if you ever need to disconnect the stove for maintenance or an upgrade.

I'm not so sure on the 18"x48" stove board. What is that exactly? If I had to guess, it's some sort of non-combustible material to shield the walls if clearances inside the house were not met properly (although, technically, I don't think this would actually reduce the required clearances).

Some of the other folks here may be more in tune with labor rates, but to me, that doesn't seem completely unreasonable. It sounds like they're pretty much re-installing the entire chimney system to bring it up to code.

-SF

 

[begreen]

It sounds like the original installation cut some corners and this is what is trying to be corrected. Is that right? Seems a little high to me, but I don't know local labor costs, piping size, piping brand or other challenges they may be seeing. If this is 8" pipe, and the hearth pad is a fancy one, then the estimate could be quite reasonable. Here is a rough guestimate for Simpson 6" pipe.

parts for 6" round:
Flashing + storm collar - $70
Roof brace - $80
Attic Insulation Shield - about $60
Slip connector - are they putting in a new connection from the stove to the ceiling support box? Guessing about $70
Stove board, aka hearth pad - What did you select? There is a range of prices here. Ask what make and model stove board. Let's guess it at $200, but if a nice one it could be over double that price. If so, say $450.

labor ~ 3 hours. If a crew of 2 maybe $300?

 

[SteveT]

Any chance you could get the local Building Inspector or Fire Marshall over to take a look? That would be free and they'd give you an idea of what should be done. If it aligns with what your (planned) contractor said, I'd go with it. Their price seems a bit high but not gouging (IMHO)>

 

[Fsappo]

I'm guessing 2 things here:
1. The hearth board is one of those black pebble grained ones.
2. It's gonna take longer than 3 hours to disassemble/reassemble and reflash the chimney

I'd say with the hearth extender your probably looking at $300 worth of materials. I would charge a flat $500 labor to do a job like this in our area. even with tax I couldnt see this going much higher than $900. Based on that, it sounds like that estimate is a little high. Did that $1105 include tax? Could you visually verify that the pipe was closer than 2" to combustables? Did you confirm that you did not have 16" of hearth out in front of the stove?

I would suggest going with an inspection by the local code enforcer as well. Keep in mind, I have rode along with a lot of these guys and they can miss a lot. I would also try a local hearth shop for a second opinion. Sometimes, because they are a brick and mortar business they will be a little more forthcoming when it comes to prices and reasons for the costs.

 

[Finnley]

Thanks everyone for all the responses

A lot of the house has been renovated and most of it was good according to the home inspector, but there were a few little things so maybe the wood stove was a place they cut corners. The seller did mention that they used it a lot, but I’m glad I had it inspected because clearly there are some issues. I really just wanted to make sure that they aren’t trying to overcharge me for the work.

While the chimney service guy was here we were able to visually verify that the pipe didn’t have the 2 inch clearance and that there was no insulation shield and also that there isn’t 16 inches of hearth in front of the stove.

I’m not sure what the hearth board looks like, because he didn’t give us a choice (he just sent us the estimate with the list of stuff he’d do) so I’ll look into that more and see what my options are.

Thanks again for all the advice

 

[Pagey]

Here is an example of one manufacturer of stove boards/hearth pads. We have their Idaho Diamond Slate for our Endeavor.

http://www.americanpanelhearth.com/Product Line/images/idaho diamond IMG_8379sm.jpg

 

[fdegree]

I see you are in Eastern MD...I'm in lower Delaware. I don't know who you are using to do the work, but I would suggest giving Byler's Stove Shoppe a call...they are located in Dover. I have not purchased my stove yet, so I have not actually had them do any work for me yet. But, they have been very knowledgeable, accommodating, and friendly while doing all of my research. I do plan to use them for my installation when the time comes. They also perform free estimates...can't hurt to call them.