IF YOU HAVE INTERIOR MASONRY CHIMNEY, WHERE'S CLEANOUT LOCATED?

[MI Feller]

Thinking of a cleanout about one foot above the floor in a hallway with ceramic tile flooring. Same floor as stove is on, but the stove would be on the other side of the wall and thimbled in. (Would use solid blocks from ground up to this point) Safety first. Are typical cleanout doors substantial enough to depend on inside home like this? Seems to satisfy local codes which speak in terms of "safe location" and "away from combustibles".

 

[cmonSTART]

I've never seen an issue with a clean out door in a house other than allowing room air into the chimney and hurting performance. Some seem more dependable than others. Some of the cheaper doors don't latch too well. I personally like the Ahren's masonry doors, which fit very snugly and seal well.

http://www.copperfield.com/media/probook/standard/30106.jpg

 

[summit]

The Ahren's doors are nice, and there are also sources for gasketed, screw shut style cleanout doors made of cast iron (but 'cha need a screwdriver to open them up...)... Just a regular cast cleanout door will do (maybe $20 most hardware stores).

 

[cmonSTART]

I do tend to be Mr. Overkill.

 

[oldspark]

Mine is in the house on the other side of the wood burner, I agree with a good quality door, I chucked the one the mason gave me.

 

[MI Feller]

Interesting. Can you replace a poorly made or damaged one without having to do any masonry work? Sounds like you were able to?

 

[cmonSTART]

Well, if the required openings are the same size you probably can do it w/o being a major project. What size is the current door?

 

[MI Feller]

Sorry, still in planning stage. Using 30+ year old metal through ceiling now. Works fine. A new masonry would go in along with planned addition to home and trying to figure out if really want to switch. Reasons would be aesthetic plus want to get the clean out mess out of the living room, plus want to update house for possible resale someday. Drawbacks would be another bend in the pipe instead of straight up and likely more creosote as masonry tend to burn cooler.

 

[oldspark]

Interesting. Can you replace a poorly made or damaged one without having to do any masonry work? Sounds like you were able to?

Yes they were the same size so you just put in with a sealant and pry it out, they are probably light years ahead of what I have.

 

[ChipTam]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but how well sealed should the clean-out door be? We have an interior masonry chimney that has a stainless steel liner. The clean out door is in the basement/crawl space near the bottom of the chimney and beneath the wood stove which is on the first floor. This "clean-out door" is nothing more than a 1/8" piece of sheet steel set in front of a brick that has been removed to gain access to the liner. There is no danger of a spark escaping and the wood stove seems to work fine but I've never actually tried to seal this piece of steel to the masonry chimney.
ChipTam

 

[vvvv]

My masonry chimney has a thimble instead of a CO door & seems to seal tight.