I'd like to install an old wood stove in my house. The chimney is in good condition (brick w/ clay tiles) but the flue is extremely narrow. Is it generally a good idea/OK to remove a couple of the bricks in the flue to allow the vent pipe to pass through? I'm thinking at the least I'd have to take out 3 bricks, at most 7. Pretty sure the pipe is 6" and I want to run it all the way to the top.
Removing a few flue bricks?
- Thread starter mikeyboat
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Dang...nadda? I know I'm a newbie, but someone has to have a little insight to share...Seems to me something has to go to run the pipe from the back of the stove through the flue...there is no damper, but the bottleneck is way too small for a 6" rigid pipe...any info or opinions are greatly appreciated...
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RedGuy
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I had to do that very thing. The top of my fireplace was a piss poor attempt at a Rumfort design that did nothing but push alot of smoke back into the room. It also left me with a very skinny opening, only 4 1/2 inches, and 2 very tight bends. There was also a lintle on both sides of the opening. So after sitting in my fireplace for a while pondering, looking long and hard to make sure that lintle wasn't structural for the rest of the chimney, I cut out the lintle and knocked out the bricks I needed to give me a straiter run and larger opening.
RedGuy thanks for the response. It seems we have/had very similar situations. It's been tricky figuring out how to burn a fire in the fireplace as is without smoking out the entire house. I'm sure that I am not the first to ask this question, but I got limited responses when trying to search through the site. My opening is right at 4" but it is a straight shot from there. I hope to run one 90* just out of the back of the stove, and go straight up from there. I've also sat in the fireplace probably wondering some of the same things you were. If the lintle is the metal plate that I assume a damper would be fitted to, I only have one on one side. I appreciate the feedback. I hope removing just a few bricks will give me the clearance I need. It seems that none of the bricks making the neck are structural. The outside of the chimney is stone...thanks again.
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RedGuy
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The lintle is a metal piece of angle iron that will run from side to side to support the bricks above. I've been told that it's unusual for a fire place to have 2 lintles, I chalk it up to some brick layer that didn't really know what they where doing.
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