I couple weeks ago I tried to start a fire after letting the stove go cold for several days. When I started the fire, it just would not take off, I tried opening the door a crack to give it a little air and it spilled a good amount of smoke every time. I tried opening windows and the front door to no avail. I let the stove go cold for the rest of the week and on Saturday swept the chimney but it was clean. Took the stove pipe apart in the house and guess what I found,a bird had decided to make a new home. Sucked out a foot of leaves and twigs with the shop vac. I hope this will save some of the new stove owners (like myself) time in diagnosing a future issue.
Stove suddenly spilling smoke (pics)
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Loco Gringo
Feeling the Heat
I have a good friend that is having the same problem but their knowledge of wood stoves prevents them from even answering my questions. Its likely to be their problem from the sound of it.
fishingpol
Minister of Fire
I have a rain cap, but it is open on the sides. When the snow melts, I am going to be adding some wire mesh to keep anything else out that may want to get in. When I had it installed last year, they techs suggested I take the cap off to get better draft. None of them must have animal problems.
fishingpol
Minister of Fire
Gotcha, probably a good idea to make a small fire every other day or so to keep them out until you can get up there.
jdinspector
Feeling the Heat
Just a suggestion to prevent excess future maintenance...
If you can, get stainless steel poultry netting. I have seen galvanized steel mesh corrode in very short order. I also suggest poultry netting in lieu of hardware cloth (definitely don't use window screening!). The hardware cloth is only about 1/4" square, which can easily block up with creosote (which it looks like you have a little problem with). Poultry netting is large enough to prevent blockage and keeps most birds out.
If you can, get stainless steel poultry netting. I have seen galvanized steel mesh corrode in very short order. I also suggest poultry netting in lieu of hardware cloth (definitely don't use window screening!). The hardware cloth is only about 1/4" square, which can easily block up with creosote (which it looks like you have a little problem with). Poultry netting is large enough to prevent blockage and keeps most birds out.
Picture is of the stove pipe looking out towards the chimney. Thanks for the ideas on what to put up top. I was trying to figure out what is the biggest opening I could have and still keep animals out in order to maintain the good draft I have.
skinanbones
Feeling the Heat
in our local hardware store we can get hardware cloth up to 1/2 square openings, and thats about largest opening that will keep all birds out
I'm expecting to have the same problem soon. The stove has been off line for the last few weeks as daytime temps are hitting the 70's her in the Heart Of Dixie. I opened the door to throw in a bit of trash and noticed that all the ashes were tamped down flat, which puzzled me. Oh well, I thought, the wind must have come down the pipe and done that. I sat back with my morning coffee and heard a faint scratching in the firebox. Then it dawned on me that a bird was in there. I hadn't cleaned the glass, so it was sort of hard to see for sure. But, I closed up all the interior doors and opened the exterior ones. I was expecting a sparrow or a swift, but it was actually a female bluebird. She hopped up on the chandelier, took her bearings, and made straight for the back door. Easy and done. Yeah, I'm thinking I need some screening up there.
Highbeam
Minister of Fire
Don't put mesh in there, then the mesh will plug and you will have the same problem. Doesn't matter how dry your wood or good your burning habits, a mesh screen will plug up with deposits and then you're stuck having to climb onto the roof. If you must, the bigger the openings the better. Think poultry netting size and not hardware cloth. 1" openings min.
OTOH, I see Bear Gryls eating raw unborn chicks all the time on Tee Vee...cooked, all the better. 
raybonz
Minister of Fire
Highbeam said:
I disagree. I have had 1/2" hardware mesh over my cap for 3 years. It is shiny clean.
Highbeam said:
This is going vary with the installation. Our cap has 4+ years on it now. The factory, Simpson mesh got it's first cleaning last fall, and it didn't really need it.
You might also want to put a bluebird nest box up nearby and in sight of the chimney. Bluebirds are highly territorial. A family will set up housekeeping in the nest box and attack anything that tries to use the chimney.
I heard that WhitePine....and that is part of my problem. I can't build and hang houses as fast as they keep reproducing. Good problem to have. I'm keeping the skeeters down pretty o'good, let me tell you. Between them and the bats at night, I'm not bothered by winged bugs at all.
Lumber-Jack
Minister of Fire
Yeah, I'm kind of wondering how you missed the bird nest, on the Saturday cleaning, too. :-/cptoneleg said:
fishingpol
Minister of Fire
A question for the O.P. do you think the nest was made by birds or squirrels? I don't know what your climate is there this time of year, but birds won't be nesting for several weeks around here. Probably closer to mid April. It is just not anywhere near nesting season yet. It just seems like a lot of debris for a bird to go down a vertical run with that much material.
Not to go off the original post here but a great website to visit is sialis.org. It is a great bluebird site, and it also shows how other invasive birds will attack bluebirds in their nesting boxes. It is quite an eye-opener to the struggles bluebirds have.
Not to go off the original post here but a great website to visit is sialis.org. It is a great bluebird site, and it also shows how other invasive birds will attack bluebirds in their nesting boxes. It is quite an eye-opener to the struggles bluebirds have.
CL and Sheri, guess I made a distinction between the horizontal stove pipe and the actual lined chimney. I should have said I swept the liner.
fishingpol, I originally thought it was a squirrel but now I think it is a bird because of the noises I heard taking apart the stovepipe, (brief scratching, just a few seconds and then no noise) and I didn't find the squirrel at the bottom of the liner that I expected to, there was animal, dead or alive.
Like I mentioned originally, I hope other new burners can learn from this as I have learned from everything I have seen on here.
fishingpol, I originally thought it was a squirrel but now I think it is a bird because of the noises I heard taking apart the stovepipe, (brief scratching, just a few seconds and then no noise) and I didn't find the squirrel at the bottom of the liner that I expected to, there was animal, dead or alive.
Like I mentioned originally, I hope other new burners can learn from this as I have learned from everything I have seen on here.
fishingpol
Minister of Fire
My Sooteater will be delivered here tomorrow. Chimney liner will be cleaned Saturday. I am looking forward to trying it out.
We have used mesh around our chimney cap for 5 years now. No problem with soot or the birds. Dont ever clean the cap as we clean the pipe from inside the house. Keeps me off our 9/12 pitch roof.
Tom
Tom
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