first post here, so please bear with me. Did a search but no luck for answers, so guessing I used wrong words.
Long story, some jumping around but trying to cover everything.
A few years ago, wife and I bought a house across the road from my grandparents (now mine) old place and remodeled it.
House had an addition back in the 70s that included a fireplace. (External brick chimney) Somewheres in there a Big Buck insert got installed.
In our remodeling the roof for the addition was raised to match the rest of the roofline. Got the house livable, and put chimney on back burner as I got laid off, and while we took care of my sick father.
Now things are where I can work on the chimney again. Top of the chimney needs raised 6 feet to get the top of the flue 3 1/2' above the crown of the roof.
I've got brick, 6 feet of 13x13 flue, even have scaffolding erected. Have had 3 contractors come out, give me quotes, then never show back up or return calls, so I'm looking to do it myself.
As of right now, from the top of the flue to the top of the smoke shelf is only 12 feet, so looking at roughly 18 feet.
The insert is a Big Buck 28000, and looks to have been recently had some work to include new motor, thermostats and wiring, so I hope to use it. People we bought the house from said they never could get it to work right.
I've downloaded the manual for the insert and it says to remove the damper plate. I looked and damper is still installed, and stuck less than 1/2 open, so believe that is a good bit of the problem. Where the insert goes was nasty, flue tiles top to bottom look close to new!
Do you think it would be safe to remove damper, inspect lower chimney again, and run the insert for a bit?
After extending the chimney, I would like to install a liner to improve the efficiency of the insert, but that may come later, as I'm still paying doctor bills, etc for my father.
Am I missing anything? I've looked online for codes excetera, as I live in a very lax area, but want to do it once, do it right, and do it safely.
Like I said, looks like it will be me doing the work, and will get it inspected before use.
Thanks
Virgil
Before and after of the house
![[Hearth.com] Chimney and insert questions](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_7082-webp.216338/ "[Hearth.com] Chimney and insert questions")
Long story, some jumping around but trying to cover everything.
A few years ago, wife and I bought a house across the road from my grandparents (now mine) old place and remodeled it.
House had an addition back in the 70s that included a fireplace. (External brick chimney) Somewheres in there a Big Buck insert got installed.
In our remodeling the roof for the addition was raised to match the rest of the roofline. Got the house livable, and put chimney on back burner as I got laid off, and while we took care of my sick father.
Now things are where I can work on the chimney again. Top of the chimney needs raised 6 feet to get the top of the flue 3 1/2' above the crown of the roof.
I've got brick, 6 feet of 13x13 flue, even have scaffolding erected. Have had 3 contractors come out, give me quotes, then never show back up or return calls, so I'm looking to do it myself.
As of right now, from the top of the flue to the top of the smoke shelf is only 12 feet, so looking at roughly 18 feet.
The insert is a Big Buck 28000, and looks to have been recently had some work to include new motor, thermostats and wiring, so I hope to use it. People we bought the house from said they never could get it to work right.
I've downloaded the manual for the insert and it says to remove the damper plate. I looked and damper is still installed, and stuck less than 1/2 open, so believe that is a good bit of the problem. Where the insert goes was nasty, flue tiles top to bottom look close to new!
Do you think it would be safe to remove damper, inspect lower chimney again, and run the insert for a bit?
After extending the chimney, I would like to install a liner to improve the efficiency of the insert, but that may come later, as I'm still paying doctor bills, etc for my father.
Am I missing anything? I've looked online for codes excetera, as I live in a very lax area, but want to do it once, do it right, and do it safely.
Like I said, looks like it will be me doing the work, and will get it inspected before use.
Thanks
Virgil
Before and after of the house
