New Member. I've been reading since my chimney fire.
In early January, had loaded the stove for bed, sat with it for awhile and watched the secondaries roil from the depths of hell. The stove wasn't sending any heat up the 15 ft. masonry chimney. Things got worse when I put my hands on the brick I couldn't hold my hands there for more than a second, it was so hot. All of the hearth was extremely hot to touch. I sat with the fire all night without sleep and eventually the firebox quieted down but the brick remained very hot.
Called the new chimney sweep in the early morning and being that he knew the neighborhood he came right out and we both came to the conclusion that I had a chimney fire happening at the base. First thing he did was to create a clean out door with his hammer. After he used a crowbar to remove the kitchen cabinet that was touching the back of the hearth, he proceeded to bust through two or three bricks with his hammer. Then came the garden hose. Upon the roof he poured 10 or 20 gallons of water, with his assistant and I mopping up water from my wood floor. After he created a clean out door he poured another 10 or 20 gallons. The heartbeat of the ember fire was finally extinguished. And my house was cold.
I found hearth.com and read every message from BHOLLAR concerning chimney construction. I'm very grateful to his experienced and stern advice.
It took me another month to accept that I would never again use the kitchen chimney for a wood fire. I had been burning for 9 years and the old woman prior to me had been burning for 14 years and the woman before her had been burning for 10 years. So the chimney was overdue for some issues. I was very lucky the house and I survived.
This was the combination of problems that led to my chimney fire:
No clean out door. I had been faithfully cleaning the chimney and brushing all of the creosote down to floor level and not under the house. When the chimney sweep started mucking out all of the wet creosote, he estimated 10 or 15 lbs.
The 8-in clay liner was only at the top 10 ft and the rest was rough masonry without a smoke shelf.
The clay liner was 8x8 inches --and it wasn't going to be possible to install an insulated flex liner no matter how much I wished it.
Clearance to combustibles was a total failure. The kitchen cabinets were bolted to the rear of the masonry. At the rear of the brick chimney, the center bricks were only one brick thick. There was some obvious pyrolysis happening with the kitchen cabinets.
All in all, the crisis is behind me and another 2 months of trying to shop for a new stove. I live in rural Northern California and there are only two wood dealerships. Any other dealership outside of my counter refused to sell me a stove because it was "outside of their service area". The first dealership was a Pacific energy enthusiast but when I asked him to install an insulated liner in the living room fireplace he refused and said I didn't need it. That left me with the last dealership and thank goodness, they were a very good to me.
The solution came at a hefty price tag for the littlest Lopi Answer. Because my new stove would require chimney pipe up through the kitchen roof and up through the attic with 2, 30° offsets. $5800 all said and done.
The stove and I have become fast friends and she is doing her job of heating my kitchen and dining area. The little lopi will not heat my entire 1000 ft house, 1969 construction.
Because the little stove will not heat the entire house I have just plunked down another $5,000 for a new CB1200i pellet stove to replace the old EF2 i built in 1994 ish. The pellet stove will go into the living room.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for being here and supporting each other.
I know this was a long introduction and I apologize but I have tried to summarize and maybe didn't do such a good job.
I was emotionally devastated by the chimney fire and if I can help another person avoid that fate, I'd like to share what I have learned.
I am a 62-year-old woman and cannot imagine living without it wood fire. I will burn wood as long as I am able. Peace and may you have warm hearths😁
In early January, had loaded the stove for bed, sat with it for awhile and watched the secondaries roil from the depths of hell. The stove wasn't sending any heat up the 15 ft. masonry chimney. Things got worse when I put my hands on the brick I couldn't hold my hands there for more than a second, it was so hot. All of the hearth was extremely hot to touch. I sat with the fire all night without sleep and eventually the firebox quieted down but the brick remained very hot.
Called the new chimney sweep in the early morning and being that he knew the neighborhood he came right out and we both came to the conclusion that I had a chimney fire happening at the base. First thing he did was to create a clean out door with his hammer. After he used a crowbar to remove the kitchen cabinet that was touching the back of the hearth, he proceeded to bust through two or three bricks with his hammer. Then came the garden hose. Upon the roof he poured 10 or 20 gallons of water, with his assistant and I mopping up water from my wood floor. After he created a clean out door he poured another 10 or 20 gallons. The heartbeat of the ember fire was finally extinguished. And my house was cold.
I found hearth.com and read every message from BHOLLAR concerning chimney construction. I'm very grateful to his experienced and stern advice.
It took me another month to accept that I would never again use the kitchen chimney for a wood fire. I had been burning for 9 years and the old woman prior to me had been burning for 14 years and the woman before her had been burning for 10 years. So the chimney was overdue for some issues. I was very lucky the house and I survived.
This was the combination of problems that led to my chimney fire:
No clean out door. I had been faithfully cleaning the chimney and brushing all of the creosote down to floor level and not under the house. When the chimney sweep started mucking out all of the wet creosote, he estimated 10 or 15 lbs.
The 8-in clay liner was only at the top 10 ft and the rest was rough masonry without a smoke shelf.
The clay liner was 8x8 inches --and it wasn't going to be possible to install an insulated flex liner no matter how much I wished it.
Clearance to combustibles was a total failure. The kitchen cabinets were bolted to the rear of the masonry. At the rear of the brick chimney, the center bricks were only one brick thick. There was some obvious pyrolysis happening with the kitchen cabinets.
All in all, the crisis is behind me and another 2 months of trying to shop for a new stove. I live in rural Northern California and there are only two wood dealerships. Any other dealership outside of my counter refused to sell me a stove because it was "outside of their service area". The first dealership was a Pacific energy enthusiast but when I asked him to install an insulated liner in the living room fireplace he refused and said I didn't need it. That left me with the last dealership and thank goodness, they were a very good to me.
The solution came at a hefty price tag for the littlest Lopi Answer. Because my new stove would require chimney pipe up through the kitchen roof and up through the attic with 2, 30° offsets. $5800 all said and done.
The stove and I have become fast friends and she is doing her job of heating my kitchen and dining area. The little lopi will not heat my entire 1000 ft house, 1969 construction.
Because the little stove will not heat the entire house I have just plunked down another $5,000 for a new CB1200i pellet stove to replace the old EF2 i built in 1994 ish. The pellet stove will go into the living room.
I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for being here and supporting each other.
I know this was a long introduction and I apologize but I have tried to summarize and maybe didn't do such a good job.
I was emotionally devastated by the chimney fire and if I can help another person avoid that fate, I'd like to share what I have learned.
I am a 62-year-old woman and cannot imagine living without it wood fire. I will burn wood as long as I am able. Peace and may you have warm hearths😁
