Chimney Sweep - Did I Do Ok?

[natas420]

It's that time of year again. Instead of calling a pro, I decided to pay the $$ for a brush and set of rods. Got an 8 inch pipe on an Earth Stove Insert, around 13-14 feet chimney. In addition to sweeping the liner, I went to town on the insert doing my best to clean every accessible inch of crud off the metal. I also used a smaller brush to get up into the flue connection from inside, scrubbing that area that from the top-down I might have missed. Also went around, and up around the ledges/lips and sides, cleaning all that stuff off. Removed catalyst and cleaned that area, and air intake slide holes, etc. Oh, and also cleaned the heck out of the chimney top (forgot to get pic of that, sorry).

Here are some before/after pics. I just want some opinions if I seemed to do a satisfactory job so I won't wake up with the house on fire. Much appreciated.

* And yes, I plan on replacing the broken fire-bricks..at some point.

 

[begreen]

Looks good. If up above looks as good as down below you should be ready to burn. Regular firebrick is inexpensive, just a few bucks. Maybe at least replace that one chewed up brick soon.

 

[natas420]

Looks good. If up above looks as good as down below you should be ready to burn. Regular firebrick is inexpensive, just a few bucks. Maybe at least replace that one chewed up brick soon.

The bottom floor of bricks are maybe 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Can I find those no problem? Also the ones on the back wall are notched style, so I'm not sure if I have to go to a specialty place for those or not.

I hope my stove is ok. I bought it used, and it has gone through 1 season by me so far. Temps usually around 300-325.. or so, so I hope that (I haven't checked yet) the cast iron is ok.

According to the manual, on the back wall (top 2 bricks horizontally @ top of image) those are FB22 earth stove bricks. The next row (the main back wall-vertical) are these notched bricks number FB-2. The bottom floor is mostly composed of FB-1 bricks. Do you think I can find all these cheaply? Online, people seem to want some $$ for them.

Thanks for your help.

 

[begreen]

Stock firebrick is 1.25" thick. .75 is an odd thickness. The rear brick looks thicker, like it may be 1.25" but that could just be the camera angle. Wondering if this might work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/K-23-Insula...rick-Thermal-Ceramic-Bricks-K23-/191520921088

 

[natas420]

Stock firebrick is 1.5" thick. .75 is an odd thickness. The rear brick looks thicker, like it may be 1.5" but that could just be the camera angle. Wondering if this might work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/K-23-Insula...rick-Thermal-Ceramic-Bricks-K23-/191520921088

my guesstimation is wrong.

 

[natas420]

Stock firebrick is 1.5" thick. .75 is an odd thickness. The rear brick looks thicker, like it may be 1.5" but that could just be the camera angle. Wondering if this might work?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/K-23-Insula...rick-Thermal-Ceramic-Bricks-K23-/191520921088

the fb1 bricks are 1.25" L x 4.5" W x 9" according to https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000H7UGU0/?tag=hearthamazon-20

fb-2 are 9 inch x 4.5 inch x 1 1/4 inch or PP1902 (broken link removed)
fb22 are 1-1/4" Thick 3-1/4" x 9 but seems replaced by PP1922 (broken link removed)

FB-1 Firebrick, 9 x 4 1/2”
FB-2 Firebrick, 9 x 4 1/2”
FB-3 Firebrick, 9 x 4 1/2”
FB5 Firebrick, 9 x 2 1/4” w/Notch
FB7 Firebrick, 9 x 2 1/8”
FB9 Firebrick, 9 x 1” w/notch
FB10 Firebrick, 4 1/2 x 1 1/4”
FB11 Firebrick, 4 1/2 x 4 3/8”
FB12 Firebrick, 7 3/8 x 4 ½ x 6 ¾” Left
FB13 Firebrick, 7 3/8 x 4 ½ x 6 ¾” Right
FB14 Firebrick, 6 3/4 x 3 x 2 3/8” Left
FB15 Firebrick, 6 3/4 x 3 x 2 3/8” Right
FB16 Firebrick, 8 ¾ x 2 ¼ x 5 1/8” Regular
FB17 Firebrick, 3 ¼ x 5 1/8 x 0” Regular
FB19 Firebrick, 9 x 4 1/2” w/cutout square from corner
FB21 Firebrick, 7.375 x 4 1/2” (order 2 if set is needed)
FB22 Firebrick, 9 x 3 1/4”
FB23 Firebrick - 5" x 1”
FB29 Firebrick, 9 x 1”
FB30 Firebrick, 8 1/4 x 1”

Wondering if I could get these cheaper than 10-15 bucks a pop.

 

[begreen]

Looks like many are stock firebrick, others may need to be cut down from stock. If you replaced just the one bottom firebrick and the rear firebricks that should work. I don't have the manual for this stove so I have no idea where the other firebricks go. According to the sizes listed on this site it looks like you could cut down your own from a couple of those Vogelzang firebrick packages.
(broken link removed)

 

[natas420]

Looks like many are stock firebrick, others may need to be cut down from stock. If you replaced just the one bottom firebrick and the rear firebricks that should work. I don't have the manual for this stove so I have no idea where the other firebricks go. According to the sizes listed on this site it looks like you could cut down your own from a couple of those Vogelzang firebrick packages.
(broken link removed)

Thank you Begreen. Yeah I just priced them out on that site. I figured I would get 4 of the bottom floor ones. and go ahead and replace all 4 rear wall ones, and eventually those 2 higher up ones. But, I'm not going to order online, unless I absolutely have to. It was around $75 in the cart before shipping, and with shipping it was an extra $32 bucks..lol. But yeah if i can find the standard ones at a good price locally ill just do that and get 12 of them and notch 4 of them for the back wall or ask/bribe a friend with a masonry blade to do it for me, lol.

Just before starting a fire tonight, I checked under that broken up brick on the floor and felt the metal underneeth, it appears flat, and not warped or anything so that's good. However, I think I should replace all of the floor bricks because I can see a slight curve/cup because the bricks on the floor have worn down a little over the years from people tending the fire me thinks.

Thank you for all your help. I really appreciate it.

Just a quick question: Is there anything bad about adding additional firebricks to the stove? Like maybe adding a short wall along the interior sides?

 

[begreen]

Your local hardware store, home depot or lumber yard probably has boxes of firebrick or individual brick for sale.

Adding brick along the sides will reduce firebox capacity but not hurt the fire. But the bricks may have a tendency to fall over into the firebox without a retainer at the top of the bricks.

 

[natas420]

Your local hardware store, home depot or lumber yard probably has boxes of firebrick or individual brick for sale.

Adding brick along the sides will reduce firebox capacity but not hurt the fire. But the bricks may have a tendency to fall over into the firebox without a retainer at the top of the bricks.

http://www.indfirebrick.com/

The price seems right...hopefully they ship USPS (if it fits, it ships) and not have to pay arm and leg shipping.

 

[Squisher]

If you have any sort of masonry/brick yard around they will be cheap. My local builder supply charges $1.33 for a standard sized firebrick. They refer to it as a 1/2 firebrick.

 

[natas420]

If you have any sort of masonry/brick yard around they will be cheap. My local builder supply charges $1.33 for a standard sized firebrick. They refer to it as a 1/2 firebrick.

I shall check tomorrow (online tonight for phone numbers) for local brick yards. Thank you!. I'm not paying $5 a brick. Set of 6, go for 30-35 bucks...no way..hahah.


*come to think of it..I do know of a local building supply place they do everything from masonry to compost...ill check with them..yah...sweet..I got a few idea places to check now..thank you!

 

[natas420]

Hey Begreen, can you take a look at those liner photos again for me? I think I messed up. In the before photo, if you look closely where the screws are, the buildup around the base of the screws look rectangular, like metal retaining clips. In the after photo, no such clips, or the ones (harder to see) way further down. I think I might have ripped the retaining clips off the screws when I ran the sweeping brush. A couple of the bristles were a little kinked when I pulled out the brush. Do you think I just messed up my liner? Fire last night was wonderful. Open damper, open door to reload wood, and virtually no smoke came out. The liner weight is supported by the collar/cap at the top of the chimney, and those screws I assume connect the straight pipe sections together--if those were clips, I assume they just made the screws snug so they dont fall out--but I can't see them falling out and just staying there, unless if I ever clean this again, knowing this...if somehow I could dislodge those screws out with the brush--any thoughts?--am I just being paranoid? I don't recall finding any metal debris/clips in the soot pile, but I just sucked it all up with a shop vac.

 

[begreen]

Normally there would be 3 screws at a joint, 120º apart. What is happening where those screws are? Also is this rigid, stainless steel liner?

 

[natas420]

Normally there would be 3 screws at a joint, 120º apart. What is happening where those screws are? Also is this rigid, stainless steel liner?

The first set are down maybe 2-3 feet from the top. I haven't been back on top of the roof to check. The 2nd set further down there are 4 screws set 90 deg apart, also showing bare sheet metal screws and no retainer clip. Yes, rigid stainless steel liner. It does have a short transition/offset maybe 2-3 ft before connecting to the stove.


* I guess another question would be: When securing 2 sections of straight liner pipe, would there normally be some type of retainer clip/nut on the other side, or would a metal screw be sufficient?

 

[natas420]

I might just be hallucinating. On those first set of screws, there are 2 sets of 2 screws each, one right over the other. If there was a clip, it would be in the way of the screw right next to it,--and I guess if there were really clips there, then all screws would have a clip on it, and the before photo would have shown it on the screws right next to each other which it doesn't and I think maybe it was just something with the camera making a shape like that from the buildup of creosote around the base of each screw, maybe building a base along each set to make it look like that, I dunno.

 

[natas420]

Got the firebricks. Only $1.45 or so. I went ahead and got some extras. A local building supply place quoted me $80 to cut them--I don't think so.
I'm going to buy a masonry blade for the table saw to make the cut and notches I need myself.

Instead of those more expensive continuous diamond blades, do you think I can use those far cheaper Aluminum Oxide circular saw blades?
They're like $5 bucks (I'd get 2) vs $30 for a 10 inch table saw blade. I just need to cut 2 bricks down to width, and notch 4 bricks on one of the short ends.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/DEWALT-10-...ce-Aluminum-Oxide-Circular-Saw-Blade/50160685

 

[begreen]

The first set are down maybe 2-3 feet from the top. I haven't been back on top of the roof to check. The 2nd set further down there are 4 screws set 90 deg apart, also showing bare sheet metal screws and no retainer clip. Yes, rigid stainless steel liner. It does have a short transition/offset maybe 2-3 ft before connecting to the stove.


* I guess another question would be: When securing 2 sections of straight liner pipe, would there normally be some type of retainer clip/nut on the other side, or would a metal screw be sufficient?

Not sure why this is screwed this way, but based on the description it doesn't sound professional. 3 screws is pretty much standard. I don't think you have anything to worry about seeing this is rigid stainless, it's just odd.