Creosote clean up prior to install. +

[Marty]

The Mansfield came yesterday and is sitting on a pallet 4' in front of the hearthpad waiting for me to catch up.

Also got a 25' x24" Olympic Chimney Supply blanket with mesh wrap for the low low price of 273.92 (tax included) To wrap around my 20' Olympic 316 Ti flex liner. They even threw in a roll of R-11 Insulation (50 sq ft) and a roll of Intertape Aluminum Foil Tape (ASTM E84 Rated for Flame Spread & Smoke Development - Meets HUD-BOCA Codes)
The Insulation is the yellow stuff and it is fibergless btw.

All thats left to do is fab the block off plate and the top plate, and finish up the prep work on the site. I'm almost there.

While inspecting some of the nooks and crannys in the fireplace I noticed that there is some powedery creosote that has filled up the gap behind the metal support piece across the top of the fireplace opening. This beam will be about 1/2" from the top of the Stove so it should be getting pretty hot.

How much of this stuff should I shoot for getting out?
If I were to try to get it all I would have to either disassemble the fireplace or I might be able to drill a hole in the bottom of the steel and flush it from behind with water. I could try and remove a lot by hand and small vacuum hoses but I know I would leave a bit in there.

The next step would be to seal the whole area up with morter (down into the cracks, close all the gaps and parch coat everything that is suspect.

Does this powerery creosote encased in steel and morter so close to the stove pose a risk of fire?

 

[brian_in_idaho]

I'm not a professional installer so take this with a large grain of salt.

I don't think you want to put that much water in the chimney to flush out the creosote, First. it will probably be very messy, it might run everywhere. Second, that water soaking into your flue and masonary work might cause cracking when you get things hot again. Any possible way of getting a shop-vac hose up in there? Then, if there is still a bunch, maybe compressed air to move it to where you can suck it up with the vac? This will still be a mess, but I think better than water.

I'm sure some of the pros will pop in here, they must deal with this all the time.

Just curious, what color Mansfield did you get? I hope to see mine this week.


Bri

 

[Marty]

I got the matte black... strangely at the insistance of the wife.

It's beautiful though. In yestermorns overcast sunlight it looked quite greenish and the more artificial the light becomes the greyer it appears.

I'm now embarrased for the rest of my furniture.

 

[ourhouse]

Congrats on the mansfield. Thats a beautiful stove. We looked at thoes stoves but I could not justify sticking it in an unfished basement.

 

[Shane]

Get as much of it as possible. Use a shop vac and various tools to scrape with and you'll be able to get 90% of it.

 

[Marty]

Get as much of it as possible. Use a shop vac and various tools to scrape with and you'll be able to get 90% of it.

Took your advice Shane and Brian.
Would it be ok to seal that gap up afterward with morter? It is between the face stone of the fireplace and the back L top support bracket and is wide enough to get an index finger down to about the second joint. the gap extends to either side of the fire box and beyond... it appears that when they originaly faced it they built the courses of stone straight up and did not parch coat the birck and morter the back of the stone to the wall so creosote was able to spread up in between the wall of face stone and what was the original outside wall of the fireplace before this addition was built.

It seems like it would be ok to morter all around and into this gap but If there is some other dynamic at work here speak now.

 

[Shane]

I'd mortar it. There shouldn't be a gap between the face brick and the firebox. I mortar those up all the time.