field stone chimney surprise! (advice appreciated)

[Vid]

A close friend recently bought 113 acres in southern VA. I've been hired to come down for a month to get the old farm house in order. Our first priority is to get the old wood stove going because the house only has a heat pump and it's not cutting the mustard. Lots of space heaters floating around right now for the bedrooms and bath. Not cool, man. Prior to my arrival, my friend had a chimney sweep come to clean out the chimney and was informed that it's is completely unlined and the woodstove is venting directly in there. It is of course a nightmare of creosote and probably been catching on fire on and off for like a hundred years...

This is not my first wood stove install or rehab, but I don't have experience with field stone chimneys so I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. The current plan is to finagle/cut/drill/chop out the pieces of field stone currently blocking the new thimble entry, replace the broken masonry thimble with a new piece of Terra Cotta to house the liner's T snout, install an insulated stainless steel chimney liner, and then ensure that the inside wall of the house actually meets the clearance requirements for combustibles from the stove pipe.

In the photos you should be able to see the original stove install, the broken clay thimble, the stone that's in my way which wouldn't allow for a proper thimble in the first place, the unlined chimney shaft, what's hiding behind my friends walls, and evidence that the walls have likely been internally smoldering for years.

My questions are as follows:

Is the insulated chimney liner itself enough to bring this chimney up to code, or does the field stone need to have some kind of ceramic lining as well?

Do I need to clean the creosote off the inside of the chimney, or will the insulated liner offer enough thermal protection that I don't need to worry about it? If so, how?!?!

If I cut off the edge of the field stone that's in my way, assuming that my new thimble will penetrate the chimney to the proper depth, is there anything special I need to do between the terra cotta and the field stone other than using a temperature rated mortar to bond it in place?

Does the snout of the liner's T need to mate with the stove pipe inside the thimble, or is it enough to have them attached at either end of the thimble?

(Just for fun) Does anyone have any suggestions for how to refinish the interior wall given what you can see in the photos?

Thanks so much for any advice or guidance. I'll do my best to load the photos in some kind of chronological order, but no guarantee

~Vid

 

[bholler]

A close friend recently bought 113 acres in southern VA. I've been hired to come down for a month to get the old farm house in order. Our first priority is to get the old wood stove going because the house only has a heat pump and it's not cutting the mustard. Lots of space heaters floating around right now for the bedrooms and bath. Not cool, man. Prior to my arrival, my friend had a chimney sweep come to clean out the chimney and was informed that it's is completely unlined and the woodstove is venting directly in there. It is of course a nightmare of creosote and probably been catching on fire on and off for like a hundred years...

This is not my first wood stove install or rehab, but I don't have experience with field stone chimneys so I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. The current plan is to finagle/cut/drill/chop out the pieces of field stone currently blocking the new thimble entry, replace the broken masonry thimble with a new piece of Terra Cotta to house the liner's T snout, install an insulated stainless steel chimney liner, and then ensure that the inside wall of the house actually meets the clearance requirements for combustibles from the stove pipe.

In the photos you should be able to see the original stove install, the broken clay thimble, the stone that's in my way which wouldn't allow for a proper thimble in the first place, the unlined chimney shaft, what's hiding behind my friends walls, and evidence that the walls have likely been internally smoldering for years.

My questions are as follows:

Is the insulated chimney liner itself enough to bring this chimney up to code, or does the field stone need to have some kind of ceramic lining as well?

Do I need to clean the creosote off the inside of the chimney, or will the insulated liner offer enough thermal protection that I don't need to worry about it? If so, how?!?!

If I cut off the edge of the field stone that's in my way, assuming that my new thimble will penetrate the chimney to the proper depth, is there anything special I need to do between the terra cotta and the field stone other than using a temperature rated mortar to bond it in place?

Does the snout of the liner's T need to mate with the stove pipe inside the thimble, or is it enough to have them attached at either end of the thimble?

(Just for fun) Does anyone have any suggestions for how to refinish the interior wall given what you can see in the photos?

Thanks so much for any advice or guidance. I'll do my best to load the photos in some kind of chronological order, but no guarantee

~Vid

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Yes insulated liner after a thorough cleaning. No need for a clay thimble. You can just run the stainless through the wall of the chimney

 

[Vid]

Yes insulated liner after a thorough cleaning. No need for a clay thimble. You can just run the stainless through the wall of the chimney

Thanks for the advice! This solution is certainly tempting for it's comparative ease.
I don't think the thimble snout will make it all the way through the width of the chimney wall unfortunately. Hence my question about whether I can mate the SS and the stove pipe at either end of the thimble.
If the snout doesn't make it through, is it ok to put single wall through the field stones in the same manner or should I extend the snout with more stainless?

 

[bholler]

Thanks for the advice! This solution is certainly tempting for it's comparative ease.
I don't think the thimble snout will make it all the way through the width of the chimney wall unfortunately. Hence my question about whether I can mate the SS and the stove pipe at either end of the thimble.
If the snout doesn't make it through, is it ok to put single wall through the field stones in the same manner or should I extend the snout with more stainless?

The stainless needs to go through the masonry into the room