Flue HELP stove install

[Jstima37]

I'm still working on figuring out where to install a wood stove in house based on what I can do and I need your guys help trying to figure it out. Thanks in advance! I attached some picks with this thread that might help.

So I have one flue that to my knowledge is free and does not have anything venting into it. My middle Flue is for my gas see through fireplace ( can't get an insert it's see through ) and the other flue has hot water heater venting through it ( could get a power vent hot water heater but i just installed that hot water heater and don't want to drop another $800). So I climbed on my roof and found rocks in this flue about 3 feet down. I cleared the rocks using a shop vac. After I cleared the rocks I found concrete. I hammer drilled the concrete out. After that there was bricks. I busted out some of the bricks. I gave up because i'm not sure how far down the bricks go. I did some research and found out this could be a fake / dummy flue to make the house look like it has more burners. The weird thing is though the clay tile continues to go down and when people put a dummy flue in it is usually just at the top. I'm about 6 FT down and i'm still in the clay tile busting out bricks inside the clay tile. I don't want to damage anything. So with that I have a few questions.

1. Should I stop busting out the brick inside the clay tile will i damage something structural?
2. If it is a fake flue if it get's me inside the chimney cavity can't i just put in a pipe anyway even if it doesn't have clay tile all the way down?


THANKS for your help!

 

[double-d]

Clay tiles are not a structural part of the chimney. Many older chimneys don't have them, and some newer ones have broken them out to install a stainless liners and insulation. Yours is what is called a 12 x 12 clay tile, 10 x 10 inside.
That is large to install a liner and insulation it you are looking to install a stove. As long as this is still part of the chimney I would continue on, and see where it leads.

 

[barnaclebob]

On the last season of This Old House they dropped a bunch of rocks and bricks down an abandoned chimney to make sure nobody would try to use it again if they opened up the old fireplace from the inside. Any possibility of something like that hidden in the walls?

 

[Jstima37]

UPDATE:

Thanks for advise so far! Can't do it without you guys. So I went a little further and here is what I got. The orange clay flue ended and now there is a black type of material that seems like a different material than the orange clay flue. Some of it broke apart on the side when I tapped it with a screw driver. I'm hoping I can put a round pipe or liner down to the basement still and hook it up to a wood stove. What do you guys think now? I definitely don't want to hurt anything structural. Below is another pick of the progress I made since my last post.

 

[Jstima37]

There could be something like that in the walls. On the original post I posted what it looks like in the basement blocks or cinder type blocks. They all look very intact like they have never been disturbed before so I don't really think there was ever a stove or something hidden in the walls.

 

[double-d]

It appears that someone spent a lot of time placing the stones exactly where they wanted them, to close off and fill the flue. It looks like the clay tiles are ending and you now have a cement or block flue. I do not see the black material that you referred to. Still looks like a liner and insulation should work.

 

[begreen]

Note that this appears to be a relatively short chimney. If the final height is <15' some stoves will perform poorly and that is before 90º turns are added.