heat sink hearth/flue enclosure

[NickR]

My cabin-to-be-built (east central Maine) will have at least two flues, one for the boiler in the basement and one for the wood stove in the living room in the main floor. I am considering putting the stove in a stone or masonry hearth and running the boiler flue through it as well for both decorative and heat sink purposes. The living room has a cathedral ceiling and I am a little concerned about the cost and engineering of taking the stone all the way to the ceiling. At this point I'm considering an extension of the foundation walls to support the hearth and perhaps just taking the stone up 7 feet or so, with exposed flue above that.

I'd appreciate any clever ideas, warnings etc. about any or all of the flues, the stone work and the foundation. My contractor hasn't found a mason yet and I'd like to be prepared to discuss the project intelligently. Thanks for your thoughts. Nick R.

 

[swestall]

The masonary structure of the chimneys is built as a stand along structure, including extended hearths, etc. They have their own footing and are built up all the way to the top. If I had it to do again, I would have the flue path engineered so that they were a straight shot vertically; this would enable you to utilize class a stainless within the masonary structure (yes the stone work becomes for looks). this approach will make it easy to maintain over the life of the house. If the stack has a problem then you can pull the stainless, replace the problem section and drop it back down. This is kind of lining ahead of time and will make the installation a breeze. The one thing you have to fix in on is the size of the flue. Most stoves seem to use 6 inch but a few use 8 inch. Unless you are committed to an 8 inch stove, I'd try to find one with a 6 inch need. As far as routing the boiler flue, I am not sure how much heat gain you will get in the stone, esp. since you may use vented SS liner, but it certainly can't hurt. I would be more concerned with the straight vertical routing to assure ease of maintenance forever.

 

[Hogwildz]

Make that chimney a chase and use stone veneer, still looks great and less cost in material and labor than stone.