Mid 80s free standing stove installion, now it is a problem?

[lone_hawk]

I have a free standing Timberline wood burning stove. It was installed back in the 80s by a previous owner. Looking at the installtion, this wasn't a homeowner installion I don't think.

Now, we are relocating and the inspector says that the hearth does not extend far enough from the sides and front of the stove.

The stove is placed on concrete filled cinder blocks which makes the hearth 4 inches or so larger than the stove itself.

Now the inspector says it has to be 16 inches.

Shouldn't something like this be grandfathers 20 years later?

I would love to have some advice here. We are running out of money

 

[edthedawg]

If you're moving the stove and the inspector is involved, he can't grandfather it. It becomes a new installation. He becomes responsible for it.

What you do with it after he signs off on it, is your own business.

But unless you can find documentation for the stove showing minimum required floor protection dimensions are conforming as-is, you should maintain the default of 16" (I thought it was 18" now, actually). Stove docs override code minimums.

There are plenty of ways to build attractive, cost-effective, large hearths. Many folks here can help w/ that, plus there are lots of articles and forum posts available on this topic.

One final thing to consider would be the R-rating of your hearth / floor protection. If the docs don't specify an R-value, the code might mandate a minimum. 6" of concrete ~= R0.6
Not sure where that falls wrt the code min's.

Good luck and welcome to the Hearth!

 

[Jags]

Now, we are relocating and the inspector says that the hearth does not extend far enough from the sides and front of the stove.

Thats the kicker. If you or it moves----its gotta be brought up to code. I am not a code freak, but I would HIGHLY suggest all clearance to combustibles be at or above code for SAFETY reasons. That includes the hearth pad. Just my opinion.

 

[fossil]

The way I read your post, you're selling your home and the home inspector noted this as a deficiency...the type of thing the buyers will require be corrected prior to closing the deal. The stove is staying put in the home you're leaving...is that correct? If so, there are a number of ways this can be taken care of. First thing to do is to nail down the exact description of the stove and see if you can dig up the original owner's manual clearance & hearth requirements. Rick

 

[firefighterjake]

Agreed . . . sounds like the stove needs to be brought up to current code requirements in terms of clearances, hearth dimensions, etc. . . . if this is your own woodstove it seems to me that it would be a good thing simply for the safety standpoint . . . and if it is as Fossil suggested . . . required for a home sale . . . it would be a good thing just for the peace of mind that you left things safe for the next homeowner.

If this is your own stove I would highly recommend going with more than the 18 inch requirement for a hearth if possible . . . hot embers and ash will fall out on to the hearth and better to have a little more hearth to catch the hot embers than a carpet, wood floor, etc.

If you are selling and just need to fix this to make the Home Inspector happy you can do a quick and easy fix by throwing down a large sheet of listed Durock (or other listed floor protection) . . . or buy a pre-made hearth at a local stove shop (a little . . . OK, a lot . . . more money . . . but better looking . . . and you gain good karma by knowing that you left the new homeowners in a safe environment.)

As Fossil and Edthedawg mentioned it would be very useful to check the stove specs for clearances, hearth requirements and R-value requirements . . . although I would still go with a larger hearth . . . if nothing else to simply keep things safe.

 

[begreen]

If I understand correctly, it sounds like it just needs to be extended 4" on each side and enough in front to provide 18" hearth. Is that correct? Have you asked the inspector what he would approve? He might ok a surround of bricks or patio blocks on top of some durock. I can appreciate that money is tight, but this would be under $50 and an afternoon's work.

Just curious, have you asked if the buyer plans on using or keeping the stove? If their intent is to replace it or demolish the location for a remodel, maybe they would accept it being removed?

 

[Hurricane]

The home inspector gets paid to point out possible issues. The buyer chooses to follow their recommendations or not. If I were the buyer I would likely follow the recommendation.
If you argue it you may scare the buyer away, and will not win going against the buyers inspector. You can speak with the home buyer and agree what should be done, they may say do nothing and take off a small amount and we will fix it.

If the inspector works for the town and you need to re-certify for the Certificate of Occupancy to sell it you need to do whatever they say or you will never be allowed to close a sale.

 

[BrotherBart]

Four inches on each side wasn't legal in 1980. There ain't nothin to grandfather.

 

[don_faithful]

I didn't realize that NC has similar hearth pad requirements to Canada. The ember protection here for a continuous non-combustible pad is 8" on the sides except for any side with a loading door where the minimum would be 18". So the pad is at least 16" (8 + 8) to 26" (18 + 8) wider than the stove itself depending on width or depth. The thermal protection depends on the length of the legs although the general idea is to use hollow blocks to allow for air flow. All of this is for something uncertified or in situations where the certification cannot be confirmed maybe because of a missing label. But 4" on each side definitely sounds inadequate to me in terms of ember protection. I tend to tell people to go crazy and go the extra few inches. People might call you insane to put 12" on all the sides and 30" at the loading side. You only live once so why not be a rebel.

 

[lone_hawk]

Thank you for your replies. I will keep all of them in mind when I talk to the contractor today.

We are moving from Maryland to North Carolina.

We had the home inspected by a licensed inspector last year. The hearth was not on the list of things that had to be fixed.

Now the corporate buyout company had an inspector come in, he listed it.

Honestly, we are so exhausted by all the BS that we are dealing with that we are having a contractor come in today and give me estimates on this issue and a couple of others.

Thanks again!

 

[begreen]

Take a deep breath l_h it will be over soon. It can be a tedious process, but hopefully the new home will make up for it. What part of NC are you moving to?

 

[lone_hawk]

Well, we are 11 business days from closing on the house in NC, it is a very stressful situation The new house is just outside of Fuquay Varina, NC. About 15 miles SW of Raleigh. I am so looking forward to waking up in NC After we get down there, I will be back with new questions, the new house has a fireplace with gas logs in the den, and gas logs in a non-chimney fireplace in the basement. Once I am there I want to check out what is there before we use them in the winter.