Hello. I have a Drolet Austral (first generation) wood stove that currently resides on the concrete floor in the center (more or less) of my basement (see picture below). The flue and chimney are a straight shot up through the center of the house. Total class A chimney is somewhere in the range of 22' to 25' and drafts with such vigor that I had to install a key damper in the double wall flue above the stove top to keep the beast from raging out of control (the key damper has to be employed regularly in the coldest months of the year in order to tame the draft). As I get older, I'm finding it more and more difficult (read painful) to load the stove from the floor, and I have come to admire (and dare I say, covet) Highbeam's straight forward utilitarian 18" hearth https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/image-jpg.265831/ constructed with standard cement blocks for his NC30. Bottom line is that I would like to raise my stove off of the floor in a similar manner so that it sits 18" to 24" above the basement floor, using cement blocks in a similar fashion to Highbeam's model.
In looking at my Drolet manual (page 15), it seems to indicate that I must have at least 20 inches from the stove top to an "unshielded combustible ceiling."
Likewise, my present dimensions with the stove standing on the concrete floor are:
1) 30 3/8" from the floor to the stove top, and
2) 61" from the stove top to the bottom of the ceiling box where the flue transitions into class A chimney.
So if I added a 24"cement block hearth under the stove, that would still leave me with 37" from the stove top to the ceiling box.
Am I correct in thinking that this plan sounds simple and feasible, legal and buttoned right up beyond any "minimum" code requirements?
Thank you one and all for any input you may see fit to provide.
In looking at my Drolet manual (page 15), it seems to indicate that I must have at least 20 inches from the stove top to an "unshielded combustible ceiling."
Likewise, my present dimensions with the stove standing on the concrete floor are:
1) 30 3/8" from the floor to the stove top, and
2) 61" from the stove top to the bottom of the ceiling box where the flue transitions into class A chimney.
So if I added a 24"cement block hearth under the stove, that would still leave me with 37" from the stove top to the ceiling box.
Am I correct in thinking that this plan sounds simple and feasible, legal and buttoned right up beyond any "minimum" code requirements?
Thank you one and all for any input you may see fit to provide.
