My flue installers are on crack/ cap fell down?

[squngel]

Okay, after finally figuring out that my stove wasn't burning properly cuz the flue was too short, and convincing the installer to come out and lengthen it, wondering why I hadn't heard from them about when they were coming out (I'd been out of town a few days, had left them out of town # and hadn't heard from them), I am out back getting some wood today, glance over at stack & notice it is indeed 2 feet taller. Something else about it looks different, but exactly what that is doesn't immediately register. So a minute ago, being the paranoid noob that I am, I wander out to look at the stack agaiin just to make surre it isn't on fire or something because I've got a heck of a scary fire going in the stove, and I notice that the little hat-shaped collar thingie has fallen down or something and is hanging around the flashing & stuff just where the flue exits the roof. I think this thing was once on the top of the stack. Is it safe to keep burning tonight & call the guys in the morning, or am I gonna start a fire or something without it?

Edit: right now the flue looks like a long tube with two flat disks at the top with air space in between the disks. You can see where the top of it is discolored from smoke. I think this thing that fell down maybe fastens around the top disk, and obscures that darkened part where the air channels are ?(?)

 

[Jimbob]

My guess is that they put a different cap on there, and forgot to take the old one with them.... :smirk:
Does the thing with the 2 flat disks look like it could be a rain cap of sorts? Can you snap a pic of it?

 

[jtp10181]

Sounds like maybe part of the flue cap fell off, but not all of it? A lot of people run their stoves all winter with no cap on the flue. Some areas require the spark arrestor, which is supposed to keep your roof form starting on fire I guess. Otherwise from what I know it is perfectly safe / legal.

Now... before you said a section of your roof was within 6ft of the flue cap? Correct? And they extended it about 2ft taller? It still wont meet the 2/10 rule then. I think someone needs to buy this dealer a code book for xmas.

 

[tradergordo]

picture. caps can't slide down the chimney and there should be a collar thingy around the flashing at the bottom. Probably nothing wrong.

 

[squngel]

no digital camera . Have to get one soon, need it for this forum.

I cannot tell just by looking up at it whether the highest disk (they are about 6" apart, at the top of the flue) is covered on top, or if the stack is open on top. Tho common sense tells me it must *cover* the top, since the piece that appears to have fallen down is a truncated cone which wouldn't have covered the top of the stack in any case, or it wouldn't have been able to slip down and around the bottom of the flue like it has.

 

[webbie]

Prefab fireplace? Masonry? Tell us more

 

[squngel]

Sounds like maybe part of the flue cap fell off, but not all of it? A lot of people run their stoves all winter with no cap on the flue. Some areas require the spark arrestor, which is supposed to keep your roof form starting on fire I guess. Otherwise from what I know it is perfectly safe / legal.

Now... before you said a section of your roof was within 6ft of the flue cap? Correct? And they extended it about 2ft taller? It still wont meet the 2/10 rule then. I think someone needs to buy this dealer a code book for xmas.

Why wouldn't it meet the 10-2 rule? Since it was level with these peaks before, it is now 2 ft taller than they are.

 

[squngel]

Prefab fireplace? Masonry? Tell us more

Freestanding wood stove, brand new flue straight up from stove, class A melalbestos double-wall downstairs triple wall upstairs. No masonry.

 

[Jimbob]

Try rooting through the site linked below to see if you can find pictures and descriptions of what you are seeing up there.
http://www.selkirkinc.com/

 

[squngel]

Try rooting through the site linked below to see if you can find pictures and descriptions of what you are seeing up there.
http://www.selkirkinc.com/

Excellent! If you go to the link you provided and hover the mouse over the word "Chimney" in red type on the left side of the page, a triptych of chimney pics appears. Right now the top of my flue looks like the center pic, at least from the ground (I don't have an angle on it to see if it's actually covered)

It didn't look like this before. I believe the open-ended truncated cone-shaped piece that appears to have fallen down may have been attached to the very top, because before there was no view of the air vent holes. This is especially obvious because they have been discolored by smoke, and this discoloration was obscured before. Before the stack just looked like a long steel tube with a cone-shaped steel hat on it.

I will try to find a pic of what fell down.

 

[squngel]

Sorry, can't find a pic of what fell down. I'd just wait until tomorrow & call flue installer or Selkirk to get this question answered, but it's supposed to get downto 17 tonight here and I *really* don't want to try to do without heat.

 

[squngel]

picture. caps can't slide down the chimney and there should be a collar thingy around the flashing at the bottom. Probably nothing wrong.

There is a collar around the flashing at the bottom; it's always been there. So the piece that fell down is actually hanging around the collar, not the flashing. (Sorry, was trying to make my description a little simpler.)

 

[Jimbob]

The piece in the centre pic is DEFINITELY a chimney cap, so you're ok there. The thing around the base of the chimney might be a different type of storm collar.

 

[squngel]

The piece in the centre pic is DEFINITELY a chimney cap, so you're ok there. The thing around the base of the chimney might be a different type of storm collar.

Thank you very much, Jimbob! And storm collar sounds like a pretty good guess to me for what the other thing is.

 

[Jimbob]

No prob. :coolsmile:

 

[squngel]

hehe... I hope everything is indeed okay in there because I think I just started a small fire inside it... started off with sticks, 4-5 2" dogwood rounds, when it was really going threw on a big piece of sassafrass & then a big honkin piece of hickory. Noise coming from flue like never before & had to damp the thing all the way down, still burning like gangbusters. Might burn down the house, but at least I won't freeze to death. :cheese:

 

[Jimbob]

Good way to break that puppy in!.... :lol:

 

[paulslush]

If they added an other section of pipe it may be an extra band to secure the joint in the pipe. The new section would have come with one so there would be an extra one.

 

[jtp10181]

Sounds like maybe part of the flue cap fell off, but not all of it? A lot of people run their stoves all winter with no cap on the flue. Some areas require the spark arrestor, which is supposed to keep your roof form starting on fire I guess. Otherwise from what I know it is perfectly safe / legal.

Now... before you said a section of your roof was within 6ft of the flue cap? Correct? And they extended it about 2ft taller? It still wont meet the 2/10 rule then. I think someone needs to buy this dealer a code book for xmas.

Why wouldn't it meet the 10-2 rule? Since it was level with these peaks before, it is now 2 ft taller than they are.

Ahhh... did not realize those were peaks, sounds good.