Need advice on old chimney/piping options

[weldit88]

Ok I have lurked here for a long time typically in the wood pile and gear forums. I bought a house built in 1915 that has been updated reasonably in terms of insulation,interior and exterior in June of 2012. Last year due to the fact that the main source of heat was fuel oil venting through the original brick and mortar chimney and the secondary was a wood/coal furnace in the basement installed incorrectly and into a block chimney that was severely cracked on the exterior of the house and has since been taken down, I installed a wood stove on the first floor to code and with double wall pipe up the exterior side of the house. However this year the original slate roof has started to leak and I have decided to have a metal roof put on in its place I am planning on taking down the original brick and mortar chimney which is unlined down below the attic roof line to ease in the installation and eliminate the massive hole in the roof however this is still where the fuel oil furnace vents from. I kept the house warm 100 percent on wood last fall and winter and only ran the fuel oil in the shoulder season of the spring. I do want to to keep the option of utilizing the chimney for running the flues for both the fuel oil furnace and the coal/wood furnace in the basement but am wondering if anyone has any idea on transitioning through the attic and the roof or recomendations on how to go about this before the work takes place. I am more than willing to help with whatever measurements needed and or suggestions I just hope that someone has experienced this before, I do not want to use the chimney itself for the venting but more as a existing utility chase to route new piping without the need of demolition and rerouting.

Another option I have considered is to eliminate the fuel oil furnace and install a electric furnace for the backup and to ease the burden on my family when I am not there for extended periods of time but only if the cost of the change is relative to the cost updating the piping for this

 

[jharkin]

A couple of questions just to make sure you are not making this more difficult and expensive than it needs to be.

#1 - the roof...
Are you sure it really needs to be replaced? Have you had a skilled slate specialist look at it? Slate roofs can actually last well over 100 years, Ive heard of examples pushing close to twice that age and still serviceable. What tends to happen is that the flashing rots out or a couple slates here and there break but those can typically be repaired much cheaper than wholesale roof replacement. That and roofers who don't know slate try to patch leaks with gobs of tar I read that the threshold for replacement being the best/cheapest option is when over 30% of the slates are broken or significantly delaminating.

#2 - the brick chimney...
You said that its lined above the roofline but unlined below that. By lined do you mean clay tile lined? and only from the roof up? That's really odd.
Just like the roof, I'm thinking that it might be cheaper to just keep it and run metal liners through the two furnace flues than demolish and have to build new metal chimneys and chases for them later.

 

[weldit88]

to clarify

question 1. the roof is roughly 100 years old and has had zero real maintenance to it the bottom 5 feet all around the roof had lost the slates over the years and the previous owners throughtout the years just kept shoving shingles in place of them and tar over top, most of the nails are exposed on the slates and most are held in place with tar or silicone.

Question 2:

I should of worded it better. The chimney is 12 by 12 roughly interior dimension and is completely unlined. I intend to remove it to below the roof line into the attic keeping the chimney in place through the rest of the house to act as a chase what I am looking for is how to go about and or what metal piping can be used in the chimney and then up through the roof line which I would assume would need to be triple wall or such.

Example: thought was can I run just a steel chimney liner rigid or flex from the connections in the basement through the chimney and then were the chimney ends in attic tie into say double or triple wall to go up through the roof.

Also I know the flue requirement for the coal wood furnace is 8" but I do not know the venting requirement for the fuel oil furnace also it is dated to the mid 70's so that was the reason for looking for suggestions on cost of pipe to do this verse conversion to electric for a secondary heat source.

 

[begreen]

Whatever liner you run up the chimney chase for wood/coal burning will need to be insulated. I'm not sure about the oil furnace requirements, it may be ok with stainless uninsulated.

 

[chimneylinerjames]

You can use a flexible chimney liner with insulation in the masonry part of the chimney. Then there is a transition plate that will accept the liner on the bottom side and Class A chimney pipe on the top. It gets mounted securely to the brick and is the best option for what you want to do.

The coal/wood stove and furnace would need separate flues. They cannot share one liner. Solid burning appliances need insulation, for gas and oil it is not required but recommended. Insulation will always improve draft.

 

[weldit88]

Thank you james I was able to find the products to do what you are saying now I just need to determine my course of action.

 

[jharkin]

question 1. the roof is roughly 100 years old and has had zero real maintenance to it the bottom 5 feet all around the roof had lost the slates over the years and the previous owners throughtout the years just kept shoving shingles in place of them and tar over top, most of the nails are exposed on the slates and most are held in place with tar or silicone.

Got it. Yup that sounds like new roof time. Shame that previous owners cut corners (Sounds familiar) , or you might not have had to do anything.

 

[weldit88]

Ya there is a lot of things that make me shake my head at times but I guess that comes with old houses.