Newbie Looking For Help - New Stove//Chimney (Century FW300011)

[reggieohio]

I have never had a wood stove before, but I bought one two weeks ago. It's a Century FW300011. I haven't bought anything but the stove yet.

I've been looking through websites for information on installing the piping and chimney with a cathedral ceiling (which I have in my manufactured home). I think I have got the process pretty much down, but I'm looking for any advice or suggestions to keep in mind.

I'm also unsure where to buy from. I got the stove at Menard's here in town, and Menard's does sell piping and chimney equipment, but I'm not sure if I should purchase it there or else order a kit from another location. I have really only a limited idea of what I'm doing, but I can't afford to pay a few thousand dollars to have someone else install this.

I also don't have any wood as of yet. I could buy some for this year and I may end up doing that, but more then likely, I'll probably end up heating mostly with electric this winter unless I can get this thing ready to go fairly quickly. I'd appreciate any information or knowledge you might be able to share or offer me.

I'm a pretty humble guy and don't mind the advice or correction.

Nice to find this community.

-Reggie

 

[begreen]

Welcome Reggie. It's good that you are checking in advance, we all had to start somewhere. Rick should be chiming in soon. He has a Century in his shop. In the meantime, I would recommend reading this article, then downloading a stove pipe installation manual. Excellent ones are available for Simpson DuraVent and Selkirk Metalbestos pipe for example, on their websites. The install manual has piping diagrams and parts shown. You can also down load their catalogs so that you can come up with a parts list. It's ok to post your final list here for checking.

One thing to check is the location and size of ceiling joists in the roof and what their spacing is. That will determine where the cathedral ceiling box is set. Ideally this will be directly over the stove, you want the pipe to go straight up if possible. Another thing you could do is call Menards and ask the brand of pipe that they sell. Then you can compare parts and prices with an online service like: (broken link removed). Try to be sure you have all the pieces before starting.

articles:
https://www.hearth.com/econtent/index.php/articles/installing_a_woodstove
(broken link removed to http://www.woodstove.com/pages/prefab_chimney.html)

 

[reggieohio]

Thanks for the reply. I've read the articles you posted, and appreciated the info.

I do have a question...what is the most affordable option for a non-combustible floor surface? I didn't see those at Menard's, so I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking at.

-Reggie

 

[Bill]

Menards probably has everything you need, they usually have someone that can tell you everything you need for your installation. Prices are reasonable there also. Good luck

 

[begreen]

Probably the most affordable is to build your own, but it does take working with a variety of materials to achieve this. Otherwise you need to buy a hearthpad that is equivalent to 3/8" millboard in insulation value. Shop around and ask at local stove shops, Menards, Home Depot, etc.

 

[fossil]

...Rick should be chiming in soon. He has a Century in his shop...

Missed this one the other day, but was involved with reggie's thread on heat shielding. My stove is smaller, in fact reggie's now seen a pic of it as well as one of our old Lopi as examples of wall shielding. I didn't install either of our chimneys, though I did install the shop stove & connector pipe. Our new Lopi was a pro install through a cathedral ceiling and we had to put an offset in the connector pipe just below the ceiling support box because the stove location was fixed and there was, in fact, a rafter beam in the roof structure straight up from the stove collar. Rick

 

[reggieohio]

Tonight I'm headed to Lowes for the materials to build the hearth pad...also picking up 24 gauge sheet metal and hightemp paint for the wall shield. Then I'm hitting Menard's on the way home to buy my stove piping and chimney. I'm hoping to get most of the interior work done this weekend. Probably taking Friday off to get started.

This forum's been a big help, and I enjoy doing home improvement work, so all of the info has been like candy for me. I'll take pictures during the process and when I'm all done. It'll be a fairly simple setup...afterall, I'm only putting the thing in to conserve money and develop some independence from the electric company...but I hope it'll look nice when it's all said and done.

-Reggie

 

[fossil]

Reggie...don't forget you need to space that shield out 1" from the wall with non-combustible spacers. These can be simply metal spacers from some little bin or drawer in the hardware aisle where you find the screws to go through them into studs in the wall. Keep the bottom edge of the sheet metal about 1" off the floor, and don't put spacers or screws directly behind the stove. Good luck! Rick

 

[reggieohio]

Thanks Rick! Yeah, I was debating whether to use metal spacers from the drawer or furing strips made of Durock. I'll have to see when I get there.

-Reg