Query on new chimney, new stove

[john45]

The chimney is built but not enclosed, the new stove (HearthStone Heritage) is sitting on the floor.

Originally, I'd planned to use wood studs, sheetrock, shields, wall thimbles, metalbestos passthroughs, and so on to re-enclose the chimney. Someone suggested using steel studs and Durock or Wonderboard, neither of which have I any experience with--and saving myself worries about flammable materials.

Is it as simple as setting up the steel studs and attaching the Durock and then passing my single-wall stovepipe through the Durock and into the thimble? Is attaching the Durock tricky?

 

[Shane]

I assume your talking about a new masonry chimney. If that is the case then get a copy of NFPA211 (your local inspectors office will have one) and look at 9.7 (211-27 through 211-28)

 

[john45]

Thanks for the fast reply, Shane. Yes, it's a masonry chimney. Inspectors are a long long way off from here. Does the publication lay out specifications, code, and standards?

 

[Shane]

It is the codebook it tells you exactly how to do things. Ask Elkimmeg he is an inspector and often offers to scan and post pages from NFPA for folks.

 

[elkimmeg]

Thanks for the fast reply, Shane. Yes, it's a masonry chimney. Inspectors are a long long way off from here. Does the publication lay out specifications, code, and standards?

John you do realize you will be playing with fire? can you post pictures of what you are doing? Some of my inspections are 25 mile
round trip, yet I still make the rounds. You do have a permit? If I were that far from town offices and realizing any situation that occures, the response time for help, I would doubly make sure, the install is up to code.

 

[john45]

Hi Elkimmeg--

I appreciate the concern. I do indeed want to do a safe installation which is why I'm inquiring here and why I surely won't do a thing without consulting NFPA211 and ultimately seeing if I can get a fire person out to check the work. But I'm way out in the sticks--no permit is required; there is no fire department in my town and no such thing as an inspector or code officer.

The masonry chimney is brand-new--I didn't dump all that money into it just to burn my house down!

The old chimney and stove and connection were common-sense as opposed to code, but in 33 years of heavy operation in a cold climate caused no problems.

Sorry, I have no way of posting photos. Picture a chimney surrounded on three sides by wall, several inches away. Two of those walls could conceivably come down, one can't. I have to frame the space and cover it. Do I run the pipe through combustible or noncombustible material?

I can certainly build a sheetrock wall with wall thimble and so on and do it that way. My preference at this point is to go with steel studs and noncombustible wallboard to cut down on the complications, but that method of construction is new territory for me. Is it a bad idea, do you think?

 

[elkimmeg]

Steel studs are easy to work with the can be cut with tin snips. The botton an top plates are steel channels,that the metal studs set into, then sheet metal screwed both sides top and bottom. Use self tapping sheet metal screws about 1/2" long. The trick with installing sheet rock or wonder board, is to screw it top and bottom first and work towards the middle. Cement board can be cut with a utility knife scored each side.

What Shane was refering to is NFPA 211 wall penetrations. Single wall connector pipe cannot pass threw a wall, whether combustiable or not. Dry wall paper facing is considered combustiable, How ever it may be passed threw if the correct thimble is used and cllass A double wall pipe starts 18" from the wall and continues threw the thimble. Once Class A pipe is introduced to the run,
It has to continue. One can not switch back to single wall, except making the final connection to a masonery chimney.

I am still having problems trying to figure out what you are doing, when it comes to wall passage, then connecting to a new chimney