QUESTION ON NEW BLOCK CHIMNEY IM GOING TO BUILD

[jakep]

Im going to build a block chimney on the side of my house the question i have is what kind of a footer do i need or do i need one at all? The block will be sitting on my driveway concrete and i will tie the chimney into the house of course with straps. should i bust up concrete and pour a footer? i live in northwest pa it gets cold here also chimney will probably be around 20 feet tall.Is there any write ups on people building theses thanks in advance.

 

[4acrefarm]

I am not an expert, but I do assume you need to be below the frost line and wider than the chimney. I would check with the building inspector. Good luck.

 

[bigburner]

you need to saw cut the drive, it's better for finish at the end. get down below frost, in my area it's 42 inches and it should be bigger then the block 4" on 3 sides. [assume 2500psi soil bearning] A bigger question would be why are you building one, unless it a fireplace type unit, you might be on the wrong path. Condensation is the biggest killer of chimney's, I would do some due diligence on what you need. with something more high tech the masonry route may not be for you.

 

[Chris S]

Definitely a footer for a chimney. I was at a house where this was not done properly, and the top of the chimney was 3" out of plumb ( 3" away from the house ) Straps would not do anything once that happens.
My only solution at that point was to take it down and start again.

 

[Gator eye]

Sense I was putting the stove in the basement, I dug my chimney footing down to the house footing. I went 6 inches wider than the block and 8 inches thick.