We are doing a major remodel on our house... at this point it is more of a "rebuild", as we aren't keeping much of the old house. What we are keeping is most of the original foundation. One of the aspects of the old house that we were hoping to keep is the basement fireplace and chimney, but more on that below...
The house was formerly a single story ranch with a full basement; when we are done it will be two-story with a basement. The chimney needed to more than double in height to meet code.
Unfortunately, we learned early-on in the project that the existing masonry chimney was not constructed well (it rocked 2" at the top), so it had to come down. It probably was not stable because it contained no steel, was poorly strapped to the wood frame of the house, and only the outside perimeter of the chimney was sitting on the foundation. The inside wall of the chimney was sitting on concrete block that itself rests on who knows what -- maybe the manufactured firebox? (haven't demolished that yet).
The chimney was on an exterior wall, so now that it is removed we have a roughly 2 foot deep by 4 foot wide bump out on the north wall of the house, near the northwest corner. Currently, I can look down into what is left of the former flue -- it's only a few feet down to the firebox, but there is a bit of debris in there so I can't yet see much.
Our General Contractor wants to build a framed chimney, with a stainless flue.
As for the fireplace, the previous (original) owner left us a bit of information. The fireplace itself is a manufactured unit -- a "Heatform Fireplace Model A". I don't yet have the size, but I have the original installation instructions. Into the fireplace, the previous owner installed an insert -- an Earth Stove model c-200, purchased in 1983. The insert is still installed, so I can't see the firebox to determine its size or condition.
When the insert was installed, it was vented directly into the masonry chimney... no liner or new flue.
As I said above, we would like this to be a working, wood-burning fireplace. We like the stone around the existing fireplace, so we were thinking of installing a new EPA-certified, high efficiency insert.
Our General Contractor had his fireplace installer give us pricing on a few different inserts -- Pacific Energy "super" and "vista" and Enviro Kodiak 1200 and 1700. This installer told us that we should definitely install an insert that can bring in outside air for combustion; his reason was to not waste heat from inside the house. He also said that there is no way to connect a new stainless chimney to the old fireplace (i.e., the Heatform), although he could not see the old fireplace nor did he know that it is a Heatform model. He did know that it is a manufactured unit (vs masonry).
I went to a local hearth dealer to get a 2nd opinion, and, among other things, he recommended that I post here to the forums. Besides that, his concerns were as follows:
1) He was concerned about such a tall chimney on an outside wall, so he said that I definitely should install something that brings in outside combustion air. So, I got this same recommendation from both guys, but for entirely different reasons. The hearth dealer wasn't aware of any inserts that meet this criteria. I checked the Pacific Energy "super" model that was bid by the G.C's contractor and it appears that it does have the option for outside combustion air. Maybe the others do also... I haven't checked yet.
2) The hearth dealer was also concerned that I would fail inspection with an insert unless we rebuild the existing chimney so that the existing "Heatform" firebox is correctly vented. He explained that this may mean that I have to pay now for a chimney AND a correctly-sized liner for the new insert. He explained that if only the insert is connected to a new chimney, someone may someday remove the insert and build a fire in the old fireplace... a recipe for disaster if the old fireplace is not connected correctly to a chimney flue. He explained that it may be less expensive to take down the whole fireplace and install a new one (i.e., replace the "Heatform" with a modern firebox, rather than put a new insert in it.)
If this is to remain a wood-burning fireplace/stove of some kind, what is our best option? All of the options that have been presented to me are expensive, and if I'm going to spend the money I want to do this right. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
The house was formerly a single story ranch with a full basement; when we are done it will be two-story with a basement. The chimney needed to more than double in height to meet code.
Unfortunately, we learned early-on in the project that the existing masonry chimney was not constructed well (it rocked 2" at the top), so it had to come down. It probably was not stable because it contained no steel, was poorly strapped to the wood frame of the house, and only the outside perimeter of the chimney was sitting on the foundation. The inside wall of the chimney was sitting on concrete block that itself rests on who knows what -- maybe the manufactured firebox? (haven't demolished that yet).
The chimney was on an exterior wall, so now that it is removed we have a roughly 2 foot deep by 4 foot wide bump out on the north wall of the house, near the northwest corner. Currently, I can look down into what is left of the former flue -- it's only a few feet down to the firebox, but there is a bit of debris in there so I can't yet see much.
Our General Contractor wants to build a framed chimney, with a stainless flue.
As for the fireplace, the previous (original) owner left us a bit of information. The fireplace itself is a manufactured unit -- a "Heatform Fireplace Model A". I don't yet have the size, but I have the original installation instructions. Into the fireplace, the previous owner installed an insert -- an Earth Stove model c-200, purchased in 1983. The insert is still installed, so I can't see the firebox to determine its size or condition.
When the insert was installed, it was vented directly into the masonry chimney... no liner or new flue.
As I said above, we would like this to be a working, wood-burning fireplace. We like the stone around the existing fireplace, so we were thinking of installing a new EPA-certified, high efficiency insert.
Our General Contractor had his fireplace installer give us pricing on a few different inserts -- Pacific Energy "super" and "vista" and Enviro Kodiak 1200 and 1700. This installer told us that we should definitely install an insert that can bring in outside air for combustion; his reason was to not waste heat from inside the house. He also said that there is no way to connect a new stainless chimney to the old fireplace (i.e., the Heatform), although he could not see the old fireplace nor did he know that it is a Heatform model. He did know that it is a manufactured unit (vs masonry).
I went to a local hearth dealer to get a 2nd opinion, and, among other things, he recommended that I post here to the forums. Besides that, his concerns were as follows:
1) He was concerned about such a tall chimney on an outside wall, so he said that I definitely should install something that brings in outside combustion air. So, I got this same recommendation from both guys, but for entirely different reasons. The hearth dealer wasn't aware of any inserts that meet this criteria. I checked the Pacific Energy "super" model that was bid by the G.C's contractor and it appears that it does have the option for outside combustion air. Maybe the others do also... I haven't checked yet.
2) The hearth dealer was also concerned that I would fail inspection with an insert unless we rebuild the existing chimney so that the existing "Heatform" firebox is correctly vented. He explained that this may mean that I have to pay now for a chimney AND a correctly-sized liner for the new insert. He explained that if only the insert is connected to a new chimney, someone may someday remove the insert and build a fire in the old fireplace... a recipe for disaster if the old fireplace is not connected correctly to a chimney flue. He explained that it may be less expensive to take down the whole fireplace and install a new one (i.e., replace the "Heatform" with a modern firebox, rather than put a new insert in it.)
If this is to remain a wood-burning fireplace/stove of some kind, what is our best option? All of the options that have been presented to me are expensive, and if I'm going to spend the money I want to do this right. Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Jeff
