Removing a zero clearance fireplace chimney ?

[njdrt-rdr]

So I'm ready to remove my zc fireplace. Any idea how the chimney comes apart. It appears to be a 8 inch inside maybe a 10 inch pipe. Do I pull the inside out from the top so should I just be able to muscle it up off the stove, etc.

any insight would be appreciated.

My only thought would be to just take a sawzall to it, but I'm not sure what would happen once it's not connected to the fireplace box, will it fall into the house or should it be secured up on the roof.

For info, it's in a ranch house so it goes through the ceiling then the roof, straight up from the stove.
Here's a pic of what I'm dealing with.
Thanks,
Nick

 

[Moddoo]

Hello,
I just removed exactly the same unit from my fathers basement.
We ended up just muscling the lower portion out from under the chimney.
His chimmeny did not fall with the fireplace removed.
He wanted to keep the chimney so we could not start from the top.
I believe they are put together from the bottom up.

It is an 8 inch inside of the larger pipe.
My dads was something like 14"-16" OD.

It is fairly light weight and can be taken apart pretty well for disposal.
Caution, under the fire brick, there is some type of insulation that may be asbestos since it is so old.

Good Luck

 

[webbie]

That type of chimney was designed to go together and sometimes NOT to come apart. If you are not saving it, you can just flatten it, bend and take the scrap yard, etc.

If you do have to take it apart, don't try to do with every piece - just maybe 2 8 foot sections (each would be 2-4's), and you would have to pry around each outside joint and get it separated.

But, as I said before, it is designed not to come apart easilyl

 

[njdrt-rdr]

Thanks. I'm not exacty sure what I'm going to do yet.
I am installing a new free standing woodstove and I don't know if it's going in the same place as the fireplace or another place in the room. If it goes another place in the room, I will cut the pipe up in the attic, patch the ceiling and leave the roof structure intact until spring when I can patch the roof where it comes out. I'm thinking with the cap on as if it were still hooked to the fireplace, it should not leak when it rains.

If I put the new stove in the same place as the fireplace, I'm not sure how I will run the new chimney since it's so much smaller than the old one. It will be a 6 inch chimney. I will probably have to dismantle the current one including the structure on the roof and then figure out how to patch roof and install the new chimney at the same time.
I'm trying to at least get the firebox out now so that I can draw on the floor where the new hearth is going to go to get an idea of layout.

Thanks

 

[njdrt-rdr]

Well, that was rough, the chimney was actually 3 pipes and the outer two at least would not stay up if not connected to the stove. So I went up into the attic, drove a rod through them and then supported the rod with some wood. Then I could take enough section sapart so that it's no longer in the living room. Piece of plywood over the hole and took down two layers of tounge in groove wood to get to the sheet rock and the wall is a lovely shade of green. Also uncovered an electrical junction box behind that was covered by the fireplace. No idea if it's live yet so I'll just put a plate over it.