- Oct 3, 2007
- 1,539
I'm posting on behalf of a friend who isn't very internet saavy, so this is all second hand. He is in the process of finishing the basement of his cape cod, which was built with a central masonry (brick) chimney that runs up the center of the house, exiting near the peak of the roof. The chimney had served a gas furnace for probably the last 25 years or so. A high efficiency gas furnace was installed about two years ago (just before he moved in) and is vented out the side of the house via PVC pipe, so now the chimney is unused. He would now like to use it to vent a wood stove that would heat the finished basement, and hopefully provide some heat for the first floor as well. He was asking me if I thought he needed a liner, but I really have no experience in that regard. My masonry chimney serves my oil burner and my wood furnace is vented via it's own Class A stainless steel chimney.
He is pretty sure the flue is clay lined (there is clay sticking out of the top-I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing in terms of wood burning? In any event, I can help him with clearances, combustible/non-combustible surfaces, stove pipe, thimbles, etc...but if someone could help me with what to look for on his chimney to determine what the best course of action is I'd appreciate it.
He is pretty sure the flue is clay lined (there is clay sticking out of the top-I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing in terms of wood burning? In any event, I can help him with clearances, combustible/non-combustible surfaces, stove pipe, thimbles, etc...but if someone could help me with what to look for on his chimney to determine what the best course of action is I'd appreciate it.
