Roof Damage?

[Sue]

We have a quadrifire castile pellet stove in our basement. We use it to heat most of our home. It was installed in 2005 by a reputible company that is no longer in service. The vent pipe runs vertically from the basement, through the first floor, (through a drywalled dead space in one wall) the attic and roof. The cap is approximately 3 feet above the shingles and there are no other roof lines or dormers within at least 15 feet. Last spring we noticed that the shingles around the the vent pipe were curling up, (about a 3-4 foot radius from the pipe). The roof is not new and will probably need to be replaces in 5 years, but the shingles around the vent are damaged/weathered significantly more than the rest of the roof. The cap of the vent also has a lot of black soot on it. I don't know if that is normal. We went in the attic and inspected the underside of the roof and found no scorching or damage to the wood.

We had a local chimney place come in. I hired them because I wanted them to do a video inspection of the inside of the vent pipe to ensure that the pipe wasn't damaged. When they arrived, they said they couldn't do it because their equipment won't fit in the pipe. They did a visual inspection and decided that the vent pipe is way too short. They want to add 4 more feet of pipe to the existing vent pipe which would make the pipe stick up above the roof 6-7 feet. They said we need to do this because the original pipe wasn't installed up to code and the cap needs to be higher to make sure nothing catches on fire. They will charge us $625 for the additional 4 feet of pipe, a new cap, and bracing since the pipe will be so tall.

I called other dealers and installers of pellet stoves, as well as calling quadrifire. All the places, as well as quadrifire, said that the pipe did NOT need to be that long.

I'm concerned about safety. Is it normal for the shingles around the vent pipe to curl and wear out faster or could it just be because more heat is moving through the first floor dead space and rising to the roof? Is it normal for us to have soot on the end cap? Should we try to find another place to do a video inspection of the interior of the vent pipe or can we assume it is safe?

The first place already charged us almost $300 to clean the stove, visually inspect it, and give us an estimate for the additional vent pipe. I'm running out of money fast. We haven't been able to use the stove yet this year because we are concerned about safety. Please, can you give me some advise? We are located in central Michigan.

 

[WoodPorn]

Please post a pic of the described issue, My vent is less than 2 feet off of the shingles and it is up to code...

 

[smoke show]

My vent is less than 2 feet off of the shingles and it is up to code...

x2

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

You are going to be taken paying attention to them, consult your installation manual for the stove.

Shingles close to replacement age should not be walked on and likely the act of installing that vent is the cause of what you are seeing.

Then we would need to see the attic venting to determine if changes there is causing a major heat build up in the summer in that area.

A lot of attics are improperly vented, there is a clause in shingle warranties specifically to prevent shingle companies from being responsible for damage caused by this particular situation.

 

[Sue]

Here are some photos. The vent pipe is on the east side of the roof. There is an attic vent near it.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The vent needs to be cleaned and that is it.

It is normal to have soot at the termination cap.

The shingle mess is just normal shingle aging from what I'm seeing and has absolutely nothing to do with that vent.

Clearance from the bottom of that cap to the nearest portion of the roof must be at least 12" and that is all folks.

Now that vent should not be cleaned from the roof unless the stove is disconnected from the vent a number of folks have showed up on here after a so called professional sweep did a vent cleaning only to discover their stove wouldn't start up. It was full of ash that had been swept down the venting from on high.

You should at least once a season remove and clean that cap, even snaking a brush up from below won't guarantee that the screen up there will get clean.

Now about the interior flue have you done any burning of fuels other than wood pellets in the stove?

 

[Salty]

5 YEARS? That roof is failed NOW.

 

[boosted3g]

This looks like ice damage from snow melting during the day and freezing at night under the shingles.

 

[Salty]

Wow great picture of those govt planes that drop chemicals in the sky

I had someone tell me that this summer. Guy swore up and down they existed. Guess he was right

 

[P38X2]

Prob not any help and I THINK this only applies to wood stoves and FP's but in NH the code is known as 10/2. If your chimney pass through is within 10' of the roof ridge, the termination must be 2' above the height of the ridge. Again, I'm not even sure that applies to pellet stoves and it may differ in your state but this might be the code issue your chimney guy was referring to.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

This looks like ice damage from snow melting during the day and freezing at night under the shingles.

It is also roof wide which is a good indication that the roof has attic ventilation issues.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

Prob not any help and I THINK this only applies to wood stoves and FP's but in NH the code is known as 10/2. If your chimney pass through is within 10' of the roof ridge, the termination must be 2' above the height of the ridge. Again, I'm not even sure that applies to pellet stoves and it may differ in your state but this might be the code issue your chimney guy was referring to.

Yes, but not to a pellet appliance.

Those get installed by the installation manual and follow those clearances.

 

[smwilliamson]

Vent is fine and is up to code so long as you are using a pellet stove with forced draft. Any natural drafting stove hooked up to that stack will need to have the stack 2 feet higher than and roof horizontally within 10 feet. Chimney sweeps make terrible pellet stove techs. At least they are living up to their reputation as dubious conartists.

Shingles are doing what is called pocking. Basically the surface temp of the shingles is absorbing all of the heat from the sun. Your roof should have a ridge vent or power vents to conduct the heat from the shingles and disperse it outdoors.Commonly, folks jack insulation into the soffit and block the flow of cooler air from the soffits thus destroying the roof.

 

[Sue]

We burned corn/pellets 50/50 for maybe two weeks the first season. Other than that we only burn pellets. We've been getting good quality hardwood pellets.

Smokey, what do you mean by "interior flue"? Also, what is meant by , "roof wide?"

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The inner portion of the vent (interior flue) all over the roof in various degrees (roof wide).

 

[smwilliamson]

Yes, but not to a pellet appliance.

Those get installed by the installation manual and follow those clearances.

It applies to any natural draft pellet stove....though they are somewhat the way of the dinosaur....some still operate. Do not know the make and model we are speaking of here.

 

[smwilliamson]

Sorry...Castille insert...forced draft...my bad

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

It applies to any natural draft pellet stove....though they are somewhat the way of the dinosaur....some still operate. Do not know the make and model we are speaking of here.

It is a quad castile here.

I helped someone with a nice semi forced unit that needed the old natural draft and the installers left them with a short stack and plenty of smoke.

ETA: And the installation instructions covered the requirements in gorey detail.

 

[imacman]

5 YEARS? That roof is failed NOW.

I agree....roof needs replacing ASAP. Looks like a very dirty burn from that stove too.

 

[Salty]

I would go so far as to say to strip that roof is a must and reshingle. That roof looks 40-50 years old.

 

[rkshed]

5 YEARS? That roof is failed NOW.

Oh my God!
That roof is toast!
In 5 years you will surely have bucket catching water inside.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

I've seen worse, it is one stage below tarp city.

 

[Sue]

Replacing the roof was not the issue. We are planning on replacing that area. The rest is not bad at all and the other side looks very good. My questions had to do with the vent pipe, and if the roof is being damaged because of it. I want to know if I can use the stove and get comments on what we have been told by the workmen who we hired, (see original post).

 

[hockeypuck]

Focus here guys.. focus.. he is asking about his stove.. so what if he lives 10 miles from the sun.
I think the question has been well answered. The 10/2 rule may not apply for a pellet stove that has a forced draft. The owners manual would state what the appropriate length of pipe would be. My intuition tells me the stove installers are trying to drum up business. Stove pipe has nothing to do with the roof condition. Make sure you get some soffit and ridge vents installed when the new roof is being done.

 

[SmokeyTheBear]

The roof is not being damaged by that venting.