Smoke shelf confusion! Please help...

[lkb1450]

Hi all, I've gotten a lot of great woodburning info already from the forums, hoping y'all can help me with my fireplace conundrum. I have a block house built in 1948, about 780 square feet. It has a brick chimney with two flues, one running from the basement up, the other coming from a fireplace in the living room. Last winter my girlfriend and I installed an insulated liner in the basement flue running to a fisher papa bear stove. This heated the basement very well, but only got the top of the house to around 58-60 degrees, even after I cut registers into the floor. Consequently, now we want to install an insert in the main level fireplace. The problem is that the firebox necks down into about a 4" x 18" opening before entering the flue proper. I guess this is the "smoke shelf?" I am confused about how to approach lining this flue. Are there adapters available for situations like this? Do I need to get out the cold chisel and start hacking into the bricks?

Thanks!
Lucas

 

[Jags]

Is this the steel fireplace damper or the actual stone work?

Nevermind - reread with the brain turned on...

I am not aware of any adapter for this application. Removal is probably gonna be the only choice, but take caution - you are messing with tons of weight above you. Maybe get a licensed sweep/chimney guy in for a look.

 

[chimneylinerjames]

Yep get the hammer and chisel out. The smoke shelf is not a load bearing part of the chimney. Have your way with it. Make it plenty large enough for the liner to pass through with insulation and room to play with. The larger the opening the easier it will be to install the liner.

 

[webby3650]

Take out the damper plate, then cut through the damper frame with a sawzall. Then a few bricks should come right out without much trouble. It only takes a few minutes, well worth the time!

 

[lkb1450]

Cool, thanks for the input! There is no damper or metal in there at all, just some rotten looking masonry. I guess maybe I will get a sweep over for a little while to make sure nothing is structural?