Stainless steel chimney crown cover

[Blazingembers7749]

You can do that. For some class a pipe you can buy (roof support brackets) they are basically L shaped brackets, in this case theres a collar that attatches to the pipe and the L brackets mount to the collar and the roof or whatevers supporting the load of the pipe in your case angle iron/masonry/backer board/whatever u end up using. If you can use this type of support it would be easy to support the pipe first then put the chase cap on. Like ive said theres more than one way to accomplish this so if you have a sound plan go with that.

 

[Blazingembers7749]

Oh if its a liner use a top plate same idea

 

[Blazingembers7749]

If you need me to be a little better at explaining that just let me know and i will try to better explain based on your situation.

 

[fire_man]

Thanks Blazingembers

I have a single wall rigid liner that currently pops out of a very uneven masonry crown from a 13"x13" clay liner. I was planning on cutting the clay liner flush with the crown since Rockford said that would make for a simpler setup and better water seal rather than getting the chase cover made to fit over the clay liner.

I'll try to get some pictures later this week. We have bad T-storms right now!

 

[fire_man]

I learned by reading/watching Utubes and by making mistakes.
My work did not come out perfect but an experienced Chimney builder said my finished job looked fine. It was a super fun project.

I'm thrilled with the stainless crown cover - it was so much better than the alternative rework.

 

[fire_man]

I took Bholler advice and got a diamond wheel for my angle grinder which helped alot.

 

[Chimchimery]

I am in the same boat as fire_man and looking at SS Chase Cover. I've had two chimney inspectors at my house and both want to patch my crown and put a sealant on top of that work. Then put some cover on. One suggested a galvanized and the other SS. My chimney is 73" by 29.75 inches on one side and 28.75 inches on the other side. I have for years for crown sealer on it, but it doesn't last but a couple years. I would redo the crown, but I have a concrete patio below it and my wife wants me to avoid too much work up there.

Any thoughts? Can I put a SS chase right over the crown? Does the crown need to be fixed first?

 

[fire_man]

I think @bholler prefer's pouring a new proper crown but that was way more work than I wanted to deal with.

As longs as its structurally sound I would top it with a Stainless (NOT galvanized) cover.
Maybe patch up the loose crumbling stuff first.
I got sick and tired of constantly adding sealant and patches. The SS cover did wonders to fix my problems.

 

[Chimchimery]

I think @bholler prefer's pouring a new proper crown but that was way more work than I wanted to deal with.

As longs as its structurally sound I would top it with a Stainless (NOT galvanized) cover.
Maybe patch up the loose crumbling stuff first.
I got sick and tired of constantly adding sealant and patches. The SS cover did wonders to fix my problems.

I am in the same boat. Too high for me to spend that much time on it.

I would love to know more about the practical elements of how you did your install. Questions that come to my mind are:

1) How much did you add to your measures when you ordered the cover (SS)?
2) How you estimated how deep the skirt should be? As you can see from my picture, my 'current cap' is may be 3" at the highest.
3) How did you secure it to the bricks? Did you pre-drill holes in the chase?
4) I am looking at a cover of the whole cap expect the flue. So I would need to measure a flue opening.
5) Would you have any pictures you could post before and after?

I would surely appreciate any input!

 

[fire_man]

I just realized after all these years I never posted a picture of the completed job! I was "supposed" to be moved out of this house by now but thanks to the stalled housing market I'm still here and will get you a "final install "picture. I already posted in this thread all of my "Before" pictures.

To answer your questions:
1. I added a full INCH to my L X W measurements when I ordered the cover. This provided 1/2" overhang on all sides for a wider drip edge and also lots of "wiggle room" in case the chimney was not perfectly square or especially if the flue hole measurement was off. Rockford suggested 1/4" overhang but I was not comfortable with so little margin.
2. I wanted a full brick height to be covered by the skirt so that I had plenty of masonry to attach to. Plus I had to account for the "hump" in the crown, in your case 3". I must have determined my crown's height was 2" and then added a brick height (2"). I posted my final skirt dimensions from the Rockford Chimney order form below and it shows a skirt height of 4". I probably used a long level at the peak of the crown and a ruler at the brick edge to measure the crown's height.
3. I drilled holes in the SS skirt so that the holes would line up with mortar. I then pre-drilled for Tapcons in the mortar. I drilled more holes than probably necessary around the skirt for extra support. I am pretty sure the skirt was already pre-drilled by Rockford but I ignored those holes if they did not line up.
4. I remember spending hours up there measuring, especially to get the location of the flue with respect to the cover edges. This was a super critical measurement.

Bonus suggestion:
Placing the cover on the crown was a PITA and almost cost me my marriage My wife and I were up there dropping on the cover but it was so heavy and large, it kept flexing into a slightly contorted bowed shape every time we got it where it belongs. It was beyond frustrating. There was no way I could properly line up to drill since it would never rest on the crown's surface properly. We'd get it placed over the flue and resting on the crown, but it would "spring" violently into a slight bowed shape no matter how hard we tried to level it. Solution: I used 3 foot long iron pipe clamps on the narrow dimension of the chimney for the skirt to rest on. Problem solved and marriage saved. Thinking back, Bholler suggested building up and leveling the crown which would have prevented this problem. The cover is so large, on hot Summer days it expands and we hear a loud SNAP inside the room below, which is the cover still flexing up there. Glad I used the extra Tapcons.

The most important advice is to check, double check and re-check your measurements. It may even make sense to make a cheap template out of plywood or OSB which I did not do. That way you can confirm the overhang and flue cutout is correct. It may be overkill but back in 2018 the cover cost me $540.

 

[bholler]

I think @bholler prefer's pouring a new proper crown but that was way more work than I wanted to deal with.

As longs as its structurally sound I would top it with a Stainless (NOT galvanized) cover.
Maybe patch up the loose crumbling stuff first.
I got sick and tired of constantly adding sealant and patches. The SS cover did wonders to fix my problems.

You are absolutely right there. I prefer a poured crown but absolutely nothing wrong with a stainless cover. It is a good low labor solution

 

[fire_man]

 

[Chimchimery]

Wow this is great information. I literally laughed about your marriage troubles with installing the cover. I had to write on my newly installed drywall 'I promise no more bathroom remodeling," when I was redoing our master bathroom completely.

I really, really appreciate you taking the time to share all this in detail. I am going to read it several times to grasp it all.

Drilling those holes sounds like tricky fun. None into the brick itself?? Trying to visualize how you lined that up. Sounds like you did some measuring up from the bottom of the cover to where the mortar joint fell. Then drilled into the cover and started a pilot hole into the mortar, then screwed the tapcons into those holes?

You have a very steep roof. Did you have safety harnesses on or a scaffold (think I saw you did). Were you able to rent it?

Those covers cost quite a bit more now, like everything else. Is what I see that black powder finish coming off?

 

[fire_man]

Yes installing that cover was definitely a trying time. I don't know what I would have done if I hadn't thought of the pipe clamps, probably divorce court.

The hole drilling was not too bad. I could see the mortar under the skirt since there was a nice 1/2" gap underneath. I did not drill into the brick, I seem to remember there were various opinions about installing Tapcons in brick vs mortar. I waited for the mortar to cure for at least a week before drilling. I first drilled the SS skirt to accept the Tapcons. The proper drill bit for the Tapcon's pilot hole would have been a smaller diameter so I used the predrilled skirt hole and drilled directly into the mortar thru the skirt with a masonry bit. Then drive the Tapcons into the pilot hole with a socket wrench.

I used scaffolding to repair the chimney and install the cover. I did not use a safety harnesses. I was OK on the roof to fasten screws on the opposite side of the scaffolding since the chimney blocked my fall. I was lucky enough to have become friends with a local Chimney sweep who lent me the scaffolding. That was the magic bullet which allowed me to take my time on the project which took many weeks of nights and weekends working around the weather with a full time job.

The black dust is soot from the flue. It washes down and stains the skirt.
Glad to hear my project can help you. Bholler deserves lots of the praise, he helped me on this thread a ton.
No question is too stupid to ask, believe me.

 

[Chimchimery]

Lol. Our project is so similar. Your ladder is just like mine with that stabilizer bar. Makes a world of difference. Well my son's neighbor he tells me has scaffolding (his neighbor is quite well-off), but he is afraid to ask him. :-( Renting them for about a week is $200. I think they take quite a bit of time to put together too. So I have to see what I can do there.

Did you end up using pipe or bar clamps. Seems you mention both. With either, did the cover then sit on the end of each clamp then? rather than the bar or pipe itself. IE. since the clamps have an end piece and front piece and the bar or pipe in the middle, unless the ends are shimmed, they would be right where the cover comes down to rest. Still in the R&D phase.

 

[fire_man]

It was definitely two heavy duty Pipe clamp which I edited above although long bar clamps should also work.
I see what you mean by the clamp's end pieces being in the way. It's been so long since I did this, my memory is faded but you may be right and the corners of the skirt's lower edges were supported by the end pieces of the clamps, or I may have shimmed the bars with lumber to support the cover. The important thing is that the skirt be supported evenly (level). It will make sense when you get the cover.

It's expensive to rent the scaffolding, which fortunately was not an issue for me. I had to rebuild the top section of the chimney and measure the final size, then wait for the cover to be built and delivered so my project ran for many weeks. Yours may be quicker since there is not so much to rebuild. It took me probably half a day to assemble the scaffolding, since I had no idea what I was doing. I kind of learned along the way and actually survived the ordeal to tell the story

 

[Chimchimery]

Thanks for sharing how long it took to put together the scaffolding. I looked at prices to rent one at HD, and it was $70 for four hours or $100 a day. I thought LOL, who would rent one for four hours if it took just a couple hours to put it together and a couple hours to take it down.

Another OCD question. If your cover was 1/2 wider on each side, when you screwed the tapcons in to the mortar, did you still drawn them down or leave a gap? IE. drawing them down with a 1/2 gap didn't bend the cover??

 

[fire_man]

I used 1/4" PVC pipe sliced into 1/2" long spacers around the Tapcons so that they would be firmly tightened, yet maintain the gap. The spacers prevented the cover from bending when the Tapcons were tightened. I used stainless steel mesh which was leftover from the flu's insulation wrap to fill the 1/2" gap and prevent bats/bees from nesting. I guess my OCD is on display here

 

[Chimchimery]

I grinned. Very smart. Stainless steel wrap around the flue? Not sure I caught that. -I know they put some material around the flue to leave a gap when pouring concrete around it and then remove it before it is fully cured. Then they go back and caulk it. So curious how you used it and where. OCD on my part too as you can see. Apparently pipe clamps are not very popular anymore. I see they can be pretty heavy compared to the more available bar clamps.

 

[fire_man]

The stainless steel mesh I am referring to is shown below as "retractable mesh" and is a very lightweight screen/mesh that covers the blanket insulation to hold it in place. This is the blanket that gets wrapped around the SS flue for insulation.

The mesh is very fine (thin), and can be cut and stuffed into tight spots like steel wool.

I have seen the end pieces for making pipe clamps I think at Home Depot. You have to get the threaded iron pipe separately.

 

[Chimchimery]

Interesting. Not cheap stuff either. So again trying to picture this stuff. Wrapped around where exactly. Around the flue that goes up the chimney? Keeps the heat in? None of my two chimney inspectors mentioned it. I can see how you used the leftover mesh to fill the gap. Sort of like what hardware cloth would accomplish.

I have one more, this time, free estimate coming Thursday. One of the two guys is brick layer. Be interesting to see what they suggest.