After 22 years we finally decided to upgrade our trusty Jotul #3 to something larger. We grew tired of daily ash cleaning and having wood that would not fit through the door. This prompted a review of the hearth for the new installation. Even though this installation passed all inspections when it was installed and has passed several insurance inspections since that time I have come to the conclusion that it is UNSAFE! I want to rectify this when installing our new Castine.
This is a fairly straight-forward, through the wall installation that hooks up to a brick chimney with tile lining. Chimney is in good shape and about 22 years old and stands out from the exterior house wall by 1". I have attached a photo of the current Jotul #3 that is installed. This is all single-wall pipe. It has been like this for over 22 years but I think it is unsafe based on what I have read here. With the tile pads on the floor and back wall (with 1" spacers) my biggest areas of concern are indicated by the red arrow and the blue box. I believe that the area inside the blue box is brick and mortar (12” from all sides of the thimble) with a steel thimble liner. I will confirm this by cutting out the sheetrock after the holiday crowds have subsided. I also need to get the wall board off the area around the pass through because it is combustible. However, even if I pull the sheetrock off the bricked area, the clearances to the wall will be less than 18” from the single wall pipe (see red arrow). This is exacerbated by the off-set from the thimble as you can see.
So, what is the best approach here without ripping out everything and starting over? I need the new installation to be up to code and safe but I also want it to look neat and tidy. Has anyone on the forum had to deal with this sort of installation before? Also, are there any thoughts on what to do to cover the bricked area once the wall board is taken off? Some people have mentioned a material called Durarock because it is fireproof. How does one cut this material and can it be blended back into the wall?
Thanks for any advice in advance. This forum has been a fantastic resource for me so far.
This is a fairly straight-forward, through the wall installation that hooks up to a brick chimney with tile lining. Chimney is in good shape and about 22 years old and stands out from the exterior house wall by 1". I have attached a photo of the current Jotul #3 that is installed. This is all single-wall pipe. It has been like this for over 22 years but I think it is unsafe based on what I have read here. With the tile pads on the floor and back wall (with 1" spacers) my biggest areas of concern are indicated by the red arrow and the blue box. I believe that the area inside the blue box is brick and mortar (12” from all sides of the thimble) with a steel thimble liner. I will confirm this by cutting out the sheetrock after the holiday crowds have subsided. I also need to get the wall board off the area around the pass through because it is combustible. However, even if I pull the sheetrock off the bricked area, the clearances to the wall will be less than 18” from the single wall pipe (see red arrow). This is exacerbated by the off-set from the thimble as you can see.
So, what is the best approach here without ripping out everything and starting over? I need the new installation to be up to code and safe but I also want it to look neat and tidy. Has anyone on the forum had to deal with this sort of installation before? Also, are there any thoughts on what to do to cover the bricked area once the wall board is taken off? Some people have mentioned a material called Durarock because it is fireproof. How does one cut this material and can it be blended back into the wall?
Thanks for any advice in advance. This forum has been a fantastic resource for me so far.
![[Hearth.com] Through the wall installation question](/talk/data/attachments/23/23201-d8ae76d7b0a6f79402be3dba5aa2464c.jpg?hash=VOBzxcPqTK)
