2024 projects

[WFM]

As we leave 2023 behind a new year has started. I always look ahead to what projects I want to accomplish in the new year.
One for me a rigid stainless chimmy liner. For some reason even though I burn dry wood. I have creosote in my chimmy. It's a exterior brick chimmy with a flue liner 8x12. It being a exterior chimmy I'm told it's cold and that's the issue with causing the creosote. So I'm gonna install a 6" pipe wrapped with insulation. I'm hoping this cures it. It should be easy to clean with a 6" brush and rods.
My second project I hope to get to is a third function valve to run a front mounted broom sweeper. All the third function kits I've looked at mount with no cab involved. Now that I have a cab that's a issue. Summit valves said they do sell a universal kit that the buyer hooks up and finds a way to route the hose and wireing.

 

[85Hokie]

Have you tried those "tubes" of stuff that you place in the fire and "cleans" the creosote?

something like this ?

Is it possible to get on roof ( yeah I know the older we get the more "fun" this idea is!) and run the brush down once a year?

 

[Vince1230]

We use cresote powder rutland cresote remover. One scoop a week onto coals. We burn all winter and have little creasote when chimney is cleaned. I bought powder at home depot it was cheaper than the tubes.

 

[D2Cat]

WFM, in reference to your chimney liner, how is your chimney used.... insert, wood stove, pellet stove? How tall is the brick frame of the chimney? How large of diameter pipe do you need to get enough draw for the chimney to work?

Your project caught my attention because I put a liner in our chimney about 30 years ago. It's a two story house and we used an insert in a fireplace. It heated the house real good. The mason had a 12"x12" tile liner originally. I fabricated the liner about 9" dia. by rolling 9ft pieces of SS and riveted them with SS rivets. I made them with a very slight taper so one would slide into the other. When I got that part done and in place I got some vermiculite and mixed my own mortar and around the SS all the way from bottom to top. Vermiculite is used in garden pots. Also redi-mix companies all to concrete to lighten the weight in high rise buildings. I used it because it is inert and 5,000 deg. it might change!! So once the mortar sets up around the pipe you really don't need the pipe. Makes your chimney extremely safe.

I tried to get estimates for "professionals" to do the job, but back then they wanted $400 to come from Kansas City to even BID the job. So I did my own research and my neighbor decided to do his so we worked together problem solving. I even made my own (modified what I had) brush to clean the creosote.

Amazingly enough after the liner was in only about the top two feet ever had any creosote on it.

 

[rc51stierhoff]

As we leave 2023 behind a new year has started. I always look ahead to what projects I want to accomplish in the new year.
One for me a rigid stainless chimmy liner. For some reason even though I burn dry wood. I have creosote in my chimmy. It's a exterior brick chimmy with a flue liner 8x12. It being a exterior chimmy I'm told it's cold and that's the issue with causing the creosote. So I'm gonna install a 6" pipe wrapped with insulation. I'm hoping this cures it. It should be easy to clean with a 6" brush and rods.
My second project I hope to get to is a third function valve to run a front mounted broom sweeper. All the third function kits I've looked at mount with no cab involved. Now that I have a cab that's a issue. Summit valves said they do sell a universal kit that the buyer hooks up and finds a way to route the hose and wireing.

Great topic…regarding your chimney…burn well seasoned wood and clean / get cleaned annually…I have an insert and it has a liner (sort of reminds you of a slinky in how it stretches / flexible) if you are old enough…I think burning wood that has seasoned for one or two years even better. If using a just a fireplace I think a stove or insert much more efficient especially if get some that has multiple burn cycles.

As far as future projects…
1. I hope to get some rops lighting installed on the B2650…it’s over due but not sure finance committee agrees.
2. We bought our future retirement property and closed in December but it likely will not be our residence for a while. So I suspect I’ll have a couple items to touch up including getting new acres into our current forestry plan and trying to plant something in the pasture vs just mowing.
3. For the barn at second property I hope to complete install of a composting toilet. This is a ‘honey do’ item so is suspect it will be prioritized.

Happy New Year.

 

[DaveFromMi]

Our wood stove pipe was 10" diameter, single wall from the stove to a ceiling junction, then triple wall from the ceiling to the top cap. I had to add another section of triple wall pipe due to roof height and down drafts.
I burned dry wood November through March and cleaned the pipe out in April. The most creosote I got was about 2/3 of an ash pan drawer full.

 

[GreensvilleJay]

fireplace guy told me most people 'throttle back' the damper so fire doesn't BURN hot enough to burn off the 'creosote', a friend tossed a pine log in every night never ever had creosote build up or a chimney fire in 40+ years.

 

[L35]

Dry wood (hardwood such as oak takes 3 years, softwoods like pine/spruce usually around 16 months) and a warm flue helps prevent creosote. Chimneys like yours will benefit from a insulated liner. Burn habits help as well, tube stoves need to be run warm enough for the secondaries to light off, cat stoves need to be run in the active zone. Old pre epa smoke dragons, well, good luck there.... One of the other forums I frequent is wood stove related and it has helped immensely. I get nerdy enough to have a draft gage in my chimney and a moisture meter to test wood. There’s even a science to that when you get into it deep enough! I burn Sept-April typically, stove never goes out.

2024 involves making more firewood, which the tractor gets used for, and finishing a excavation project I have going to improve the functionality of the lower corner of my property that had previously been inaccessible with my tractor or truck.

 

[WFM]

My stove is a 20 yr old Yodel Oslo that I bought new. $1800. At the time was alot of wages when your making $8.hr.
My wood is at least two yrs old split and stacked and covered with steel roofing.
We run the stove pretty much seven days a week starting in October this year. It's been a great stove. Since Oct I've only cut the draft back four times on very cold nights to keep it heating longer.
Every January 1st I take down the pipe, clean the stove pipe and flue hole completely. This year is one of the worst I've seen for creosote. I'm almost embarrassed to show the flue hole before I cleaned it January 1st.
I did have the top of the chimmy remortered and a few spots on the chimmy fixed this past year. Chimmy itself is 25 yrs old. I'll be cleaning it from the bottom up.

 

[jyoutz]

As we leave 2023 behind a new year has started. I always look ahead to what projects I want to accomplish in the new year.
One for me a rigid stainless chimmy liner. For some reason even though I burn dry wood. I have creosote in my chimmy. It's a exterior brick chimmy with a flue liner 8x12. It being a exterior chimmy I'm told it's cold and that's the issue with causing the creosote. So I'm gonna install a 6" pipe wrapped with insulation. I'm hoping this cures it. It should be easy to clean with a 6" brush and rods.
My second project I hope to get to is a third function valve to run a front mounted broom sweeper. All the third function kits I've looked at mount with no cab involved. Now that I have a cab that's a issue. Summit valves said they do sell a universal kit that the buyer hooks up and finds a way to route the hose and wireing.

I had a fireplace insert in my masonry fireplace in my last house. I had the insert installed with a flexible stainless steel flue pipe, no insulation. It worked well and then it was easy to clean with a flue brush a few times per season.

 

[Runs With Scissors]

I installed a Buck model 74 wood stove at the cottage about 2 years ago.

I love that thing. Probably the best 'home improvement' I have ever done. (but the price of that "insulated pipe" sure surprised me....I about shat myself when he handed me a bill for 2800 bucks for the pipe and elbows and stuff)

Really the only "bad part" is that now I find myself getting too lazy to build a "bon fire" outside to sit by. So now this is me when I get "accused" of smoking a cigar inside......

LOL

Since I am "gravitationally challenged " I bought this cleaning rod so I could clean from the bottom up. Seems to work pretty good and it's fairly easy to do with that model stove.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SRRVBZB/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1


As for "projects", the biggest one is a hydraulic thumb for Stonewall. I have about 257,931 other projects/thing/repairs waiting in the wings though.

 

[WFM]

Big day tomorrow.
I get a quote on a stainless ridged chimmy liner. This small business is local and 'claims' plenty of experience installing them and any other chimmy, flue or stove issues anyone has.
So we'll see. I'd think the chimmy business in July might be slow. I called last Wednesday he said I can be there Tuesday. Fingers crossed.