[AT] OT - Old Chimney Question

[Cecil E Monson]

> I apologize for the off-topic post but I figure some folks on here might have 

some good advice (and this is rural related in that it involves the burning of

firewood and I also use my old tractor to drag the felled trees with)...

	Rob, I have had several very old houses with large chimneys. The last
one was in MA in a house built back in the 1700s. I had a nice wood fire going
in the fireplace in one of the living rooms downstairs and just happened to go
up to the second floor and open a closet while it was a little dark. I was
very surprised to see sparks going up the chimney thru cracks in the mortar.
It scared me enough that I quit using the fireplace.

	It is common to install liners in chimneys that were built long ago
and are inside the house rather than outside. In our area, you cannot legally
use the same flue for two connections. You must have a separate flue for each
stove, furnace, or fireplace. You might be lucky and be able to install two
steel flues side by side in yours and be able to use stoves on both floors.

	A good thing to keep in mind is that these old chimneys were built
for use with fireplaces that burned hot and as a rule did not deposit much
creosote in the chimney. The same cannot be said for wood stoves which burn
much cooler. I would not use a wood stove very long in one of these old
chimneys because of the creosote problem and the danger of a chimney fire.

	I know about chimney fires as we lost our house in the middle of a
winter night in Minnesota when I was 8 years old due to a chimney fire.
Having said that, we burn wood every day in wood stoves here and if used
properly, they are very safe. We happen to own 8 wood stoves here on our
place and all are hooked up and useable.

Cecil

-- 
The nicest thing about telling the truth is you never have to wonder
what you said.

Cecil E Monson
Lucille Hand-Monson
Mountainville, New York   Just a little east of the North Pole

Allis Chalmers tractors and equipment

Free advice