Hello!

I posted here once before regarding an old Findlay stove I was considering purchasing. After talking with a few stove retailers, I decided to go with one of the new EPA units from Regency or Napoleon (leaning toward Regency).

I've been measuring here and there in the basement, trying to find a suitable location for the heater. I'd like to run the chimney inside as per the sagely advice of those in the know, and would like to keep the run as straight as possible, and try to avoid building boxes (to enclose the chimney) in odd places. I originally wanted to place it in the far corner, running straight up through the corner of the master bedroom. I figured the box wouldn't intrude that much and it would give the straightest run. It would render the room below, previously used for playing pool (and which I'd like to retain for the same future use), almost incapable of good pool play, but I could live with that. The trouble with this location is that the joists in this room were placed on a 13" center (the span is great and the room used to support a waterbed). I have only 10" spacing between the joists which cannot pass a chimney pipe (requires 2" clearance from the pipe to combustables).

I've been wondering if it would be okay to cut the 2nd joist out from the wall (10" out), brace it between the joist at the wall, and the third joist out, and run the chimney up there? The 2nd joist doesn't have much stress on it, other that the weight of me, the cats, a chair, a dresser, and perhaps the chimney if it's supported by the floor, but all that doesn't bear down all at once. The joist is about 14' long though, so the span does concern me a bit.

The other location I had thought was quite choice, was in the relative middle of the basement with the chimney passing through a closet above. It would have satisfied all of my desires, but alas, if something appears too good to be true, it almost always is. In this case, I have a joist passing through the closet space where the chinmey would go (it passes through at about 2/3 of the width of the space), and the entire space (both sides of that joist) is part of the cold air return from the master bedroom.

I don't know if stealing 1/2 of the cold air return from the bedroom would adversely affect the operation of the heating system, but I could shoehorn the chimney in there, with a little cutting and reshaping of the wall outside my office. The downside of course, is that I'd have an unsightly offset in an otherwise flat wall. I'd also have 2 45deg offsets in the flue pipe and a length of connecting pipe about 4' long to connect the stove to the chimney. Technically, it's a mess, but it'd be my fav location for the stove.

Or... would I be better off just biting the bullet and drilling a hole through the foundation wall and running an outside chimney?

Lots of things to think about... I'd really like a stove, but don't want to waste my money on a poor installation.

-- Jon Earle (je@kronos.honk.org), November 27, 2001

Answers

Is placing the stove upstairs not an option? It would eliminate your chimney problems and you are putting the heat directly into your living space (I assume)!

We have a 16X24 living room (roughly half the size of our main floor) and we have a Jotul #8 in there. Gets nice and toasty and the heat eventually moves to the dining room, the kitchen and then rises to the second floor bedrooms. Works great for us!

Sean

-- Sean (seand@mail.gov.nf.ca), November 28, 2001.

It seems to me that there wouldn't be a problem cutting a section out of the joist, any of them. When I put the stairs in our used double wide I kinda had the same problem. I just cut a section out of one joist and nailed a piece across from one entire joist to another with the cut joist in the middle, also nailed to the newly installed piece. Seems to be solid and it regularly gets traffic.

-- john (natlivent@pcpros.net), November 28, 2001.

Hello Jon,

Your insurance company has a booklet that they go by for the installation of woodstoves. I would get a copy of the booklet first as you may have to do the work over if the insurance company does not approve it.

Sincerely,

Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), November 28, 2001.

Jon, there is no problem cutting the second joist. I'd put one piece of the same dimension lumber across from first to third and then add another onto the crosspiece you just put up. Those two together will carry any load you put on it. You may want to put a 2X4 under the second joist as a post/support while you cut and rebuild.

-- gilly (wayoutfarm@skybest.com), November 29, 2001.

Hi,

Well, the contractor came and after much discussion, measuring and head-scratching, we decided to go with the corner installation. The 2nd joist out from the wall was cut, and a double header (with joist hangers as requested by the inspector) was installed.

The stove is now in! Yay! It's really beautiful - it's a Regency F2100M. Selkirk chimney up through my bedroom above (we're walling it off tomorrow - I'm thinking of cutting a small grate near the top of the new wall to let some of the heat radiating off the chimney into the room... every little bit helps), double wall connecting pipe.

I have one issue with it, but will post that separately.

Cheers everyone! Happy holidays!

Jon

-- Jon Earle (je@kronos.honk.org), December 27, 2001.