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Distance chimney to combustible (entire chimney width?)
Hi!
We are in the final stages of building a large two-story log house. In the middle of the house, on the lower floor, we have an open fireplace and wood stove all integrated into a large masonry heater with bricks inside and clay plaster outside. Rising from it is a chimney stack that then goes through one of the bedrooms and through the roof to the chimney. Unfortunately, the mason has built the chimney too close to the timber on the upper floor (the flue is angled at the top and comes closer to the combustible material behind), and we have been issued a notice by the chimney sweep stating that the flue must have a distance of 5 cm to the combustible material (the logs). From what we understand, industry practice is 10 cm to combustible materials at the fireplace level, but then the requirement decreases by 1 cm per meter, and since it is at least 5 meters up to the upper part of the chimney stack, 5 cm should apply. Now the mason has been here and carved out so there are the requested 5 cm, but only behind half of the chimney stack, where we assume the flue goes.
Now to the question...
The chimney stack is quite wide and there is also some other type of ventilation duct on the side of the flue. Does the distance need to be 5 cm behind the ENTIRE chimney stack, or is it enough that it is behind the flue? Or does there need to be a 5 cm distance behind the whole chimney stack to prevent fire, for instance, in the case of a chimney fire?
Best regards,
Tomas
We are in the final stages of building a large two-story log house. In the middle of the house, on the lower floor, we have an open fireplace and wood stove all integrated into a large masonry heater with bricks inside and clay plaster outside. Rising from it is a chimney stack that then goes through one of the bedrooms and through the roof to the chimney. Unfortunately, the mason has built the chimney too close to the timber on the upper floor (the flue is angled at the top and comes closer to the combustible material behind), and we have been issued a notice by the chimney sweep stating that the flue must have a distance of 5 cm to the combustible material (the logs). From what we understand, industry practice is 10 cm to combustible materials at the fireplace level, but then the requirement decreases by 1 cm per meter, and since it is at least 5 meters up to the upper part of the chimney stack, 5 cm should apply. Now the mason has been here and carved out so there are the requested 5 cm, but only behind half of the chimney stack, where we assume the flue goes.
Now to the question...
The chimney stack is quite wide and there is also some other type of ventilation duct on the side of the flue. Does the distance need to be 5 cm behind the ENTIRE chimney stack, or is it enough that it is behind the flue? Or does there need to be a 5 cm distance behind the whole chimney stack to prevent fire, for instance, in the case of a chimney fire?
Best regards,
Tomas
Unfortunately, you're going to get a lot of different answers and it's the chimney sweep who decides. It's worth adding that it's quite arbitrary how chimney sweeps around the country apply the rules.
Common sense, however, says there shouldn't be any problems even as it was. I have a chimney breast that was completely enclosed before I bought it and is still partially so. The previous owner fired it up like crazy with an old furnace from the 50s. At some point, there was even a chimney fire without anything happening.
Common sense, however, says there shouldn't be any problems even as it was. I have a chimney breast that was completely enclosed before I bought it and is still partially so. The previous owner fired it up like crazy with an old furnace from the 50s. At some point, there was even a chimney fire without anything happening.
We'll see what the chimney sweep says when he comes here. We actually changed chimney sweeps because the previous one was difficult to deal with. Now the idea is to be one step ahead and really make sure everything is okay so we can move in.
Member
· Västernorrland
· 12 030 posts
Unfortunately, there are very strict regulations on new chimneys... changing chimney sweeps usually doesn't help as they have a monopoly in their district and work under the same master chimney sweep. If you live in Laholm, as far as I know, you can't call someone nice from Västerås. If you are building new, the current regulations apply, how it looked in 1950 is irrelevant.
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